Puerto Rico - Day 1 - October 9, 2010

Anyone who knows us had to know that after two months at home, we would surely not sit around for long.  Well, you can add our long weekend trip to Puerto Rico among the most random things we’ve done this year!  What better way to spend Columbus Day weekend than to visit the island that Columbus called San Juan Batista on his second voyage in 1493?!  History aside, we’re really cashing in our Jet Blue True Blue Passes and rewarding ourselves for being loyal customers.  We signed up for the rewards program two years ago with the full intention of using our passes to travel to the furthest destination possible.  Puerto Rico wasn’t at the top of our list like Costa Rica, St. Martin, and Seattle…and Jet Blue wouldn’t fly us to Barcelona or London to gallivant with the other Kelly children, so San Juan it was.  Not a bad alternative, though…right?  

You would never believe it, but we actually got to the airport early!  Couldn’t believe how packed Terminal C (particularly Jet Blue) was this morning.  You would think it was Thanksgiving or Christmas the way the lines were!  Pictures don’t even do it justice. Despite our efforts for an early start to the weekend, our flight was the ONLY one delayed in Terminal C this morning…go figure!  At least we were provided with two hours of interesting people watching.  We are CLEARLY a minority on this flight since we are not fluent in Spanish, we don’t have a fussy baby, and we’re not taking a Caribbean cruise.   It has actually been good listening practice for me since I am way out of practice having spent this summer primarily in Italy and German speaking countries.  Looks like Hurricane Otto and the flash flooding warnings have subsided hopefully leaving some sunshine in their path…San Juan here we come!

Had a smooth 4 hr. flight to San Juan...minus the landing and some grown kids/adults kicking the seat behind us.  Coming in over the island we could see Old San Juan and the beaches beyond.  Closer to the airport on our approach, we descended into a cloud that we seemed to be stuck in for a few minutes until we could all hear the engines going and the plane moving upward.  Obnoxious family behind us summed up what was probably on everyone’s mind when one of them said, “Um, can someone tell me why we’re flying over Puerto Rico?”  I knew we had missed the landing before the captain came on a few minutes later to say that that computer system said to abort landing and that we would circle around and try again.  Surprisingly I really wasn’t that worried for once!

Our second attempt was a success, and once on the ground, we caught a shuttle to the car rental shop.  Drove away in our white Kia just as the rain started coming down.  Found the Hampton Inn just down the street in Carolina.  Despite the shady looking cockfighting ring next door and the sounds of airplanes taking off behind the building, the Hampton on Isla Verde really was great!  The location was fantastic…right near the beach, restaurants and the highway.  The room was very comfortable, service was excellent, parking was only $5 in/out and overnight, and breakfast was included.  It was a good find!

The weather cleared by the time we were ready to head of for some sightseeing, but it was still very humid here today.  Our first stop for the day was the Bacardi Factory outside San Juan.  One thing we learned quickly on our way is that the traffic in San Juan can be terrible at times.  We sat in at least 20-30 min. of traffic on the way to the factory.  Once we were on our way, though, it quickly became clear just how lush the island is.  Along even the highways there was thick, green, tropical vegetation.  Almost reminds me a little of Hawaii in some ways. 

We made it to Bacardi just in time for the last tour of the day.  Rode a tram to the visitor’s center, got a brief history of Puerto Rico and Bacardi’s history, and saw a demo from Tomas (the bartender) on how to make mixed drinks.  As we learned, Bacardi came to Puerto Rico when the company’s owners fled Cuba.  At the end, each visitor gets two drink vouchers to use at the bar under the bat shaped patio.  Joe liked his Cubajito best () and I somewhat enjoyed passionfruit and apple w/ sprite. 

We decided to head to Old San Juan next.  Found street parking and walked through the grid of cobblestone streets and old buildings that was kind of similar to Sevilla, Per usual, we grabbed a Subway sandwich for a very late lunch, then went to Mass at the Catedral de San Juan Bautisto.  Mass was in Spanish, but we didn’t mind because they provided a bulletin with readings and songs for the day.  The Cathedral was not overly big or ostentatious.  It blended in with the other buildings nearby, and was a simple design inside.  The priest was very animated and loved to sing.  We were able to catch a glimpse of Ponce de Leon’s tomb (first governor of Puerto Rico) and Nuestra Senora de .  Wished we had a walking tour printed out so we could follow it, but that was one of our amateur mistakes of the weekend…for not-so-amateur travelers.

Following Mass, we walked a few blocks in quiet streets Old San Juan before heading back towards the hotel.  The only downside here is that the sun sets around 6PM so it felt so late when Mass finished!  We tried looking for a dinner place in the high-rise hotel area of Condado, but didn’t find anything appealing.  After searching for Metropol, we ended up back at our hotel and still hadn’t found it.  Assuming it was out of business, we settled for a Mexican restaurant across the street, where we thought Metropol had been located.  Bad decision. The food was nothing special and the drinks we very overpriced.  Amateur mistake #2...picked the wrong restaurant.  By the time we were back at the hotel, we were so exhausted from a sleepless week so we called it a night.