On April 8, Jerry and I celebrated a very happy first anniversary of marriage. On April 9, we continued the celebration by watching nephew Jacob's soccer game, running by the Taj Ma Hoell to complete our 2010 taxes, and heading up to Dayton International Airport to catch a flight to San Juan, PR (Via Washington Dulles).
Ah, Puerto Rico: where gas is sold in liters, speed is displayed in mph, and distance is measured in kilometers...
And you have to remember to watch out for the iguanas:
We had an action packed trip to Puerto Rico, but we made sure to allow plenty of time for relaxation by the pool. We headed first to pick up our car. On advice from a former Puerto Rican resident and a host of PR travel sites, I requested a compact car. PR drivers are crazy and a compact car would allow me to easily maneuver the craziness. After a ridiculously long wait, we were told that they didn't have any compact cars (it was late, they barely had any stock left), and that they were going to give us an SUV for the same price. This had me slightly worried - you're going to give me a huge car when I ordered a small one? Then this rolled up:
That's right: the 2010 version of the car that I drive everyday! We headed off to el Walmarto to pick up a few snacks and drinks since we heard the resort was a wee bit on the expensive side. And finally around 11:00, we checked into the Wyndham Rio Mar. After begging for a room change so as not to have to watch/hear the pool-goers everyday, it was pajama city.
Sunday, April 10
I was, of course, up very early the next morning to see the view from room:
Sunday was a mostly quiet day around the hotel - touring the grounds, relaxing near the pool for a bit, and enjoying lunch and island drinks at the Tiki Bar. Once it was dark, we headed toward Fajardo to check out the biobay. Because the bioluminescent plankton can only be seen when the moon provides the least light, this was the only day that we could go during our trip as the moon was headed toward full. We kayaked out to a lagoon and back. Because we had to walk through water and were wet the entire time, we couldn't take cameras and therefore have no pictures :(
Monday, April 11
We were supposed to sit through a sales pitch first thing in the morning, but thanks to a whole bunch f confusion, we got out of the sales pitch and still got our free gift: a cabana by the adult pool with chips, drinks, and fruit! After a sitting by the pool for a bit, we headed to the Luquillo Kiosks for lunch at La Parilla where we enjoyed the local specialty: Mofongo (fried plantains mashed with garlic and butter).
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| Plain Mofongo |
After lunch, we explored the rest of the kiosks and headed back to the hotel in time to hit happy hour at the Tiki Bar: 2 for 1 rum punch - my mom would be in heaven here! We had a simple dinner a few more drinks at the lobby bar before hitting the resort casino and quickly losing $20 (but getting free drinks).
Tuesday, April 12
We headed to Old San Juan. Our plan was to first stop at El Churry - a food truck featured on Man vs. Food - to try a local specialty. Unfortunately, El Churry is no more - or possibly it has moved, but it wasn't where we were told. As we entered Old San Juan, we were starving, so we dined at Cafe PR. |
| Lunch: Chicken Stuffed Eggplant with rice and fried plantains |
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| Walking up to El Morro |
Wednesday, April 13
Based on advice from various websites, we drove to El Yunque early in the morning. It was a long an arduous drive since the entrance to the rainforest was across the street from the resort entrance. We drove the main road of the rainforest and decided that we would hike one of the medium size trails: La Mina. We hiked way down to La Mina falls and intersected another medium size trail: Big Tree. We hiked back up the very steep trail thinking that it ended somewhere near La Mina. We ended about 1.5 km from where we started and were forced to hike back up the main road to find our car. Did I mention that it was the RAINforest? It was constantly misting and we hit one heavy downpour, otherwise, the weather was great. |
| La Mina Falls |
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| Overlooking the resort from Richie's |
Thursday, April 14
Jerry really wanted to see Arecibo - a large radio-telescope which I had never heard of until he mentioned it shortly before heading to PR. After a 2 hour drive, mostly along crazy winding roads, we explored the giant dish in the ground and learned why PR is such an amazing location for the research coming from this facility. They have a neat display of the planets throughout the property, located to show the relative distance from the sun. Our drive back through the winding country roads was interesting, particularly when we stopped for goats who had gotten away from their owner. Our trip back included stops for souvenir shopping and drinks at the Luquillo Kiosks. At the hotel, happy hour was back on, and dinner consisted of light bites at the lobby bar.Friday, April 15
It was our last day in PR, so we cashed in on that free cabana rental, and lounged by the pool all day (minus a short break to hit the beach a few steps away). |
| Free Cabana! |
We ended the day with happy hour at the Tiki Bar where our favorite bartender, Warren, might have slipped us an extra rum punch on the house. We called it an early night in light of our early wake-up call for our flight home.
While there was the occasional rain shower, the weather couldn't have been better! We had an amazing time and cannot give enough thanks to everyone who helped us make it happen...
Jerry's parents who let us use their Wyndham points
Gina's parents who entertained Corby on Saturday evening
Eric Faber who provided house- and Corby-sitting services throughout the week
Thank you all for making our first anniversary special!
