We recently took a weeks vacation in Puerto Rico and we were pleasantly surprised so find how much the island has recovered from the devastating hurricane.
Her View
Puerto Rico! First we were able to fly First Class and gave you a nice little review of that, click here to read about that experience, and now we get to tell you about our trip there!
We were traveling almost exactly one year from one of the worst hurricanes Puerto Rico has ever experienced so we did some additional research to make sure we would be able to travel and visit the areas. Bonus we were able to add those very important tourist dollars to the community. After some research we found that the resort we were staying at had minimal damage and was almost fully recovered.
We arrived at 1pm, which was 10am our time. Grabbed a fantastic coffee for the hubs and a really great chai latte for me at the airport. As we waited for our luggage we finished off our coffee, apparently they move at a much slower pace in PR. We grabbed our car and were able to get to our resort by about 3pm. Our room was not ready so they offered us the typical check-in margaritas, we had one and the when the room was still not ready 20 min later we introduced ourselves to the bartender. Now it feels like we are starting a vacation! I ordered a nice glass of wine Derek ordered something else (remember he is really the cocktail guy). We ordered an appetizer and a meal to share, and the food was so good. I wish we remember, but all remember at that point is that the food and drinks were fantastic. The exhaustion is starting to kick in so my memory fades in and out at this point.
Eventually they came and hunted us down for our room. We hustled it upstairs (even in my boot) and found our room to be very nice. Beachy, bright and very clean. Did I mention we were able to use our time share to stay at the Margaritaville Resort and it had such a great vibe. We unpacked and made a plan to hit the store since we had a stove, microwave and fridge. We prefer breakfast and coffee on the balcony so we can relax, plan the day and enjoy the view. We hit the local store with almost no memory of it since it was rolling into 6pm their time which meant we had officially slept about 2 hours in less than 24 hours. We opened a bottle of wine, ate nothing, chatted a minute and were sound asleep by 9pm. We slept until 8am, so about 11 hours, but that worked great because now we were on PR time!
We had checked the weather ahead of time and were somewhat concerned about weather that was supposed to roll in at the end of the week so we decided we would probably be tired our first day and it was also a really great day to do a beach/pool day. We would just enjoy our time at the resort and plan the rest of the week at the same time. We had no idea when we got all gussied up to walk around and check out the resort that it would take about 10min, and at the end we both said lets hit the beach. I like that this is a smaller resort because that meant that you did not have to walk a half a mile each time you went somewhere.
The sand on the beach in PR is a bit different, sort of like a soft dirt. Dark brown, soft and not what you would think. We were surprised that the waters were still fairly blue even with the dark sand colors. With my broke ass ankle we walked into the water, the waves instantly tumble me, we both laughed, and promptly said, so “The pool sounds good”. I like to call the sand in those certain places, a special exfoliation. I had that going on for sure. We grabbed a drink from the pool bar and hopped in the VERY warm pool. I live in AZ and my water is never that warm, so it was a little strange. But nonetheless we enjoyed it drinks in the pool.
We saw folks with special cups labeled Margaritaville so next time we got cocktails we asked about them, such a good deal. You got an 18oz glass of whatever for $12 bucks. So we bought the glass for $6 and save a crap ton on cocktails for the rest of the trip. And by the by they are not shy with the booze. So by your second drink, you are like, sure I will have another, and the third you are thinking, oh I need lunch and nap. A perfect first day! We went back down for drinks later and then got fancied up for dinner at the nicer restaurant. Again good food good vibe. Also again, I do not remember the name, we had some type of deep fried pork, which was interesting, good, but very hard to chew. I like crunchy, but this was a work out. Turns out this is pretty common in PR. We found it everyplace we went. It is tasty, but again hard to chew.
We went to the onsite casino and played roulette for a few, won about a hundred dollars and then had a glass of wine at the bar and time for bed. Big plans for the next day!
The next day we had a food tour planned and went early enough to check out the general area. Discovered that in all likelihood I would not be able to climb the brick streets and steep sidewalks with my boot so we canceled. We really wanted to check out the Ponce de Leons home, but it was hot hot hot and we were still a little tired from our trip in. We decided to go back finish shopping and chillax. On our way back to the resort, we thought, hey it is early enough so we should check out the El Yungue National Forest. It was a beautiful drive. The roads were a bit rough since they were still recovering from Hurricane Maria, but overall it was not a bad drive. We got to the top where the Yokahu Tower was. Derek climbed the spiral staircase and was able to get a really great view, I unfortunately was unable to do so with my boot. I still got some real nice photos. We spent about 20 min up there and since the rest of the forest was closed we headed back down and enjoyed the sites downhill this time. It was beautiful.
