Aruba - On the Surface

I know you folks have been sleepless waiting to see these pictures. ;)
Aruba is a unique place. It is a desert with cactus and not much greenery. The beaches are amazing, with clear water and wide shallows. The coral is distributed here and there so you can swim or snorkel at most spots and be happy either way. The people were friendly and I felt very safe there.
When asked 'Would you go back?' we usually say, 'the world is too big to visit the same place twice!', but Aruba was awesome and I recommend it to anyone looking for a beach get-away.

 Thank goodness for Uber, because arriving at the airport at 4:30 am is ridiculously early!

 Sunset dinner for our first Aruba activity!

Our first full day we got up early for a snorkel cruise. Thankfully Aruba is Eastern time, so only an hour ahead of what we are used to (although technically, they were actually one more time zone over, but they cater to Americans...)  Dan did a little SNUBA at one of the dive spots.

 The water is so clear and beautiful.

Day one also had a segway tour on it. Silly, but very fun! Santa, I'd like my segway to have a bell on it, please!

 I spent a lot of time under palapas trying to protect my skin. Alas, my tan is peeling away as we speak, so I guess I didn't do a very good job!

 Dan could snorkel for hours at a time! I like me some fish, but not that much. I however did read 2.5 books on our vacation. It has been a long time since I had a chance to devour so much fiction!

 I'd like me a pet pelican... One should always have a dream...

 This was our fancy dress up meal at the Argentine Grill.

 These musicians made the atmosphere super fun.

 This is super dressed up on Aruba. We fit in perfectly. :)

Dan ran a 10K on Kings Day, which is the King of Netherlands birthday. There wasn't much of a celebration going on anywhere that we could see, but shops did close. The race was a 5:30 pm; it was hot and humid! I'm glad I hung out at Wendy's with my glass of lemonade for most of it. Dan ran the race right at an hour. He was glad to finish and get a drink of water!

 Goat.

 This was a very large a beautiful beach on the south side of the island.

 Snorkel man again!

 We took this bottle filled with bread to feed the fish with. I dumbly threw the bread on the surface and attracted these birds...

 but then I learned to drop the bread under water and I attracted these fish...

 Senor Frogs was yummy in Maui, and it was yummy in Aruba. Even a tad entertaining.

 Dan's favorite sea creature.

Farewell, Aruba!