End Of The World!: Aruba Trip Part Four

Sometimes, even when you are away on a trip far, far, away from home, certain things are necessary for some of us to do in order to satisfy the urges to root for the home team, the Baltimore Ravens. We tried hard to find some way to watch the football game on Sunday against the Oakland Raiders. Our hotel, the Occidental Grand, has several tv screens in the lobby, the casino, and two at the pool bar.....not to mention the tv's in each of our rooms. The problem was, the hotel did not have a satellite or cable subscription that actually had a channel that would broadcast our particular game. The only game showing at the hotel was to be the NY Giants game.........sorry.......that ain't gonna work for some of us folks from Baltimore.

We were told that TGI Fridays.......just a short walk down the road from our hotel.......would be our best bet to see our game since they have numerous screens. It was a no-brainer.......a small contingent of us proceeded to hit the road and find that TGI Friday place..........it is GAME TIME!

Upon our arrival, we immediately queried the bartender about our game........he checked with someone, came back and said "Yes!, we can get it!". Ooooooh Yeah!. He proceeded to put our game on one of the screens and we sat down at the bar. Soon a few others from our hotel showed up to join us.

One of the staff at TGI Fridays, while standing at the front door, greeted me as returned from stepping outside for a moment. She points to my shirt and smiles and says "My last name is Raven!".........Imagine that!.........this has to be an omen............what are the odds that we are in Aruba at a TGI Fridays so far away from home and somebody says their name is Raven? I just had to get a picture.

I gotta tell you, the people who work at this particular TGI Fridays were extremely friendly and helpful. I wished they had worked back at the hotel.

The two at the end of the bar were Oakland Raiders fans..........us vs. them....hehehe.....we had them out numbered. Actually they were also very friendly and appeared to have enjoyed the game even though the ultimate outcome was disappointing for them.

Don't be fooled by the guy with the Bears jersey on......he was with us..........and the Bears had a bye week. We all cheered and watched the game as we drank our drinks and ate our food. I must tell you.............these women got into the game more than the guys did............and much much louder too.....hehehe.

So what did I drink while watching the big game?..............Balashi, of course.

The game ended......the Ravens won.......we were all happy........and we headed back to our hotel.

TGI Fridays is located in an outdoor shopping center. This is how it looked from the front door of the restaurant. At the center of the photo, just past those columns, is a swimming pool.......imagine that. Also, in that same pool, is a fountain which incorporates pyrotechnics. Nice.

This is the entrance arch to the shopping center.

This is what it looks like as you approach the TGI Fridays.

Apparently, this place is rather new. It is very clean and certainly not low-budget.

One of the other restaurants in the center.

When on vacation, you have to take a photo of one of the buses.

It is very upscale and interesting here........much to look at.

This is a view along the sidewalk in front of the shopping center. I enjoy seeing good landscaping and signage.

Oh well........we stood for a few minutes and then headed down the road.

Speaking of down the road.........this is the Holiday Inn where Natalee Holloway was staying. As you probably know, she went missing......never to be found. After seeing this area and spending some time here I never ever got any impression of danger. Unless one puts themself in a dangerous situation where you are vulnerable and away from your group.......it is safe here.

As I look down the road, everything is tidy.............at times it felt like the set of that old tv show The Prisoner.

As I walked, I looked everywhere around me..........in every crook and nanny.

This is a Yellow Bus. My guess it is a cab more than it is a bus. Why don't we have these vehicles here at home?

As some of you may know, I spent a decent part of my life making signs. I also made alot of traffic signs but I never made any such as these.

Here is an employee of the shop behind her. She was just standing there and I told her that I wanted to see a nice big smile. She smiled and I snapped the picture. Sometimes you have to make people smile................perhaps she was having a bad day.

The Playa Linda hotel was two doors away from our hotel. From the front it looked rather nice.

Along the way there are various establishments such as Smokey Joe's.

We kept marching back towards our hotel............it seemed a bit different heading back......maybe it was the Balashi......hehehe.

I noticed the trees were very unusual.

Ahhhhh we are almost there........the Hyatt was next door to our hotel.

Now here is an odd looking tree.

Hooters is right across the street from the Occidental Grand......so is the Benihana. I didn't bother with going over there.............everything was paid for where we were staying.