Things slowed down in February… apart from our winter trip to Curacao I only have two pics of my paddle tennis season. First was from a day that we had to shovel the snow off the courts ourselves so we didn’t have to forfeit a match!

Also we celebrated the end of the season with a team party! Our team came in first place in our flight (the lowest in the league) so we’ll be moving up next year. A fun time with a wonderful group of women.

Now on to the vacation pics! For winter break this year we traveled to Curacao, a Dutch island in the Caribbean off the coast of Venezuela.

We stayed at a beautiful small resort called Baoase. When we arrived our room was not ready so we enjoyed some beverages and small bites in the resort’s main hotel which opens right onto the beach. Sarah realized on this trip that she likes tuna sashimi! She’s always enjoyed ahi tuna steak but really prefers the pink (raw) part inside so sashimi is perfect for her.

Pretty banyan tree in the courtyard on the way to our room.

Our room was a separate house in its own courtyard, with two bedrooms, and outdoor kitchen and pool. Our one complaint about the resort was that we needed a room key to get in and out to access the kitchen, which was annoying. Oh and our second complaint was this outdoor kitchen had a bunch of mosquitoes! Which apparently is seasonal, and the resort sprayed them while we were there, which helped somewhat.

Apart from those minor issues the resort was AMAZING! Small and private with its own beach around a lagoon where we could snorkel and kayak. And the food was delicious.

There were cute lizard friends everywhere, as well.

More sashimi!

One day we left our resort to drive around the island and check out another beach, Grote Knip. Unfortunately we got caught in some rain, and yet somehow the beach was still really crowded! Sarah was not a fan.

Back at the resort for more food! And chess.

Another day we went to check out Mambo beach and had lunch at the Bonita Beach Club and tried some regular and risotto bitterballen, and truffle fries.

Then we went to the Curacao Sea Aquarium and saw some flamingos and dolphins.

On another day we went into Willemstad to see the town and especially to check out the floating pedestrian bridge. Here’s the governor’s house.

And the bridge! We walked across and then went to the Kura Hulanda Museum which focuses on the Atlantic slave trade, well worth a visit.

On the walk back across the bridge the alarm started going off so we dashed across and then got to see the bridge open to allow some boats through. One end of the bridge detaches and then pivots sideways to create an opening for boats.

Then we walked around Willemstad and got some souvenirs before heading back.

Back at the resort, Andrew tried the Blue Baoase, basically a pina colada with blue curacao!

Sunset over the Bida beach club.

We made the most of our last morning with one more swim in the lagoon, and then said goodbye to Baoase and to Curacao! A perfectly relaxing winter break trip.