Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory of the U.S. The country was originally claimed by Christopher Columbus for Spain. Under Spanish rule the island was colonized and the indigenous population (Tainos) was forced into slavery. After the Spanish-American war, the U.S. acquired Puerto Rico under the Treaty of Paris of 1898. Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens, which was made legal in 1917. While the U.S. Congress legislates many aspects of life in Puerto Rico, islanders may not vote in U.S. elections. Probably one of the biggest reasons the territory is unwilling to become a state is the fact that Puerto Ricans do not have to pay federal tax. There are two official languages of the islands, Spanish and English.
Our hotel differed from those we’ve stayed at in Mexico in the sense that we were not isolated from the city and culture. The island is relatively small and local life blends right in with the touristy areas. There were plenty of stores and restaurants within walking distance. It seems there was a Walgreens on every corner; more so than Starbucks (although it and Haagen Daas Ice Cream were right across the street). We saw a couple of McDonald’s, but the predominant fast food restaurant in San Juan is most definitely Burger King. We even went to a movie one night at one of the biggest malls I have ever seen!
After leaving Elko on the bright and early 5:50 a.m. flight and a brief stop in Atlanta, we landed in San Juan, Puerto Rico that evening. We took a taxi to our hotel, San Juan Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino, which was located right on the Atlantic Ocean. We were placed in two corner rooms with two balconies in each room, allowing us a great view of the ocean from one and of the city from the other.
That first evening Dave pointed out a cruise ship just off of the island. Puerto Rico is actually the largest cruise ship port in the world. It is the anchor on Eastern and Southern Caribbean itineraries, as well as a turnaround port for many ships. It is common for people to spend a day in San Juan before and after the ship embarks. We met a couple from San Diego at the bus stop one day who had just returned from a cruise and were spending the tail end of their vacation in San Juan.
Weather.com reports indicated we would have rain every single day of our vacation. The first morning made us think that for once the weather reports were accurate! We woke up to a cloudy, cool morning. On my way to the gym that morning, I met a woman in the elevator who assured me that by noon the sun would be shining and the afternoon would be grand. She was right! Thereafter, most days began in the same way with plenty of sunshine in the afternoons. There were lots of windsurfers and boogie boarders in the ocean, and the waves were a lot of fun! Since we arrived between Christmas and New Year’s there were many families; in particular, those with young children.
We spent the first two days of our vacation totally relaxing on the beach. We were all perfectly content with lying on the beach, reading books, and soaking up the sights and sounds of the activities around us. Martha Mudslide (that’s what Dave calls all of the cocktail waitresses on our beach trips) kept our thirst at bay with a few island concoctions and plenty of beer.
One day while Benjamin, Dave, and I were in the ocean riding the waves, Melissa saw a man caught out on the rocks. The hotel employees try their best to keep people away from them, but sometimes the currents take over and people end up next to them without even realizing.
She yelled for someone to help him, and several people made a human chain to get to him. Fortunately, he was brought ashore safely. He had some minor abrasions and cuts, but all in all, he was probably pretty lucky. The waves on this beach were the biggest I’ve ever seen, and they were SO much fun! On that particular day, both Dave and I got hit with two enormous waves. He thought he broke his back, and I was sure I had a concussion!
New Year’s Eve. After dinner in an Argentinian restaurant down the street, we took a walk in the opposite direction of our hotel where we came upon a number of more upscale stores and hotels. We walked down to the beach and agreed that even though the hotel looked a little nicer, our beach was better. Considering we spent much of our waking time on the beach, I think I made the right choice in accommodations. There were people out on the streets, but the roadway was pretty much void of vehicles. Upon returning to our hotel, we spent a bit of time in the casino playing pennies. I think this was the night that Melissa did quite well, winning over $100. Dave, Benjamin, and I probably made up for it by losing at least that much. Frankly, a casino is a casino….no matter where you’re at - you might as well leave your money at the door!
Our hotel hosted three separate New Year’s Eve parties. The first was in the main lobby area with a live band, champagne, and food. It was expensive - $1,200 per table (up to 8 people). Uh…no. Another party was in one of the hotel’s restaurants downstairs and cost about $170 per person. Again…no. Finally, we found the free party. There were flashing lights, the room was freezing, the music was overwhelmingly loud, and there were but a few people in attendance. In the end we chose to buy some drinks at the bar just outside of the “free” party and returned to one of our rooms to see if we could make it to midnight.
