As we rounded the south end of Aruba the very first thing to be seen was a large and very ugly oil refinery. Not a very auspicious start to our visit as far as I was concerned. As we sailed past the stink became a bit overwhelming. Fortunately the breeze was strong enough to get us past the odiferous area in short time. After passing that particular blight on the land the scenery became a little more pleasant. It is about 12 miles on up to Barcadero where we planned to check in and we had good wind on the beam with flat seas and were running about 8 kts. That's a real good sail for us and we enjoyed it all the way. Arriving off Barcadero we called Aruba Port Control and asked permission to enter and check in. It was granted immediately and we turned into the channel with coral reef visible on both sides. There were several Venezuelan vegetable boats already tied to the dock so eased around the corner and Linda prepared to do her cowgirl act with the dock lines. Just then 2 crewmen from the Ven boats hurried over to catch our lines and make life so much easier. In a couple of minutes we were secure to the dock with an offshore breeze holding us off the BIG ugly black tires used as permanent fenders on many docks. While they are no problem for large steel hulled power boats, they are hell on fiberglass yachts. I thanked the lads with smile and a cold beer. A customs officer eventually wandered out to the boat to approve our arrival and send us up to the office to complete the paperwork. Then over to immigration and we're done. We motored another 2 miles up the coast to the north airport anchorage and dropped the hook among 5 other boats. To the north about half a mile was the cruise ship docks and downtown Oranjestad. Towering over us, even at half a mile, were 3 crise ships. On the other side of us was the west end of the main runway at the international airport. There are an amazing number of arrivals and departures each day. One plane every 10 to 15 minutes. Still, the holding was good and the location convenient. Besides we had no intention of staying any longer than it took to get a wx window for the run to Cartagena. We met some new friends in this anchorage, Mike and Ineka on Conari, and were invited to tour the island with them in their rental car. Naturally we accepted and of we went to see the wizard. Aruba is the smallest of the ABC's and it didn't take long to see most of what there is to see. The southeast end is where most local people live, however most work in Orajestad and the hotel strip north of there. This is where Ft Lauderdale south comes in to the picture. As you drive thru the hotel strip you begin to see familiar names on the hotels and restuarants. Care to stop at Hooters for calamari strips? How about Tony Romas for ribs? In a hur? There's always Mc Donalds or Burger King. There are 50 more familiar names, but I think you get the idea. There is an excellent IGA supermarket where almost anything you could buy in the states is available. Not cheap, but available. We did some serious provisioning there. Never got out the door for less than $300!!! Anyway, it was very much like driving the east coast of FL near Ft Lauderdale. We got very lucky soon after this drive as a long comfortable wx window suddenly appeared around us and it was time to go while we still had a couple of bucks in the bank!