Since we really wanted to hit a liquor store we hunted one down and then promptly drove ourselves into the hood. Once we pulled in we looked around and said “so Walgreens?” We both did not feel safe at all and ended up buying what we needed at the Walgreens across the street. We were just fine after that. Had dinner and wine and bed about 10. This is when you wonder if you are getting older, is it jet lag or are you just tired from travel and heat. PR was much hotter than we thought it would be that time of year and the 90% humidity is unusual for us so it was taking a bit of a toll on our bodies
We wanted to take a driving tour and really wanted to have lunch right on the water so we one day we took a drive around. That is when we realized how large of an island PR really is. We drove around looked at a pier area, but everything appeared to be closed on looked like it would open for dinner at some point. We wanted to look at one of the reserves and when we stopped by they said they were closed to the public at this time. I really wanted to see some exotic animals to the area, but everything still seemed to be in a bit of disarray from Maria.
The concierge had stated that there was a row of 60 kiosks called Luquillo Kiosks with all different types of foods which were all numbered from 1 to 60. We thought we would try that for lunch. We ended up eating at #2 (this how they most often refer to the place you eat, by using the # instead of the name of the restaurant) or La Parilla which was PR and Caribbean fair. We both wanted seafood, and we wanted it fresh. It was delicious and we enjoyed the wine, and it was on the water as well. So we were able to meet all of our wants and desires for lunch that day. I highly recommend checking this Luquillo kiosks out, you will not have any issues finding something that you would like to eat.
We spent another day in old town exploring and then we finally made it to Ponce de Leons house. That place is gorgeous and just the history when you walk in will give you chills. I mean he was a horrible person, but he had a gorgeous home! The staff was so nice they spent time going through the lower section of the house telling us the history and story of the changes that had been made and the life to Ponce de Leon. We took some very nice pictures and saw what great views of old town, the mayor’s house and the ocean. There is not better viewing area then that.
We also spent some time at the Old Fort (it has a different name) and because of my boot I was fairly limited on what I could do so we walked around a bit. Derek felt bad about leaving me but I was told him I am fine and you are not going to get another chance, so go look around. I was able to enjoy lots of areas without too much struggle and he would disappear for 15-20 min at a time. Which was fine with me, like I said, don’t let me stop it. I have a few pictures of him as we were leaving trying to get a look at things that were off to the sides of the path and you had to go through grass to get to, there was no way I could do that. So I took photos of him taking photos!
We had lunch at a local joint and I had a fab Pina Colada in a tin mug, it was cool looking and they drink stayed cool forever. We struck up conversation with a local family and they spoke some on the topic of Hurricane Maria. They said all is really better than the news has stated, but there are still plenty of repairs that need to happen. They are thankful for the tourist money that comes in and were very pleasant folks. I have lived in a vacation destination and I often did not enjoy it. So I really appreciated his attitude.
Last minute we were able to schedule a sailing trip with Sail San Juan Bay to get an outside view of the island. And when I say sailing I mean sailing. Derek helped drive the boat and we were tipped on our sides enough that I was able to touch water. It was one of the most fun things we have done on a vacation. It was our first time sailing and it was with an experienced captain who had lived on the island is entire life. He had some really great stories and some really useful tourist information. We wished we had scheduled it for the day of arrival so that we could have utilized the information more. Also, even with sunscreen, we got really burnt! Captain Ivan was the best.
The day before we left the rain rolled in pretty heavy, we spend a large portion of our day in the room, but wandered down to the bar for lunch and drinks. We ended up having dinner in our room and wrapped it up early.
As our trip came to an end on Saturday we packed our items and chatted about if we would come back to PR. Of course we would but not right away, we have lots of other places we need to visit!
Next up FIJI on a Catamaran for one week! Until then please enjoy our blogs about local drinks, wine, and food. We have lots of places we like to visit and we cannot wait to tell you about them.
— Taunya
His View
A last month we visited Puerto Rico. If you’ve never been you should really consider it. It’s a beautiful island, and although they are still recovering from hurricane Maria, a lot of the area around San Juan is doing well. One day we decided to pick our next vacation by seeing which cheap flights came up on Scott’s Cheap Flights, and Puerto Rico came up. We ended up staying at the Margaritaville Vacation Club resort using the RCI program through our timeshare. The resort shares the same property as the Wyndham Grand Rio Mar hotel. I was actually pretty impressed on how nice the resort was. It’s a bit outside of San Juan, but in a pretty good location. We went in September which can be kind of iffy weather wise, but I think we lucked out. Our last day we caught a strong storm which was actually the very edge of a Hurricane, but overall we had pretty good weather.
