Winter is upon us and as my usual, I’m writing my blog after my trip so by the time I get back to Michigan its probably gonna be cold as cojones. The beautiful orange and yellow colors seemed to have lasted a little more than the usual 2-3 days this year so to be replaced with sticks on the ground for the next 5-6 months. But before I could let old man winter nestle in I still had 7 days of a planned indian summer left. In Puerto Rico. My neighbor Craaaig…not having gone on vacation for a bit suggested somewhere in the Caribbean. Two weeks after the discussion we booked a cheap ticket at the tail end of hurricane season. Now, a beautiful island with gorgeous beaches (and in this case filled with Latinas) has never really been my kind of destination. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind sitting at a beach bar, or on the beach for that matter, relaxing but eventually I will feel the need to experience something. Outside of the time we will be relaxing in 90deg weather drinking the ubiquitous island drank, the island was up for exploration.
By the time we got there our party grew by 3, and now rolling 5 deep. A wolfpack in Puerto Rico. No one was getting married but we were gonna party as if we were taking a plunge and our lives were over in a weeks time ;). It was pouring when we landed, beyond cats and dogs. I found out later that Craig had picked the rainiest month in Puerto Rico. But, with any place tropical it’s a good bet that it will only rain for a brief moment and then back to sweating your ass off. We had 6 nights, 7 days to get in a bit of trouble but outside of beach time and going out at night I wanted to see what else Puerto Rico has to offer.
So, very unusual for me, but prior to the trip I got my passport renewed. Not even bothering to check that really to get, all you need is your license. However, talking to some locals the opposite is true for them. Apparently border patrol require PRicans entering to show a passport to support what looks like something made by a 18yr old trying to get into a bar for the first time. But one other burning question remained and that is about the current status of Puerto Rico and why was never adopted as the 51st state. We have heard about this off and on but I was legitimately upset at myself that I didn’t investigate this. Gringos here probably get more shit here than other latin nations. Yes, we come here, spend a ton of money, try to pick up latin woman a pretty much be a white as possible most not caring so much for learning or understanding culture. Puerto Rico has amazing beaches , our nations only rainforst (being owned by the US that is), beautiful mountains and its not filled with old people like Florida. Multiple times PR has tried to join up with the US which gave all the islands inhabitants citizenship in 1917 years later after the Spanish-American war. There just seemed to be a lot of animosity towards gringos but just maybe a couple of drunken conversations might cut through the fog, just maybe. Even though it remains a commonwealth, most want PR to be independent. So per usual me I was excited talk to some locals, get some good recommendations on food and where to drink…and at some point discuss the above and get some insight, not necessarily an answer.
For the week we were here, there were basically two things on my agenda. The first, an Old San Juan food & Culture tour which had great reviews. The second was visiting bioluminescent on the island of Vieques. Other than this it was ocean, pool, beach, drinks, basketball, more drinks and probably a decent amount of walking…whats a trip without vagabonding. Our first night in town we did the opposite of taking it easy and pretty much went straightaway to the casino bar next door; it was halloween. A holiday celebrated in some form or fashion all over the world. We walked from the condo we rented for a cheap off season rate to our fellow wolfpacks place adjacent to the casino. Both places located just east of San Juan in an area called Isla Verde. Apparently the ritzy tourist area. Before letting the drinks flow, first was to fill our bellies. As we waited for Craig to show as he had plane trouble, myself and others went to a place called Made in Puerto Rico. Yeah sounds touristy…but was recommended by the cabbie. A dish called mofongo which is local food made with mashed sweet plantains and chicharones. The dish can be prepared with by stuffing meat inside or place on top with sauce. I had the mahi mahi version which was pretty damn good. We drank the local beer Meddalla light, which apparently won a bonze medal back in ’05 as a light beer; must have been the cusp when microbrewing took off. We ended up drinking this beer so frequently that it became like a currency between all of us. You get the taxi ride and ill get you a couple of Meddalla’s next.
Sunday afternoon it was a trip to the rainforest and a small hike to one of the areas main waterfalls. Holding true to its name, it was raining during our visit and for the majority of our short hike to one of the forest’s waterfalls. Apparently during non-raining hours, you are able to wade ever so slightly in the pool of water at the base. But due to the constant rain the waterfall/river had subsequently turned into what would probably have been class 5 rapids. Feeling the mist and hearing the thunderous boom of the falls from the foot bridge right out in front was our only option. In route back to the condo we stopped in Luquillo to have dinner at many of the open air restaurants both street side and facing the beach. We settled on a place that had great Paella and a large serving of it to boot. We washed it all down with a couple of Meddalla’s.
Monday was day to chill out as we finally had some beach and basketball time to prepare for our bioluminescent bay tour on Vieques island. Tuesday would be an early day as we would take a ferry from Fajardo about 1 hour to the island. Our tour was scheduled for 6:30pm, plenty of time to head to the beach prior. Arriving at the dock refreshed from an excellent nap we hopped in a speedie taxi zig-zagging our way to the southeastern part of the island to our hotel….the Banana hotel. We hit the beach up after a meal and checking in. We were pretty much the only ones excepted for the dude in the background wrangling horses on a four wheeler. On to the bio bay tour.
