Leaving Things in Paradise

Well, our trip is at an end. It has been a sunny, relaxing trip. Who knew the trip home could be so stressful...

One thing that you'll notice as you follow my travel blog is that I'm very susceptible to motion sickness. Long car trips, airplane flights, and water travel all require Dramamine to keep my food down. I've discovered over the years that while the Dramamine will keep me going, it makes me groggy and it doesn't help the fluid imbalance that seems to have a compounding effect.

One surprise on this trip is that swimming and snorkeling in the ocean for about an hour didn't make me feel nauseous but it did mess with my inner ear equilibrium. I could feel it as I laid down that night, a constant rocking in my head that make it hard to sleep and left me feeling a bit nauseous by morning. Every car and water excursion from then on seemed to keep the rocking in my head from settling down and I felt motion sick a good portion of the trip. Even a short ferry ride across the channel in Willemstad left me on the verge of vomiting and clutching Jon's arm as my balance seemed determined to pitch me to the ground.

By Saturday night, things were constantly rolling, like being on a huge ship. A rolling that was always there but easy to ignore and barely perceptible but constant. As evening drew to a close the rolling seemed to intensify. I finished packing all of our clothes and sorting through what needed to be checked and what would go in our backpacks as carry-ons. Finally at 10 pm I made the last sweep through the house for anything I might have missed. Clothes carefully laid out next to the bed, I set my alarm for 5 am and fell sleep feeling like I was on a ship.

I woke in a cold sweat at 2:30 am. Jumping up and fumbling through the dark room, I barely made it to the toilet when I vomited up what was left of my dinner. The cold sweat and weak feeling hit full on and I felt back in bed feeling only slightly better as the rocking continued.

The alarm goes off right at 5 am and I fall out of bed and pull on the clothes I'd set out. Grandma is up cooking a huge batch of eggs as Jon and Papa work on loading up everything. The smell of eggs makes me feel sick all over again and I try to avoid the kitchen area. I quickly pop two Dramamine hoping the 30 minute car ride will seem quicker and that we don't have to stop on the side of the road for me.

Everything is packed and in the car and we are on our way. I can't decide if I'm grateful it is still dark or not. At least everyone is quite. I think through all of our belongings, mentally checking that I haven't forgotten anything. My head hurts and I feel terrible so I figure anything we left (clothes, earrings, shoes, whatever) wasn't anything we couldn't live without. I double checked Little Bear's favorite "puppy" stuffed animal. That would be something we CAN'T forget. Sure enough, he is hugging puppy from his booster seat. Ok, I relax, we have everything. Jon looks at me, "We have everything? Keys, Passports, cell phones?" I reply yes, thinking I knew where everything was in my backpack except the keys which were in his pack. I tell him this, "Forgetting the keys would be terrible, they are in your backpack I think." His backpack is in the trunk so I don't bother to check as I do with the passports and cell phones.

I rest my forehead on the cool window and manage to make it to the airport without throwing up. Going through customs and finding our gate was a breeze... literally. The airport is open and breezy. I'm feeling a bit flush and ill so I make my way to the restroom only to discover my aunt Scarlett has come to visit. Luck was on my side, it was surprisingly easy to find the necessary supplies at the little airport shop.

The rest of the trip was uneventful until we were preparing to land in Pittsburgh. Upon searching through the backpack I realized I'd left the keys to the car back on the island. My nausea returned full force.

All Good Things Must End

Friday and Saturday hung under the cloud of a 6:00 am flight Sunday morning. I have a hard time expressing how much I love this Island. The relaxed pace of life, the wonderful mix of local culture with a distinctly European influence. It is not just the beaches, shopping, and food that have captivated me. It is the local people, Jon and I have enjoyed talking with the locals whenever we are out. They are laid-back, easygoing people but they also have interesting stories to tell and a deep love of their home. While Curacao isn't perfect, the people strive to impact the world around them. I could see myself settling in here, if not all year (I'd miss my family) but perhaps for several months out of the year.