Dave and I encouraged (ok, we sent) Benjamin and Melissa down the street to Walgreens for some after dinner snacks. Now, we aren’t sophisticated drinkers or eaters. We were drinking high balls and beer and eating Doritos and sour punch candy while lying in bed. Yep, all four of us in the King size bed. We pulled the drapes open to the view of the city and had Dick Clark’s Rocking New Year’s Eve on the tube. Oh, and in typical Tony Hilim fashion we were moving between the big ball and Man vs. Food!
As the ball dropped ….wait…let me clarify. Puerto Rico is an hour ahead of NYC, so the ball didn’t officially drop, but we used Dave’s watch to count down. At midnight, fireworks went off all over the city. It was unlike anything I have ever seen. There were some being fired off just over the building in front of us, and we could see the reflection in the windows of the condos across from us that fireworks were being shot off either from the top of our hotel or from another building behind us. Looking into the distance, fireworks erupted all along the horizon. The sound was spectacular, and sounded like gunshots as the noise reverberated against the tall buildings. The fireworks went on for a good 20 minutes.
For us, the party was over. Personally, I was amazed that I actually made it to midnight, especially after a sunny and long day at the beach!
One item on my bucket list includes golfing on 50 different courses, and so hitting the links was high on my list of things to do while in the country. The Plantation Pineapple Golf Course at Dorado Beach was about a 45 minute taxi ride from our hotel. Dorado Beach has two 18 hole courses; Pineapple and Sugarcane. After golfing the last few months in Ghana, this course was pure heaven! I wish I could say that this was one of the pictures I took, but alas, neither Dave nor I can figure out how to download pictures from our stupid U.S. Samsung phones! This picture is from their website.
The sand traps were actual sand, the greens were real grass, and the tee boxes were great! It was a pretty forgiving course, and was perfect for Dave and I (the kids stayed back at the hotel as neither one had any desire to golf). Instead of dodging chickens and cows, we saw lots of iguanas sunning themselves. As we were cleaning out our golf cart, one of the workers pointed to the driving range where Chi Chi Rodriguez and his wife were hitting balls. For the non-golfers, Chi Chi is a very famous Puerto Rican professional golfer. There were several houses surrounding the golf course, but I’m not sure they live in one of them or if they were just hitting some balls. Evidently, he was involved in the redesign of one of the other courses on the island, according to the worker. I thoroughly enjoyed the round, and would have loved to have gone back for a round on Sugarcane.
One day we rented a car and took a drive into the El Yunque Rain Forest, which lies on the eastern side of the Luquillo Mountains. The hotel provided us with directions on how to get to the site. Melissa had her iPhone. The GPS and directions given to us by the hotel didn’t quite match. To say the least, the hotel directions were not complete. We ended up taking a road that was clearly going in the wrong direction, but Melissa guided us back out. We drove a few miles on what I would call “the back roads,” seeing some of Puerto Rico’s finer neighborhoods (yea right).
Google is a wondrous thing. What can’t you find out using google? In fact, I wish my last name WAS google! We wondered what constituted a rain forest, so we googled it. Rain forests have an annual rainfall of at least 100 inches and often much more. Another fun fact I found: Rain forests cover only 6% of the Earth’s surface, but yet they contain MORE THAN ½ of the worlds’ plant and animal species.
After spending a little bit of time at the Information Center, we drove towards the top of the Rain Forest. We stopped at a place where we began an hour long hike to a popular waterfall. It was a pretty walk, but after you’ve seen a few trees and unusual plants, it sort of began to all look the same. We saw absolutely no wildlife; I was hoping to at least see a parrot or two. When we arrived at the waterfall, I was sort of disappointed. I expected something more magnificent.
After hanging out for a while and getting some nice photo ops, we headed back to the car. We drove all the way to the top, but none of us were too eager to get out and hike again. We did stop at another point and climb to the top of a tower. The view was really pretty as you could see out over the rain forest canopy and all the way to the Atlantic Ocean.
Side note here: The El Yunque Rain Forest is a result of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. It continues to be maintained by the U.S. Forest Service.
Before heading back to our hotel, we stopped at the public Luquillo Beach; again, another interesting excursion using the two “maps.” It was a nice beach, and reminded me a lot of sitting at the beach in Glendo, Wyoming. The water was calm and clear. There were lots of silver colored fish swimming around our feet, and it pretty much freaked Melissa out enough that she wouldn’t go into the water. Benjamin and I raced out to the buoys surrounding the swimming area. I think I have finally found something that my son gets from me. That boy can swim! He beat me, but not by much….and I gave him a head start!