Amazingly unique experience is how I would describe the tour/phenomenon. The only short fall was not being allowed to swim in the water…so we were told. This is a case that I need to remember “do what the locals do” and just dive in. In the bay are billions of these particular plankton that, when subject to motion, glow neon blue via a chemical reaction that emits light. We had just been on the cusp of the moon turning full so we were good with exterior noise pollution, it apparently becomes almost too bright to see any of the blue light. With calm and quiet seas we slow rolled through the water on a pontoon boat with a group about 12. As we headed into deeper into the bay the fish below began swimming in a lightning bolt pattern glowing blue as they fled the oncoming boat. Score! To the right I had just caught a glimpse of a massive ray just below the surface outlined in blue. Its a hard thing to describe though and its too dark to take a video or photo, just one of those things you just have to experience for yourself. We were told by our guide (who we later saw at the bar) that there are only 5 bio bays in the world and PR has 3 of them. I guess I can make that comparison when I find the next, but this was truly worth the crazy-bumpy 45min bus ride to the launch site. The tour cost was $45 and was definitely worth it but I think next time I would do by Kayak…and maybe accidentally fall in the water.
Two more days left to go and the last activity was the Old San Juan Food & Culture tour. A one two punch for travelers getting the best of what PR has to offer. I had made the reservation two days prior for the morning slot on Thursday just before our plane ride home. The night prior however, I received a phone call from the organizer mentioning that I was the only one for the morning time slot…they had to cancel. Unless I was willing to miss my flight home, there would have to be a next time. So what to do with all the extra time – I decided to go for a little walk. Looking at the map from Isla Verde, our home base, the walk to Old San Juan was only about 2hrs. Cake, compared to the time I walked across MI in 5 days. The only worry was the freak, albeit short, thunderstorms that I would most likely cross paths with during my journey. Early on, I stumbled upon a beautiful cemetery. Early colonial style with solid white marble tombs densely packed. I learned that families here buy one large site and as family members pass, they are buried together. There was something amazing about the sites and with the white marble there seemed to be a tranquility blanketing the cemetery. Different from what I have felt prior back home. There would be another cemetery closer to Old San Juan that I discovered which turned out to be the islands most famous called Cementerio Santa María Magdalena de Pazzis. The vastness of the Atlantic provided an amazing backdrop and the cemetery sits next to one of Old San Juans Historic Castles. It was originally reserved for fallen war hero’s of the Spanish-American war but quickly began filling up with Puerto Ricos most important and prominent citizens.
After 2+ hours of walking it was time to grab a beer and some food. Not far was Old Harbor Brewery one of few breweries around San Juan. Most major brew styles were covered from Light lagers all the way through a double imperial stout and since it was October, they had a draft Oktoberfest. A good choice for wanting to stay right around the middle ground. I was meeting the rest of the guys a bit later for food, so the unlikely combo of beer and salad would have to suffice for the moment. I would definitely head back for the just the beer though as the menu seemed quite expensive and was basically just steak and lobster. Had good reviews on yelp though but I’ll pass next time on the $12 salad.
I met additional Brian and Craig at a beer garden we had discovered two nights before called La Taberna Lupulo. Double stacked tap heads behind the bar with even more bottled beer packed in the fridge. Home away from home. The first amazing discovery about this place that it had almost a dozen Michigan beers on tap from Bells and Founders. This time around the bar had just opened and was much more quiet. I sat down exhausted, the dude behind the bar pointed and I said, “whatever your recommending”. Without hesitation, he poured me pint of Bell’s Two Hearted – a very excellent choice. I smiled, nodded, said “thanks – good choice . I love Bells being from Michigan”. He kinda just smirked and responded “yeah this was just tapped 1.5wks ago and I love Michigan beer”. Our conversation ended for the time being as he waited on other customers and I sipped on several more beers wating for the other two. A space at the bar had just opened up as they arrived. Same guy came over to take of us and he brought me sample of another beer, this time a west coast brew, definitely hoppy. The converstaion picked up again and per usual the “where you guys from” question came up. From Detroit we all sychronously spouted. “Yah! so am I!” it was crazy, the guy grew up in Detroit, went to U of D Jesuit and was good friends with the brewer who had somewhat recently opened up a brewery called Witches Hat in South Lyon. Crazy! He had been there for 10yrs and was part owner of the beer garden. Naturally we talked for awhile, asked all sorts of questions about the place, why Puerto Rico and then got into trying to convince him to move back since he has been brewing since he was 16yrs old. “The time is now man”, I kept repeating. The D is doing well despite what the media says. He empathized with my pleaing but having been back recently he still wasn’t convinced – at least from a busincess perspective. After talking his head off he gave us a great recommendation for french bistro down the street called Bodega Chic to have dinner. Darkly lite place with two hot waitresses covered in tattoos. Who would have thunk this place might have items like tappanade crusted salmon or salmon tartar with horseradish lemon sauce on its menu. It concluded probably the best day of the trip from me while in Puerto Rico.
The Seventh day had come ; time to head back. We decided to sneak into the resort next door for a final hurrah and enjoy the 90deg weather allowing the sun to crisp our skin. The massive pool with a swim up bar was a bonus also. We eventually got kicked out of the intercontinental hotel but no matter. Time to pack up and head back to the freezing north. Good times were had by all!
pics from Puerto Rico here