One fun side story - We went to the beach one last time with Little Bear to swim and enjoy the ocean. On our way out of the parking lot we hear the dreaded "thump-thump" and Grandma's words ring in my head from Monday, "I hope we don't get a flat tire out here!"

That is exactly what happened. Jon was great and din't let it upset him; he just calmly got out of the car and started to change the tire. (My hero!) We were both grateful we'd rented the small SUV with a full size spare on the back hatch. Little Bear got to see how we change a tire, he thought it was pretty cool but in reality it was VERY hot.

Photo coming!

So for the last two days of vacation we relaxed, walk, dined, shopped and packed.... but apparently not well enough... but that is a story for tomorrow. I didn't think our travel plans could be worse, but I was wrong.... Come back tomorrow for that story.

  

  

Sunny Beaches - and Rest

Like any good vacation Tuesday through Thursday flew by as we settled into a comfortable routine of sleeping in, a full breakfast and early morning swim. Tuesday found Grandma and Papa a bit worn out from our all day trip around the island so they stayed home to relax, read and enjoy the view while Jon, Little Bear and I all went to the beach again.

Jon enjoyed snorkeling and Little Bear rode the waves to shore in his inter-tube. In the evenings we all chipped in to cook dinner and then Jon and I went out on the town it sit at a cafe and enjoy and beer and coffee. With the winter daylight hours we'd return home thinking it had to be eleven pm only to discover it was just after nine.

During our evenings out Little Bear discovered he liked skinny dipping in the dark with the pool lights on. Little Bear had so much fun with his Papa and Grandma made the best snacks before bed.

Even Little Bear reached a "I'm tired" phase.

One highlight of the beach for Little Bear was "chasing the crabs into their holes."

Here is a short clip of Little Bear at the beach.

Scenic Tour

The Dutch island of Curacao isn't all that large; 171 square miles to be exact.

We are staying in a little resort area just south and east of Willemstad, the most densely populated area of the island. On Tuesday we endeavored to make our way to Westpunt and beach hop to see the island. We all put on our swim suits, slathered on the sunscreen added coverups and beach shoes. We all excitedly piled into the small Rav 4 for our adventure.

The farther you go north west away from Willemstad, the already bumpy roads get a bit more bumpy and as you drive from the main road to the beaches, well lets just say everyone was getting a bit queasy. What in reality was only a short ride began to feel like a marathon and we were all eternally grateful the air conditioning worked well in the little sport utility.

Here are some of the things we saw:

Secluded little beach with only us!

Small cove sheltering little boats.

An old Dutch Fort on the left, cannons from the 1700s still in place.

Another quite cove.

We finally made our way to Westpunt and found a little bar and grill overlooking the ocean for lunch. 

The food was nothing special, just basic grill fare, but the passion fruit mojito was amazing! The coolest thing about lunch was watching Little Bear enjoy the wild life. He loves birds and there were several here that were bold.

This "Troupica" bird is very common. We fed him a few bits of french fries.

Towards the end of lunch we noticed a very large iguana slowly making its way down a tree truck just above another patron's head. Lucky for her it dropped to the deck beside her chair instead of on her head, somehow she wasn't startled. (We didn't point it out to her... it kind of happened quickly.) She then proceeded to toss bits of lettuce to the iguana until she had it eating from her hand. Little Bear was so enraptured that she called him over and helped him feed the iguana too.

Quite possibly the highlight of the trip!

With our hunger satisfied (the iguana's too) we got back in the car to find the best beach for snorkeling. No one was happy about getting back in the car or the few "not perfect" beaches we stopped at only to get back in the car; but the wait was well worth it.

We stopped here for the afternoon.

