DISCLAIMER: THIS IS A SPONSORED BLOG POST. EVERYTHING I WRITE AND POST IS 100% MY OPINION. IF I DON’T LOVE IT, I DON’T POST IT. SIMPLE AS THAT!
Last month Mark and I needed to escape. Like bad. Between “Our Historic Wonderland” restoration madness, our recent “Project Lakehouse Flip” completion, our personal home being on the market, two kids and oh yeah, a business to run… we were ready to run away. To somewhere amazing for a little rewind and refresh. We have always had this “work hard play hard” mentality so traveling has always been our thing. Our return to sanity. Mark’s parents started a tradition with the girls several years ago we named “Camp Mema and D-Daddy”. Otherwise known as “whatever you want whenever you want it”. So basically the girls send us packing so “Project Spoil the Grandbabies” can commence. Knowing your littles are being loved on is always step one for a relaxing getaway.
My request for our romantic Summer vaca was clear water and white sand. Mark’s request was to never have to leave the resort. So my friends, that landed us at The Ritz Carlton Aruba. One thing we have learned in our love for traveling and visiting new places is that The Ritz Carlton truly does it best. No matter where you are in the world, the Ritz spoils and pampers you unlike anything we have ever experienced. Ever. Seriously from the moment we walked into the gorgeous resort, we felt like royalty. Here’s a quick look at the amazingly beautiful property…
We honestly weren’t quite sure what to expect of Aruba. We had never been to the island nor really even been close to that far south. Like you could basically swim to Venezuela. Well I couldn’t… but Michael Phelps could. I knew the water seemed to get clearer and more beautiful the further south you go so we were super excited to see the ocean in Aruba. And boy was it AH-mazing?!? It literally had this incredible iridescence that I never felt I could truly capture in a picture. We felt like we were in the ultimate Paradise.
Shop This Post…
From the moment we stepped into the car on the way to the resort, we were amazed at how friendly everyone was. We’ve been to lots of beautiful islands from Jamaica to St. Thomas to Bermuda and had never encountered such friendly locals. Overall it just seemed like such a different atmosphere than we’d become accustomed to in other places. Although Mark loves to sit on his booty all week, I love to get out and explore so I loved the fact that the island was safe to roam.
Once we arrived on Monday afternoon, we grabbed a cocktail and hit the sushi bar! I am a total mojito girl but everyone suggested we try their local specialty called “Kadushi” which means cactus in Papiamento, the local language. It was love at first sip. I was totally expecting to pass it along to Mark but it was soooo good! Sweet and refreshing and they even say that cactus has lots of health benefits too! Okay fine… I will have another drink 😉
Top / Wedges / Shorts (links to similar)
And then we did what everyone with a West coast view should do in the evening, watched the sunset…
Oh and this is coming from an East coast girl who never gets to watch a TRUE sunset!
Since I LOVE to explore, the Ritz provided us with an island tour on Tuesday morning so we hit the road to fully experience this gorgeous yet tiny 19 mile by 6 mile island…
Hat / Bathing Suit / Tee / Bag / Shorts (links to similar)
Casibari Rock Formations…
Balashi Gold Mill Ruins…
Wishing Stones…
Lighthouse…
My Favorite Little Cottage…
Alto Vista Chapel
We so super enjoyed adventuring the island and discovering so many beautiful spots! My favorite part was stopping at all of the desolate beaches and walking along the rocks into the water. Seriously breathtaking! Yep, still my favorite part even though Mark wouldn’t let me cliff dive. Just because I married the most accident prone human on Earth doesn’t mean I will trip over the dog and bust my nose on the basement floor. Oops sorry boo, totally called you out on that one!
Once we got back to the resort we hit up the Club Level for lunch. This was a Ritz first for us and something we didn’t even realize existed! Mark sums it up as “unlimited awesomeness”. Basically it’s a private lounge that you purchase access to and then you can enjoy breakfast, lunch, snacks, dessert AND drinks almost all day. And it’s endless. Mark’s favorite thing ever. Like ALMOST more than me. Almost.
After lunch, I grabbed another Kadushi, only because it’s so crazy healthy (hehe), and hit the cabana! The Ritz reserved us a private cabana and it was my definition of amazingness. Stocked mini fridge and all!
I’d then sum up most of the following days as cocktails, Kings of Leon on repeat and hours upon hours wading in the beautiful clear water. Literally heavenly.
Oh and did I mention that I discovered a SECOND favorite drink?!? It’s a coconut mojito made with coconut milk. So good. Like so so good.
And then I discovered this resort float and it was over. We literally sat in here and talked until we basically floated several resorts down and had to carry it back.
We then ended each day at the pool and talked and floated until everyone left and the sun started to go down. Honestly one of my favorite memories from the trip. So many awesome talks and we had the entire pool to ourselves…
Most mornings we just grabbed a quick bite at the Club Lounge. Well, I grabbed a quick bite. Mark basically has a seven course meal. Thursday morning we dined at their restaurant Soliano for breakfast. I mean, who could pass up this view with coffee and the tastiest avocado toast?!?
And then for our last evening we had the dinner experience of a lifetime! Literally. We dined at Soliano once again but this time we watched the sunset and listened to live music while being pampered Ritz style.
From the bread to the wine to the appetizers we were almost full before dinner even arrived! So we sat and enjoyed the view for a little while…
Once it was time for our entrees, the head Chef prepared lobster ravioli tableside. Our dinner was absolutley incredibly. Every single last detail was perfection. And then we just had to order the flaming dessert too! We aren’t pyros I promise 😉
All in all it was vacation perfection. The Ritz can without a doubt create the absolute most amazing experience full of relaxation, adventure and romance. Whether you need a little getaway or are celebrating something amazing, I would suggest the Ritz Aruba time and time again. We even vowed during one of our pool talks to bring the kiddos with us next time!
Shop This Post…
XOXO, Brittany Hayes
+ view the comments
