I am currently working on my blog in the lobby of the Double Tree two blocks from our Air BnB in San Juan, Puerto Rico. I am here because, as our host put it, our building is running on only one power phase. 🤷 No lights, no outlets and no internet. At least the A/C was still running and the fridge was on, unlike last Friday when I had just gotten back from the grocery store and nothing was working! At least they provided us with a generator to run a fan from, a cooler bag and ice, so I didn’t overheat nor did I have to throw everything away. I was also grateful that the power came back on just a few hours later and not days like has happened before. We are kind of surprised, honestly, that with all the places we have visited, it happened this close to the US, and hasn’t been a problem anywhere else. Puerto Rico definitely needs and deserves more love!
Other than the finicky power grid that Puerto Rico is known for, and our host has no control over, our Air BnB is really nice. It is in a great location only a five minute walk from Condado Beach in the Santurce area of San Juan. We learned on our first day that Santurce is where “the best baseball player to come out of Puerto Rico”, Roberto Clemente, was from.
We are just starting our third week in Puerto Rico and leave for Panama on Saturday for our final two weeks before we are back in the Midwest. Our first week in Ponce, pronounce PAWN-say or POHN-say, was great and I definitely appreciated having a car to explore with. I would drop Dave off at his colocation place each morning and then go out and have a solo adventure. One day I went to the hot spring filled pools at Baños de Coamo which was only $5 and absolutely lovely. I went to Buyé Beach in Cabo Rojo which had the most beautiful white sand and pristine clear water. I also took a day to visit Hacienda Buena Vista – Para la Naturaleza which is an old coffee plantation turned nature center which still has all the facilities used for growing and processing coffee as well as cascades and nature trails to explore. After Hacienda Buena Vista I visited Museo Castillo Serrallés which is a mansion turned museum on a hill that overlooks the main square in Ponce. On the hill there was also the Cruceta del Vigía and a Japanese Garden you can visit.
In the evenings after Dave was done with work we explored the old square. We admired the architecture of the Cathedral and Parque de Bombas and enjoyed some delicious food and drinks. Our last night in Ponce we drove back to La Parguera, where we went our first weekend in Ponce, and took a boat tour to the bioluminescent bay. It was definitely a different experience than the one we had in Fajardo seven years ago. We were on a bigger boat instead of kayaks and it was just after the sunset so not as dark which made it difficult to see how brilliant is can be. It also is the first time we’ve been to see it since Hurricane Maria and Irma hit the island in 2017 so I’m not sure if it has returned as strong. In spite of all that it was still worth the experience. Being on the water at night, seeing the stars and some bioluminescence, was truly lovely.
On the 24th my family arrived!!!! My sister did SO much work to make it happen. After all of the research she did to find a nice place for the six of us to stay, two days before they arrived, our place was canceled because of a power outage. Fortunately she was able to find another place that was absolutely wonderful. Having family come see us in Puerto Rico was good for the soul. The first full day the men golfed and my sister and I got some quality time together. We explored El Yunque National Forest around the visitor center because the road further into the park was a pretty treacherous two lane road that was under construction. Her and I also spent our last day together enjoying the pool at the resort. As a group we took a snorkeling boat trip out of Fajardo. We visited Palomino Island and saw some turtles. It has been a long time since I’ve been snorkeling and it was challenging to do in the waves and it was still an amazing experience. Another day we went to Old San Juan and visited the Castillo San Felipe del Morro together which was fun. We were also able to explore around town a little but after our tour. It was a day that a cruise ship came in so the streets were crowded and it was very hot so we didn’t last very long. Each night we ate some incredible food and just enjoyed each other’s company. I am beyond grateful to them for making the trip and my heart is still very full.
We sadly had to say goodbye to each other last Thursday. They were nice enough to drop us off at our Air BnB in San Juan before they went to the airport. We were very grateful to our host for letting us have an early check in. I think it was fun for them to see where we will be this week first hand too. This past weekend Dave and I had fun exploring our neighborhood and more of Old San Juan that we hadn’t seen before, which we did on Saturday. We took an Uber to Plaza Colón and saw Castillo San Cristóbal from the outside then we walked up the Paseo de la Princesa where they had vendors selling their wares. We always wish we had more money and space in our luggage to buy all the things. We saw the Fuente Raíces and then walked along the walkway along the bay in front of the La Fortaleza through the Puerta de San Juan and then up to La Casa Estrecha (The Narrow House) that measures on five feet three inches across! It used to be an alleyway until architect Antonio Álvarez turned it into a habitable abode before it became a museum. We enjoyed walking around and exploring Old San Juan, especially since it was a day without a cruise ship visiting, and it was HOT! We felt like we were melting into a puddle the entire day.
On Sunday we decided to do something inside with A/C so we went to the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico and it was wonderful. It had a spectacular collection of art that speaks directly to what the Puerto Rican experience is about called Puerto Rico Plural. In the Topologias exhibit we saw some of the very creative ways Zilia Sánchez stretches canvas to make interesting shapes. In the exhibit “El agua no tiene enemigos (Water no get enemy)” Artist Jean “Baco” Ortiz, who is from Ponce, created some powerful art in response to Hurricanes Maria and Irma which both hit the island of Puerto Rico in 2017, the flooding that followed and the effects of global climate change. I’m so glad we went!
With only three weeks left until we are back in the Midwest I find myself grounded in gratitude for everything that this adventure has taught us. Everyone we have met and all the amazing things we’ve seen and done. I cannot wait to be back together with my family and friends and I am grateful for this life that we have chosen and it isn’t always easy and we get through it together. I can definitely say that it has made me a much more patient person, who is better at going with the flow, and trusting that the universe has our backs.
♥️Alison
Don Quixote and Sancho Panza.