There were beach chairs and canvas umbrellas, picnic tables along with showers, a bar and lots of sand. Jon, Little Bear and I all saw out into the ocean. The water was so clear and the little fish, coral and bits of plants were amazing. Jon got to use is "GoPro" camera underwater as he snorkeled. I haven't done much editing yet and there will be a YouTube compilation at some point but here is a short 45 second clip.

We swam for a good hour or so and then made our way back to the beach with Grandma and Papa. Little Bear enjoyed the swim with his float while Mom and Dad got quite a workout. Hot, exhausted and tired we packed up and headed home to enjoy showers and a late night dip in the pool.

Downtown Willemstad

Monday day started off with a delicious hot caffe latte courtesy of the previous renters with my feet propped up and tropical birds chirping all around.

Speaking of the birds. They are beautiful with many yellows and greens, blacks and orange in their feathers. In the early morning hours I watched them ride the morning breeze and have little spats in the bushes. Bird photos are not my best but here are two little yellow ones and a much larger yellow-orange one.

After everyone was up and a a dozen eggs were gone Little Bear's enthusiasm for the pool won everyone over and we all went for a swim in the infinity pool. It was so relaxing and Little Bear played and splashed with Papa and Daddy. 

We still needed to stop at a regular grocery. The little one on the resort was pretty well stocked but prices were steep so we planned the rest of our day to end with a stop at the grocery and a home cooked meal.

Down town Willemstad is beautiful down by the waterway for the port.

The floating bridge I'm on in the above photo has one side the swings via tug boat to rest against the shore so large international tankers can enter the port. Below is a photo of the bridge being moved; the little yellow hut is the driver of the "bridge".

Grandma and Papa took Little Bear to look at the street vendors in their little stalls while Jon parked the car. They came across a local musician who made up a "vacation song" right there on the spot. He included the names of our hometowns and had maracas for Little Bear to play. Grandma said Little Bear was shy and didn't do much with the instrument but it was a neat experience for him even if he didn't know quite what to think.

We ate lunch at the Gouverneur Restaurant which was actually the residence of the Dutch Governor of Curacao until 1880 something. 

Photo by Feitse Boerwinkel

This lunch cannot be glossed over by just a line a a nice photo. I ordered a smoked red snapper sandwich that was amazing. The flaky, flavorful red snapper (which happens to be one of my favorite fish) was piled open-faced on a generously cut piece of homemade artisan bread topped with capers, a drizzle of spiced mayonnaise and many other flavors that all blended together to become the highlight of my dining experience.

Island time runs slower than my normal pace back home. We sat down to lunch around 12:30 and didn't leave until about 2:30. We ate, we talked and Jon even took Little Bear on the ferry across the canal and back before the food arrived. While Little Bear is very patient he is only five so when Jon and I ordered a dessert coffee Grandma and Papa took Little Bear exploring in the shops and looking for ice cream.

The dessert coffee was as good as the meal and the view was amazing. Soon is was time to, even on island time we couldn't drag lunch out into dinner. 

Jon and I got the car and picked up the rest of the crew. We went to the grocery and came home to make a wonderful dinner of grilled steaks, sausage, mashed potatoes, broccoli and watermelon. 

That evening we sat at the pool while Little Bear swam his way to bed time. A great peaceful day.

Settling In Paradise

My first day on the little desert island starts out beautiful, sunny with a steady breeze and 79 degree temperatures and a beautiful view. It didn't really matter that the beautiful view was a in a dirty apartment after a 36-hour travel day. How exciting to actually be here in the Caribbean. At 36 years old I've waited a long time to get here. I enjoy a cup of hot tea on the balcony and slowly everyone else except Jon start to stir.

Ever the caretaker, Grandma gets us all up an moving toward the small grocery on the resort and breakfast. Everyone except Jon; we let him sleep.  Papa, Little Bear, along with myself and Grandma make our way down to the resort restaurant for breakfast. We enjoyed a delightfully overpriced European breakfast buffet of meats, cheeses, fresh bread, fruit, scrambled and hard boiled eggs, pancakes, french toast and hash browns. Oh, and I cannot leave out the best part - Cafe Lattes as they were meant to be. Little did I know at the time it would the first of many great lattes.

