Friday, April 8th

We fixed coffee and I called Susan and they will make the flight.  We sat on the balcony and had our coffee and took in the view here.  It is beautiful.  It is at Debbie's too but her view is now covered by vegetation that has grown taller over the years.  Here we are lucky to be in the building that faces the ocean and being on the 6th floor our view is unobstructed.  It is another beautiful morning.  We make a list of the things we need to get at Ling's and take our time getting ready to go.  Debbie wants to stop at the Divi to speak with the manager before we go in case they are going to give her compensation for the missing items.  Susan and Kevin's flight is due to land at 1:20 this afternoon so we have plenty of time to do what we need to do.  We took a stroll around the grounds to see where everything is and had to stop by the front desk as they didn't give us the wrists bands for the Lazy River and our chair tags so camera's in hand this is what we saw:

This is an absolutely beautiful complex.  The grounds and the units are equally as gorgeous.  The only drawback is the size of the buildings.  This means it's a long walk to anywhere on the property and if all the units are full, it will be crowded daily poolside and on the beach although the beach is at it widest point here.  This is the reason for the chair tags.  You may pick out a lounge poolside or by the lazy river beginning at 7 AM daily and put your tag on it.  If you do not show up for two hours they will remove the tag and you have to get another from the front desk.  There is security everywhere you look here and they are looking for the wristbands and they do an excellent job of keeping things under control on the property.  After taking the camera and wristbands and chair tags back to the unit we head to the Divi for round 2 of negotiations.  We arrive and the girl at the desk says we should have a seat and she will call  as the manager is out on the property.  She calls Debbie and I decide to wait in the lobby while she goes to speak with him.  They immediately take her to an office as I don't think they want anymore people to hear what has happened.  She is gone for about 20 minutes and when she comes out she doesn't appear to be happy.   She said we need to go to her unit as the maid brought more stuff back and put it in there.  While we walked she said he was condescending to her and said they could nickel and dime this situation to death but he agreed to zero her balance which was $118 providing she didn't charge anything else...what a jerk.  We get to the unit and on the counter is a bag.  There was a bag of unopened lettuce and edamame...both on the counter, not in the refrigerator so what good was that now?  Stupidity!  We left and went to Ling's and bought the things that we didn't get back as well as some beer and snacks.  We get back and get it all put away and make up a snack tray for pre-dinner cocktails as we will go to Madam Janette's tonight for dinner.  It is now a bit after 2 and we decide to walk down to the entrance and wait for Susan and Kevin to arrive.  You can tell when the planes begin landing each day and the number of porters increase and people are walking around the pool area in long pants and jackets....it's like that at all the hotels here not just the Marriott.  The Marriott however has a steel drummer playing in the lobby during check in hours, cool towels and bottled water which is a nice touch.  The people from their flight are arriving but we wait an hour and they don't show and we head back to the room.  Shortly after we got up there they arrived and they had apparently stopped for a cocktail downtown after they got their rental car.  They are impressed with the unit and we have drinks and chat and shower and head to dinner.  Debbie and I always look forward to dinner at Madam Janette's and you have to have reservations before you get to Aruba or generally you don't get in.  It is outdoor seating but there are lots of trees and they have them all lit and a combo plays guitar and sings so its a nice atmosphere and the food is always wonderful.  We get there early and are seated right away.  It is enjoyable but not as good as it has been in past years.  Susan and Kevin do really enjoy theirs.  We head back and decide to go play in the Marriott casino.  Kevin is exhausted as he hasn't had any sleep since getting off work  36 hours ago so he stays and the girls head over for a bit of slot play.  We had fun but all of us are tired from a long day and since we had walked over it was now time to take the long walk back from the hotel.  I wish I knew exactly how far it was walking but hotel has 3 buildings, then its the Ocean Club property with 3 more buildings and then the Surf Club is the biggest of the 3 but it is just a long way. Debbie and I had stopped in the Marketplace store/deli at the Surf and found this "Pelican Pecan Pie" that looked awesome so we bought two of them that afternoon.  We got back and cut each of them in half and had tea and OMG they were so good...so yes Lady Kay, there was PIE!  We decided we would go back tomorrow and get two more which was enough for 4 of us.  With a full day behind us we turn in.