TYPICAL TRIPS AND PLAYING RECORDS

One of the splendid aspects of being a casino Blackjack player is that I have an excuse to go somewhere else, preferably some' place warm when it's bitter winter where I live. In fact, the most, fabulous holiday I've ever had was just such a trip to Aruba.

BLACKJACK IN THE SUN: ARUBA

My wife had tried to get me to take a winter holiday for nearly' ten years. She had been suggesting Aruba for the last five of those-1 years when I finally gave in. She promised to pay for the trip,j eleven hundred dollars for the entire one-week stay. What an offer! The price included round-trip air fare, a week's hotel ac-commodations, complete breakfasts daily, a cocktail party at a different hotel every night, as well as glass-bottom boat rides, skin diving, discount jewelry coupons, and free gambling-chip cou-pons. I needed a complete rest from my hectic teaching and research, so I brought along only a small stake: one thousand dollars in gambling money (my usual stake is five thousand to ten thousand dollars).

I couldn't pass up the opportunity to win some money When we left home it was below zero with several feet of snow on the ground. After a pleasant but somewhat long (five hours) charter flight, we arrived in Aruba. It was sunny, temperature in the eighties, and everywhere we looked were smiling, friendly faces. We took an air-conditioned bus to our hotel, the Divi-Divi, named for a famous local tree that looks like a woman's hair in a windstorm.

The leaves and branches of the divi-divi tree all flow in one direction because of the constant ocean breezes. The Divi-Divi Hotel is reputed to be the coziest spot on the island, and I highly recommend it. However, there are a number of other ho-tels, large and small, from which to choose.

The largest of several, all within walking distance of each other, are where the casinos are located. These are the Concord, Sheraton, Caribbean, Americana, and Holiday Inn. They share a tranquil cove, which makes swimming very pleasant. The only problem is that if you are staying at one of them, you might as well be stay-ing in Chicago or any other large American city. If you want to soak up the native atmosphere, you're much better off at the Divi-Divi or some other smaller hotel. Wherever you plan to stay, it will take reservations as much as a year in advance, especially during the winter, since Aruba is becoming one of the most popu-lar winter resorts in the world.

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