birthday trip to aruba!

my dad & stepmom took court & i to aruba to celebrate my 25th birthday! i hadn't been to aruba in about 4 years and it was so good to get back!

we left charlotte on saturday morning around 7:30am and we were all checked into our hotel (marriott stellaris) by 1pm. we had lunch and hit the beach for a few hours before getting ready for dinner at texas de brazil.



 

{view from our room}

 

after a delicious dinner, we headed back to the hotel to play blackjack for a few hours before hitting the hay after being awake since 5am!

 

sunday was my actual birthday so we woke up early and ordered room service, of course! we got ready and headed out on our excursion for the day. we rode UTVs all over the island of aruba - it was amazing. i saw a lot of the island that i had never seen before and we rode all sorts of crazy places. the tour lasted about 4 hours and we had a great tour guide from de palm tours! i highly recommend doing this tour if you are ever in aruba!

 

 

after the tour we beached it for a few hours before dinner at our favorite spot on the island, la trattoria el faro blanco. the restaurant sits up on a hill and you can see the whole island from there - it's absolutely beautiful at sunset. after inhaling my favorite menu item, the gnocchi, and a few bottles of wine, we headed back to the hotel to play some more blackjack & get a good nights sleep. it was an amazing way to bring in year 25!

monday we spent the entire day vegging at the beach. monday evening we went out on the sunset cruise - something we always love to do when we're in aruba! it is a 2 hour catamaran ride around the island with drinks and hors d'oeuvres - it is so relaxing & always a good time. after the cruise, we walked up to ruinas del mar at the hyatt to have dinner. i had a delicious onion soup & a filet with a markers mark demi sauce - holy yum!

tuesday morning we hit the beach for a few hours before having lunch & heading to the airport. another great thing about aruba is that you go through US customs in the aruba airport, so once you get back to the states, you're home free.

it was such a wonderful few days in aruba and i am so thankful that my parents took us for a getaway! cheers to 25 - i have a good feeling about this one!