Aruba, Eat, Drink be Happy

Eating in Aruba can be quite expensive. Everything on the Island must be brought in which up's the price. We had a one bedroom condo with a kitchen and cooked most of our meals; but did go out a few times while there. One day for lunch after being on a tour of The Island we stopped and got pizza. Not just any pizza...probably the best pizza we've ever had. You must put Tomato Charlies on your list of place to go.
Look how yummy it looks. The crust was nice and thin and crisp, love it that way. We got the veggie pizza, and as you can see it's loaded, not skimpy at all. Nice big pieces of fresh veggies. It was so good, we considered going back a 2nd time; but didn't as we wanted to try a few other places. We will though return here on our next trip to Aruba. I do recommend it, HIGHLY. This location is on the main drag across from the beach, so it's easy to throw a wrap on and walk up from the beach for lunch. Inside and outside eating is available.

Whether you dine in or out, drink Aruba's Beer, Balashi. Hubby says it's quite good. I'm allergic to beer, but did taste it and agree. Balashi, beer made right there in Aruba, not brought in like everything else is highly recommended.
We love Italian food, and so found Azzurro's right on the beach. We had reservations, and did dress for dinner; though I did see some folks in shorts, I had a summer skirt. Nice atmosphere. You eat outside, but under a Palopa . Service wasn't particularly good, in that it was slow; but we enjoyed ourselves anyway. Food was good, not great. The best part is it's on the beach, carry your shoes and walk down the beach in the moonlight; stop at one of the many water stations to rinse the sand off your feet, slip your shoes back on........then go to dinner.
Here it is during the day where you can see The Palapa. It's great...you're outside but in shade during the day, covered at night with fans if it's too warm. Truly the best of both worlds and you're right on the beach. It's located at Playa Linda's Resort, right next to our favorite place for Happy Hour, Claudia's.
Carrots! Don't rub your eyes, you are seeing correctly. They are HUGE. One day shopping at a local groceries, I spotted them and felt the need to take a picture. These carrots, the largest I've ever seen were several inches in diameter.

For our special night out (we do that once a trip), we ate at Gianni's. Excellant food, better service than Azzurro's, though they owned by the same folks. Gianni's is known for being "real" Italian from everyone we came in contact with. What I didn't like though was it's very loud and large. Normally, good Italian Restaurants are small cozy and romantic. We had so so Martini's and would not recommend them. We probably will return here on the next trip as the food was excellent. We ate outside, but perhaps indoors would be less hectic. We were here on a Sat evening, and probably would have enjoyed it more had we gone through the week. The night we were there was day 1 of Spring Break for folks from Venezuela. We understand that week is crowded everywhere on The Island. I wasn't able to get any photo's there, sorry folks.

We at dinner our first night The Pelican Bar and Grill on the beach, but do not recommend it, and will not go back there on our next trip to The Island of Aruba. Service was slow, drinks lousy (we only had Vodka and Tonic and Gin and Tonic which are pretty hard to mess up), food wasn't good.

We recommend Link and Sons Grocery, but be sure you get good directions as it's not on the main drag and is behind 2 other grocery stores.

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Farm country, corn fields, barns...a rural area. Gettysburg, Pennsylvania was just that prior to The Civil War. This picture from afar shows a cloudy day where it's hard to think about a battle, any battle going on here........let alone the bloodiest battle ever in the history of our country. July 1st through July 3rd of 1863, 51,112 people were killed, wounded or went missing. 28,000 of those were The Confederates, making The North-The Union the winning side.

Ziegler's Grove at the northern end of cemetery ridge might have been considered picturesque with Oak, Hickory and Chestnut Trees providing shade. However, this area marks general positions held by General Alexander Hays, Division of the 2nd Corp. In fact he used the adjacent farm, The Brian/Bryan Farm as his headquarters. Heading southward a long stone wall provided great protection for The Union forces, during the well known Pickett's Charge. Confederates attempted to cross about 200 feet away at Emmitsburg Road and were repulsed with the aid of The 8th Ohio Infantry

There are approximately 1,328 monuments to see, read, and photograph at Gettysburg. Some honor an individual, some honor a corp or company, and some honor a specific state. Some of the monument are bronze, some stone, and some a combination thereof. All are impressive and require time to stop, read and think about. We took hundreds of photo's and with stormy conditions, and then bright sun, many aren't readable which is disappointing. Perhaps we'll get to return. There's so much one really can't absorb it all in one visit anyway.

It's an awesome experience to be there, to see, to feel. I encourage all to go, to spend time. I encourage all to try and understand, what I know we can not fully understand...brother fighting brother. And though we can not fully understand, it's important to try.

Some of the Monuments I thought impressive.

29th Ohio Infantry Monument, showing tent and supplies, very interesting. This monument was erected in 1887. Additional information listed on the monument says Engaged 332, killed 7, wounded 31 (2 mortally), total loss 38.
Beautiful, moving Bronze image of battle, from the state of Delaware.

Showing Battle lines and distances of who was where.
Ziegler's Grove

A very impressive monument from the state of Pennsylvania listing every name of those who served from that state. It also indicates who died. This monument is the largest in the park, and was dedicated in 1910. They are 8 large, very impressive statues standing tall on this monument. They are President Lincoln, the only non Pennsylvanian to be so honored; Andrew Curtin Governor of the state during the war, and 6 homegrown military hero's: General George Meade, General John Reynolds, General David Birney, Alfred Pleasonton, David McMurtry Gregg, and General Winfield Scott Gregg.

Rev. Father William Corby, Chaplain of the 88th Regiment New York Infantry, Irish Brigade. He was President of Notre Dame from 1866-1872 and 1877-1881. From The Congregation of the Holy Cross, shown here given general absolution and a blessing before the carnage of Gettysburg began. This monument was erected in 1910 along the southern end of Cemetery Ridge on Gettysburg Avenue.

This is a very brief view, there is sooooooo much at Gettysburg.
My G post for the Z-A challenge.