Little Bear picked his way through some fruit, lots of scrambled eggs and some meat then decided it was time to go chase the birds. Grandma too enjoys birds so off they go while Papa and I sit back and finish our lattes. It is warm but the breeze is lovely and the view from the beach side restaurant was almost worth the ridiculous price.

Having paid the bill large enough to be a week of groceries, Papa and I went in search of Grandma and Little Bear. We found them at the beach. Little Bear is squealing with delight as the waves were, in his words "chasing me Mommy!"

One of the things I love about Grandma is that like me, she values and encourages experiences and truly loves watching Little Bear learn and do new things. This is Little Bear's first real encounter with the ocean. How lovely that she and Papa are here to help Little Bear form great memories.

After some more play time we all make our way back to the little grocery and picked up some items for lunch. We were all hoping we could move from the small, dirty apartment into the newly cleaned house that we actually rented. By the time we returned, Jon was up and we all packed up and ate lunch and sure enough we got the call that the house was ready.

If I thought the view from the apartment was grand... this was amazing!

We spent the afternoon unpacking and playing in the pool. We finished off the day at a nice restaurant where I had an amazing lamb burger and a watered down mojito. Little did I know, the mojitos would only get better from here on out.

Longest Travel Day Finally Ends

After a long 36-hour travel day everyone was accounted for. At first Jon complained that his parents had such a late flight but in the end it worked out for the best.

We arrived around 3:00 in the afternoon with the expectation that our house would be ready to go at 4:00 pm. Well expectations need to be severely adjusted because Buffett was right when he sang about Island life being laid back and in no rush. Our house was a mess. I started to have doubts that this was going to be paradise. The house was in bad shape and less than impressive. The host opened up the house so we could put our baggage inside and assured us she'd call the cleaners. We decided to go downtown and get something to eat while we waited.

This is when I fell in love with Island life. We sat on a shady patio with decent food and a cool breeze. The people watching was enough to keep us entertained for quite some time. Little Bear chased pigeons and even saw a man, who Jon swears was here 10 years ago, carrying and showing off two large iguanas to the locals and tourists alike. Little Bear is hoping every day that we'll see the lizards again. We asked some locals and they confirmed Jon's declaration that it was in deed the same guy. I have to admit, I'd like a photo of that.

After more than an hour of dining and people watching we got a text that the cleaners would not return today and that our host would put us up in an apartment. We went back to the resort and moved our things to the apartment after spending a good 20 minutes searching the complex in the dark. The apartment didn't have towels and dirty sheets strewn about but the floor and almost every surface was covered in a thin layer of brownish dust. Yuk! But at this point we were all pushing 37 hours of waking time and I didn't really care. The beds were made and seemed fairly clean.

Before we could fall into bed however, we had to go pick up Grandma and Papa from the airport. Jon and I agreed that it was probably for the best that they were not the ones to arrive first and find the messy house. So after the longest travel day I've ever had, we picked up the in-laws with no trouble and finally crashed for the night.

This is the view I woke up to the next morning. Things were looking up...

Thirty-seven Hour Day

It is a bright, sunny Friday morning and I roll out of bed at 8:00 am. Time to get ready for our family trip to Curacao in the hot steamy Caribbean. My son, who I affectionally call "little bear", has just turned five an is excited to be going on a plane for the first time. He is up munching on a pop-tart as my husband Jon is pulling the covers over his head in an attempt to get a few more hours of sleep.

Our flight leaves at 6:00 am tomorrow morning. And like most things in life, the best deal on plane tickets involves a bigger city than our own that is about three hours away. So, 6:00 am for an international flight in a city three hours from home. Yep, this is a bit of problem. Hey! We are young, we can handle anything right?

