So Curacao... Hmm. This is a hard trip to describe, because I wasn't really planning for this trip to be "a thing" and it ended up being a pretty strange outing. My plan for this trip was really to just take some time off at a beach. My other trips this year, to Tobago and (upcoming) Saba, were "dive trips", and neither of those are "beach" destinations, so this trip was supposed to just be about going on a stereotypical "tropical white sand beach" and taking some time off. But this trip turned out to be a bit of rollercoaster.

So even before going on this trip, I had a skin biopsy done so a funny wound on my back, and I was really waffling whether or not to bring my dive gear for such a short trip. I ended up taking a sick day the Tuesday-prior just because I had this persistent dry cough, wasn't getting any sleep, and was just exhausted with a headache. I was on the fence about canceling the trip altogether, but by Friday I was feeling mostly okay, and the trip was non-refundable, so unless it was more definitive, I was going to go. The first hiccup was on the connection in Miami. We finished boarding, they closed the door... and then the pilot announced his seat wasn't locking for take-off. That's a new one. So we waited for maintenance, then de-planed, then waited for them to replace the seat, and then reboarded after like two hours. And then they needed to re-do their air-traffic permits. And THEN because we were idling so long, we needed more fuel. I mean, couldn't these things have been done all at the same time?!

The second hiccup was on arriving at Curacao, found out you had to fill out some online immigration form. So after standing in line, got out of line, filled it out on my phone, then back in line. Then another line to get thru customs which they literally didn't check anyone, but apparently waving people thru is time-consuming. That airport leaves a lot to be desired. The only thing it had going is passport scanning kiosks... which sadly means no passport stamp! Boo.

Anyway got to the resort (four hours late), and only had three things on the itinerary for the entire trip: visit the Curacao Seaquarium, walk around Willemstad, and then read on the beach. Knocked out the first two the first day, and then never left the resort. I will say I'm kinda digging the whole Marriott experience. The resort was kind of out of the way, but like Grand Cayman the service and grounds were great. I've enjoyed every Marriott resort stay way better than any of my RIU Resorts stays.

A word about the Curacao Seaquarium. I like going to visiting local aquariums (I even dragged Rossman to the one in Osaka when we were in Japan), so wasn't going to "pass" on this one. Tickets are $15. Curacao itself is kind of expensive, so putting that in context, it costs $20 to get a quick lunch... so yeah, the Seaquarium was probably worth about $15. I wasn't expecting an impressive aquarium and I was not disappointed nor surprised. I got what I paid for.

Willemstad, other than the colorful buildings and the pontoon-bridge, is pretty average.

So yeah the rest of the time was just coughing at night, feeling pretty-ok-ish during the day, reading, and swimming.

Now that I'm back, I'm still can't tell if I'm getting better. Just rolling with it and hoping the cough clears up. I got home late Tuesday, woke up early for work, then I needed to go into the office on Thursday so woke up early again to beat traffic, so really I'm just tired right now and can't wait to get thru Friday. And since I needed to go into the office, I did a quick home COVID test, and it was negative, which I knew was going to be the case since the only symptom I've had this entire time is this dry-now-wet cough (and occasional headache).

So I can't really say I loved the vacation, nor was it a disaster... just kinda meh. Felt sort of the same way about Curacao on the whole: It wasn't bad, but I have no desire to ever go back. If I found myself in that patch of the globe again, I'd rather go back to Aruba (or Bonaire).