One afternoon we took public transportation to Old San Juan, a whopping 75¢ per person. The taxi driver who brought us back from the golf course recommended we eat at Café Puerto Rico in Old San Juan. He told us this is the most popular place, and the food was delicious. It was actually one of the first places we saw, and stopped in to get a table. It was only 3:30 p.m., but the waiter was obviously annoyed as he informed us we needed to order and eat quickly - the kitchen was closing in 30 minutes. We sat down and the man next to us told us we were lucky to get a table so quickly as usually there is a long waiting list.
Café Puerto Rico serves traditional Puerto Rican food, which includes lots of fish (red snapper, in particular), plaintains, rice and beans. There is an obvious African influence in Puerto Rico.
While in Puerto Rico I wanted to purchase a souvenir, but not just any old souvenir. I wanted something that a local would feel represented their country. Our waiter had since gone out for a smoke, and was in a much better mood, so I asked him for recommendations. After thinking about it, and likely asking some of his female coworkers, he came back to our table and suggested three things.
First, the garridos. I have no idea if I am spelling this word correctly, but basically garridos are the watch towers located around the sea wall that surrounds Old San Juan.
Second, the coqui. These are tiny little frogs with really big voices. The first evening we were in Puerto Rico, we heard the coqui, but actually thought it was some kind of cricket. It literally makes the sound - “co-kee.” The frogs are only about two inches big. The only one I ever saw was in a tourist shop, and he was in an aquarium.
And finally, anything with the Puerto Rican flag. Puerto Ricans are very proud people and have a long history.
Before we left, our reformed waiter gave each of us a treat - a shot of Puerto Rican eggnog. It is a traditional drink served at Christmas and New Years. It was absolutely delicious! I looked online and if what he gave us is the same thing, it is made with rum, coconut, milk, and spices. He told us that Puerto Rico celebrates the longest Christmas in the world. It begins the day after Thanksgiving and concludes at the end of January. Here we are with our friendly waiter.
After lunch we began to explore Old San Juan. There are tons and tons of little shops, but I was on a quest to find a garrido, coqui, or a flag. Finally, I came upon a store that had just wanted I wanted. It was big and would be heavy to carry around, but Dave manned up and carried it all over the place for the rest of the afternoon. According to the store employee, the sculpture was done by a Spanish Basque named Benet. He doesn’t know if this was his first name or last name, he just knew he called him Benet. Evidently, he was quite old and has recently died. Here's my newest "treasure."
Old San Juan is protected by a huge sea wall and two forts. We weren’t able to go inside the forts as we spent too long at Café Puerto Rico drinking Puerto Rican eggnog and looking for the perfect souvenir. The massive wall and forts were built around the city in the 1500s to protect it from the enemy. The city was often used as a stopover for ships that came from Spain, and it was imperative that the enemy not take control of the island and make Puerto Rico an enemy base. I wish we would have timed our visit better so that we could have at least gone INSIDE the forts. Rather, we walked around outside, in a drizzle, with an amazing rainbow in the sky!
On our last day in Puerto Rico, we woke to overcast skies. The sun came out for a little bit, but then it turned drizzly. While Benjamin and Melissa headed back up to their rooms that afternoon, Dave and I took a spot underneath one of the umbrellas and just watched the locals boogie boarding in the gigantic waves.
We didn’t see any tourists in the water, and although it looked fun, Dave convinced me it wasn’t a good idea. We were committed to staying outside as long as possible, so we made our way to the hot tub and asked (ok, ordered) our children to bring us cervezas from the room. We ended up having a great time, regardless of a little pesky rain.
I would have to say that Puerto Rico ended up being one of our most leisurely trips, next to our honeymoon trip to Cancun when it was just Dave and I. When I asked everyone what they wanted to do, the resounding answer was, “relax.” We most certainly did that. We spent a great deal of time on the beach, which is one of my favorite things to do. On a scale of 1-10, 10 being awesome, I would put Puerto Rico around a 7. I still favor the waters of the Caribbean, and maybe if we would have gone to the other side of the island, my opinion would have been different. Also, the food was average. I had it in my head that I would be eating some great Mexican food. Stupid, I know…so I was a little bit disappointed.
All in all, it was a great trip and allowed us to bond a little bit more and get in the relaxation all of us evidently needed.
Where to next people??
Hawaii...
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