Willemstad, Curaçao

I remember the 2004 little league world series winning team from Curaçao and more recently their loss to Hawaii in the 2022 WS final. At the time, I wondered where is Curaçao? Curaçao is located just north of Venezuela and is the largest of the ABC islands, all Dutch protectorates. (ABCs are Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao)

You can see the Dutch architecture in the houses, with the distinct protruding beam (used for hoisting large heavy items) as seen in Amsterdam. The capital of Willemstad is divided by a narrow inlet with a floating bridge. One side is Otrobanda with old estate houses and more recent street art, the other side is Punda which hosts government buildings, some homes built as early as 1706, and Fort Amsterdam.

The gate to the national baseball stadium was open and I was able to walk onto the field and take a few pictures. The electronic scoreboard was donated by the Dodgers, no doubt during the Kenley Jansen years as he is one of several MLB stars who were born in Curaçao. Ozzie Albies and Jurkison Profar are also from Curacao, with Profar staring on the 2004 little league team.