In all of mine and Julie’s travels, we had never left the U.S. mainland. Until this trip. As a result of my work, we were given the opportunity to attend a work function, held this year in San Juan, Puerto Rico. We had known the trip was upcoming for a couple of years, but only knew where the event would be held for a year or so.
We were a little anxious just leaving the country, but our destination ended up being a U.S. territory so that helped. We didn’t have to exchange any currency or use our passports. Also, most of the people spoke both Spanish and English so that wasn’t an issue.
I also don’t love flying which we don’t do often. We last flew to Las Vegas in 2017 so it had been a couple of years. The flights ended up being fine though. Of the 4 flights, only 1 was a little too bumpy, and that was for a short period of time.
Once we got to San Juan, it was roughly a 15 minute drive to our hotel. We did notice that there is still some damage from the hurricane two years ago. We saw some billboards still toppled over. We were also a little surprised at how big of a city San Juan was. When we flew in, we could see all of the buildings, and all of the little communities tucked in together.
Of course the first evening there we had Italian, since it’s my favorite type of food! We met some other friends at the restaurant accross the street from the hotel, and someone mentioned they had mac and chesse on the menu. Of course I had to try that! I went with the Cheesy Mac and Chesse, but I had the option to get Potato Gnocchi instead of noodles, which I gladly did. I enjoyed it, it was very cheesey. We also got Ben and Jerry’s ice cream that night accross from the hotel!
On Day 2, Julie and I wanted to try a Liege Waffle place close by. We were still raving about the Liege waffles we had in Savannah, and were very hopeful these would be good as well. They did not live up to our hopes. The search is on for the next great Liege waffle place, or back to Savannah for them.
Thursday was also the day for one of our organized activites. We were able to tour a historical fort in old San Juan. It was the biggest fort we had ever had a chance to tour. It was much higher than the ones we had been in on Dauphin Island, or Fort Morgan. The fort was 140 feet high, and was situated on a hill / mountain in the city so the views from the top were outstanding. We were able to go through tunnels, and to the top! After the fort tour, we got to see a historical cemetary with graves dating back to the 1860’s. To finish out the day, we walked through old San Juan to our dinner destination, which was about 20 minutes away downhill. We were all excited about seeing the street with the hanging umbrella’s and it didn’t disappoint. It was magical to see.
Overall, we enjoyed seeing all the sights and the city of San Juan. I did have chicken dishes three nights in a row, but that’s on me. Julie had a variety and didn’t have the same thing twice. I am pleased to say I tried the dish Puerto Rico if famous for, which is called Mofongo. I think I’m the only one of our group that enjoyed it!
Until next time Puerto Rico!!