We arrived in the early afternoon, and they give you margarita’s on check in (go figure right?). Granted they are pretty cheap margaritas, but hey it’s free booze! Fair warning, like a lot timeshare resorts, they have a sales office and they will try to sell you on buying there. They will try to get you to attend one of their presentations, but as long as you are not there under a timeshare promotion you can be firm and you don’t need to do it unless you really want too. Our room was not quite ready, so we had lunch at the Caicu Tapas bar while waiting. Sitting on the patio we shared the mofongo bites and the catch of the day plate. Mofongo is quite interesting, and while I enjoyed it I am very much a foodie and I could see that some people might not like it. I don’t remember what the fish was however it was excellently prepared and quite tasty. While we were dining the they brought our room keys to us which was a pleasant surprise. The room itself was nice, very modern and decorated in light airy colors. You even get a margarita machine! When we went out to explore the grounds, we were really surprised at how small the property was. It seems pretty well designed though and both the hotel and timeshare share all the amenities.
We spent most of our time while on the resort at the 5 o’clock somewhere bar and adjoining pool. They sell novelty cups in the shape of a blender. Once you buy the cup, you get discounted refills on their specialty drinks which turns out to be a pretty good deal. I was especially enamored with one of their “boat drinks” aptly named the “5 o’clock Somewhere”. I’m actually not sure how many of those I consumed over the week. The second night we dined at the Roots Coastal Kitchen where I had Chuletas Can-Can, which is kinda of like a deep fried pork chop. It was pretty good, but the skin is super crispy which might not be for everyone. I think all the restaurants on property are pretty good overall. We avoided the breakfast-only restaurant choosing instead to buy our own ingredients and cooking breakfast in our room since the timeshare condo had a small stove top. Honestly, the amount of noise we heard emanating from the restaurant each morning caused me to think we made the right decision!
We spent a couple of different days in Old Town San Juan. We were super excited about doing the Old Town Food Tour after doing something similar in Hawaii. After seeing Old Town, we realized we had to cancel because Taunya was in a walking boot at the time. There is a lot of good stuff in the area though, lots of things to see and some good restaurants. We ended up eating lunch at Raíces which got good reviews on Google and Yelp. Not sure how “local” it was as it seemed a bit touristy, but I did see a lot of locals there which is generally a good sign. I can’t remember what it was called, but we basically had a “Puerto Rican Deep Fried Sampler” plate. Everything tasted really good and we struck up a conversation with a Puerto Rican family at the next table and we had a really great meal and experience. We also ate a Prilo Pizza Rúsitica which is a really good pizza restaurant (it’s listed as one of the best pizza places in Puerto Rico), and they also had a decent wine list. A little ways from Old Town, we also ate lunch one day at Emigrante Gastrobar. I tried Tuna Tartare for the first time, and I have to say it was pretty incredible. We also had “cigars” which were little deep fried rolls of goodness served in an actual cigar box.
The Old Fort, or Castillo San Felipe del Morro as it is officially known, is a must a see. The fort and grounds were pretty cool if you like history or old architecture. It was pretty hot when we went even though it was September, so I would recommend bringing water and a hat or umbrella. Be prepared for a lot of walking and stairs. But the views are incredible and you absolutely cannot visit San Juan without a paying a visit. Casa Blanca is worth a visit as well and is reasonably priced. It’s a bit hard to get to with all the one way streets, so we ended up exiting the Uber early and walking a few blocks. The guy who sold us the tickets gave us about a 10 minute narration of the house and it’s history, then we were able to explore the home’s two floors at our leisure.
I would also recommend a visit to the El Yunque National Forest, which is a true rainforest. We were there a year after the hurricane, and even then a good portion of the forest was still closed. We were able to go as far as Yokahú Tower but the narrow road was still under repair in a few places. We didn’t spend much time on the trails and didn’t stray to far from the road, but you don’t really have to to experience the forest. La Coca Falls is literally right on the main road. Talk to the concierge at your hotel about the best days and times to go to avoid the crowds and get the best experience as it varies throughout the year.
We did spend an afternoon driving around the northeast side of the island. Honestly though, we didn’t really see much interesting south of Fajardo, so we turned around pretty quickly. Had we had more time I think we would have explored more of the island, and we really wanted to take the ferry to the island of Flamenco, but couldn’t really find the time to do it this trip. A few miles east of the resort there is a little strip mall type of place that is filled with food kiosks with a handful of souvenir shops sprinkled in. We looked at a couple before deciding to try La Parilla. The food was really good, and had a patio that faced the beach so it was nice lunch. One thing to keep in mind about eating out in Puerto Rico in general, people are not in as much of a hurry as here on the mainland. So it’s not so much that service is slower than you might be used to, it just the norm for the island especially the further you get from the large cities.
So in conclusion, I would highly recommend making a visit to Puerto Rico. If you go at the right time of year it’s quite affordable and you can still get good weather. You are not really leaving the states, so it’s actually considered a domestic trip. Safe travels!
— Derek
Living, loving, drinking, and traveling through life.
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