mini vacation

The boyfriend (BF) and I took a weekend trip to the very sunny island of Puerto Rico. We had tossed around going to the Bahamas or even to the Yucatan peninsula. Despite the searing heat in San Juan, BF and I were glad that we had opted for Puerto Rico since Hurricane Emily seemed to be everywhere else in the Caribbean.

We picked Puerto Rico because it was close enough that we could take a weekend trip, but it was far enough away that we could get away from work. I ended up bringing along some documents to review on the plane, but those quickly put me to sleep. The sleep inducing powers of legal documents never cease to amaze--there were 3 crying babies within 3 rows of our seats. Our ride was uneventful, except for the mad dash to the gate before hand. Note to self, never fly out of JFK unless you want to sit on the tarmac for over an hour and have the captain tell you that there are 29 planes ahead of you.

We landed in San Juan Intl. Airport around midnight and we headed to our hotel--the Caribe Hilton (aka tourist central). The next day we walked around Viejo San Juan and were thankful for the brief rainshower that helped to cool things down. Viejo San Juan is like a little bit of Spain in the Caribbean. It had narrow cobblestone streets flanked by pastel colored casitas. The people were all super friendly and spoke to me in English. I guess that BF must look Hispanic because he was stopped on more than one occasion by various crazy old people babbling on and on in Spanish. That night, we hopped into a cab and headed for what our previous cabbie had called "El mejor hotel and casino in San Juan." With that ringing endorsement, we made our way to the Wyndham El San Juan Hotel. Hmm... el mejor, huh? When we walked in, we were immediately assaulted by the sounds of a salsa y merengue band and the sight of old men dancing with scantily clad older and younger ladies (these people really knew how to dance). I couldn't convince BF to hit the dance floor, but he did make some money at the Roulette Wheel. Unlike my previous gambling excursion, there was no air of desperation at El San Juan. There was bordello like feel to the place with its fringed light fixtures, ornately carved dark wood and its pseudo-Victorian furniture. I felt like an extra in the HBO series Deadwood.

Day #2 was spent at the beach, lazing by the pool, sipping Pina Coladas (which were invented at the Caribe Hilton in 1954) at the swim up bar, napping in a hammock, and eating comida criolla which seems to include plantains in some shape or form.

That night, we joined an "eco-tour" to a bioluminescent bay in Fajardo. It came highly recommended by several of my friends. It was really cool--we kayaked into Laguna Grande at night and then jumped into the very warm lagoon which has a very high concentration of dinoflagellates that, when agitated, glow. When our paddles cut through the water, it looked like shimmering stardust flowing behind the paddle. Our guide was right, when we floated on our backs and waived our arms and legs, it looked like we were making snow angels, except that we were in the water. What freaked me out was seeing LARGE fish darting through the water. Also, to get to Laguna Grande, you have to paddle through a canal that is surrounded by Red Mangrove trees. What they don't tell you is that the Mangrove swamp is a haven for mosquitos. These mosquitoes were CRAZY--they bit me through my bathing suit even after dousing myself with OFF Skintastic (not so fantastic at keeping the bugs away)!

Our last day in PR involved taking a local ferry across the bay to take a tour of the Bacardi Rum Factory. Unfortunately, the ferry was over 30 minutes late and we ended up missing the last tour. We did get to have some free drinks at the factory and got to tour their gift shop. Nothing like getting tourists liquored up outside and then having the only air conditioned spot be the gift shop. Genius. I ended up blowing $50 on rum and other random crap that I'm sure I would not have bought had I been sober.

So, now I'm back in NYC, covered in mosquito bites, looking slightly tanner than usual, and generally pretty happy with the vacation. Where to next?