After considering and discarding the idea of a hotel at the airport we are left with the option of taking off from home in the middle of the night to arrive at the airport before dawn. So here I am, up at 8:00 am on Friday morning and the realization that I won't get to bed until around 9:30 or 10:00 pm on Saturday. "Well," I tell myself, "I can always sleep on the plane."

Friday sped by in whirl of clothes, suitcases, bouncing child and cleaning. I hate coming home to a dirty house... so I'm glad I had time to scrub the bathrooms and mop the floors. Little Bear is tucked into bed with his stuffed puppy "Puppy" dreaming of airplanes as Friday evening draws to a close.

Everything goes well as we load up our luggage and sleeping child into the car around midnight. Jon and I are both excited about our trip and eager to make it to the airport on time. The drive is dark and peaceful. We listen to FOX News on satellite radio and laugh or scoff at the silly way they present information and sometimes at the information itself.

We pull into the airport around 3:00 am and park the car in the extended parking and even get a spot right next to a bus pick up station. Little Bear wakes up and is beaming with excitement through his sleepy smile. My husband is wonderful at planning and executing trips, there is always one brewing int he back of his mind. So I had no trouble believing him when he said, "The shuttles run 24/7 about every 10 to 12 minutes." These are the kinds of facts he would have sought out and remembered. So we wait. The minutes tick by and in the northern mid-west, the early June morning is chilly and I have pool Little Bear dressed in shorts and t-shirt. I pull the "car" blanket out and decide we'll take it with us; somehow we'll shove it in a bag. Time drags on with no sign of life at three am. The terminal looms in the distance and there is NO way we are walking. I glance at Jon wondering if I should ask how certain he is that the shuttles run 24 hours a day, just then we see the shuttle slowly moving toward us.

Then it turns before reaching us and continues through the parking lot and back to the terminal. What just happened? The indicator light on the top of our shelter is blinking away... why didn't they stop?
After a few moments of waiting and discussion about our luck we decide to walk down the shelter that isn't too far and close to where the shuttle turned. Indicator light flashing above the shelter we see a shuttle coming from the opposite direction. In our anxiousness it seems to take forever to wind ever closer. We are happy it finally stops, picks us up and takes to the airport.

Of course everything in the airport is closed at 3:00 am, including the check-in counters. So we join the people sitting around waiting for the ticket counter to open so we can check our bag. We pull out some apples, oranges and have a morning snack while we wait by a huge robot made of bridges. Little Bear, being obsessed with transformers thinks this is the coolest thing ever.

Bags checked we make our way through security to the terminal and see a skeleton of T-Rex. Little Bear has decided this is the neatest air port ever with robots and t-rex. "Just like Night at the Museum" he says as he looks up with wonder. I couldn't help but snap a photo.

This is where the excitement for Little Bear ends. We spend the next two hours waiting in plastic chairs....


Even a two hour wait is forgotten in the excitement of flying for the first time! Little Bear loved everything about take off.

Everything was going smoothly so after ordering a ginger ale for Little Bear, I decided to nap while he watched movies on his phone. Somewhere between waking and sleeping, I feel him touch my arm and press down but somehow my brain is startled and I jerk fully awake. As I jerk awake, I manage to knock the tray and send his ginger ale flying all over both of us. In typical Little Bear style he pats my arm and says, "Its ok Mommy."

After a connection in Miami and a sack of Wendy's, a quick catnap minus the ginger ale we land with ease in Curacao. Little Bear was so great through the long customs lines and soon we were picked up curb side by a local car rental agency. Leave it to Jon to find the best deals with the friendliest service. I watched from the air conditioned car as people waited in the hot sun at the national car rental companies. Did I mention my husband is the best?!

Despite being the best a picking out rentals and fabulous places, that doesn't mean they are ready for us when we arrive..... my short naps are wearing thin and we've go no where to rest.