ARUBA, One Happy Island!

As we left the Queen Beatrice Airport Sue noticed that phrase on the local license plates, and Aruba is indeed One Happy Island! It is very friendly, very safe, and a lot of fun.   We took a half day coach tour of the Island to learn a bit about this Caribbean paradise. The De Palm Tours driver was very informative and friendly as well. That afternoon we availed ourselves of a couples massage at the Larimar Spa on the Radisson property. VERY nice! It was Kevin's first hot rocks experience and he loved it.   Dinner that night was at the Sunset Grill, a Mobil 4 Star award winner for a number of years. The menu is based on a Steak House theme but also includes a number of great seafood items as well. Kevin will have more on this later.   A self-drive Jeep tour gave us a chance to see the old gold mine facility from the 1800's a beautiful coastline, light house, and more.   A lazy afternoon on the beach/pool was followed by an evening BBQ with the Philadelphia Eagles Cheerleaders who were here shooting this years calendar photos.   Tomorrow we head back to Missouri to prepare for a trip to the Mexican Riviera.   We would like to give a special thank you to the staff of the Aruba Radisson, Casino, Resort and Spa. The service was genuine, friendly and over the top from start to finish. We would also like to say that we saw this same service for all the guests in the facility. It was not just because we did our Travel Planners Radio Show here.   We would also like to thank Aruba Tourism Association for helping arrange the guests for our show. Again, a job well done.   We may have found our second home in Aruba. real estate prices are very affordable. Unlike other Caribbean destinations, where you feel safe as long as you are locked in your resort compound, but wouldn't think about "going downtown", this entire island nation is yours to see and enjoy. Everyone speaks English. The Dollar is accepted everywhere (and they do not double the price when you pay in Dollars)  You will feel right at home, except everyone here seems to be more friendly. Aruba is One Happy Island and this is about as close to Paradise as you can get on this planet!