Mardi Gras in Aruba

Well I missed a day and it is more difficult to do 2 days at once but here it goes.

Yesterday we were in Aruba and as I told you it is the island that celebrates Mardi Gras.

We got up fairly early because the ship was docking at eight and we wanted to see her come in. The port of Aruba is a bit different in that it has a fairly wide sandbar quite close to the dock. There is a fairly good sized tree or bush growing on that sandbar and I am always keen to watch the ship avoid this obstacle. Needless to say the captain was successful and we docked without incident. We enjoyed our usual room service on our balcony. It was so peaceful and quiet because we were facing the sea and sand bar and not the busy port.

After breakfast we dressed and went ashore to browse a little. I already had gifts for Noah and Leo and Emmie but I came back with a tee for each of them anyway. It is a good thing I have lots of suitcase space.

We had lunch on board and then we had to decide when we would return to the main street for the parade. When we were ashore this morning we were showed the parade route and told it might be in this area after two o’clock. So we went to deck seven to wait and see if we could hear the music, which would signal arrival of the parade. Well we heard a little so we left the ship around 1:45. We walked to what we thought might be a good area and it was not long before we spotted Marilyn and Hank our dinner table companions. We decided to wait with them. They were on a marble bench and it had space for a couple more. The streets and sidewalks were filled with people but not overly crowded. There was music coming from many of the vendors and shops but the parade was not to be seen. It was hot and we had a little shade and there was a breeze that made it bearable. But around 3:30 there was still no sign of the parade and we were getting tired of all of the cement. I decided that if the parade had not begun by four I was going to return to the ship. Well at 3:58 the first float appeared. It was worth the wait. The floats and costumes were amazing.The bands used speakers the likes of which we have never seen or heard before. They were huge and it took semi trucks to carry them. At one point the music was so powerful I could feel it through the asphalt. There was one group after the other and the costumes were more and more spectacular. We watched and cheered for over an hour and then it was time to leave. It was almost dinner time on board and the sun had gotten to us and we were so tired of standing on cement.

We made it back in time for dinner and then after dinner we saw the show at the Princess Theatre. It starred  Bobby Brooks Wilson, the son of the late Jackie Wilson. The show was fantastic and we loved singing along with the old songs.

But by the time the show was finished so were we. Too much sun and fun. It was time to say night night!!