I told myself I would never fly spirit again after a bad experience en route to join the fellas in Miami a few years back. I probably should have communicated that with my right hand woman as she searched for flights. Surprisingly, there weren’t any hiccups on the way to Orlando. But, we did have a mom and her two small children sitting behind us. When I say they kicked, cried, and shouted the entire trip, I mean it. It was miserable. And for that reason I want to commend the mothers out there. Chanel and I looked at one another and acknowledged the fact that we are proud to be labeled D.I.N.K.S at this point in time (Dink is an acronym for Dual Income, no kids). Needless to say, it was a relief to land and get on the connector flight.
We arrived in San Juan at about 3:30pm. This is kind of irrelevant, but I knew it would be a good trip when my bag came out onto the conveyor belt first. That NEVER happens. The weather was a scorching 90 degrees with humidity. We attempted to summon a Uber, but Unfortunately, Uber is not allowed to pick up from the airport in Puerto Rico surprisingly. Unbeknownst to us, we walked around the area until there was no more side-walk hoping to find a spot where Uber could pick us up. No luck. We walked back to the area not too far from baggage claim and had to wait in line for a Taxi.
After about an hour wait, we finally made it to the front of the line. You can only imagine the frustration after getting to the front of the line and realizing that the majority of Taxi services in Puerto Rico only accept cash. So, we waited an additional 15 minutes for a car that accepted credit cards. Our driver was dope. He gave us the run down in addition to suggesting a few places to eat/visit while in San Juan. He was even generous enough to give me his number just in case we needed more suggestions.
We arrived at the Casa Condado hotel after a 15 minute drive from the airport. Looking back, I don’t think our driver was supposed to drop us off directly in front of the hotel because cars behind him began to aggressively honk their horns out of frustration. An older gentlemen that was directly behind us even got out of his car and gave our taxi driver a few choice words. The only thing I could I make out was “pendejo”. The cool breeze from the air conditioning hit my face as I walked into the double doors of the hotel; what a relief it was. The receptionist was friendly. She handed us the keys to our room on the 3rd floor with a huge smile.
We settled into our room, then headed out to explore the city. First stop, the beach. It was 3 blocks over and what a beautiful sight it was. After taking some pictures, it was time to have our first taste of Puerto Rico. While walking down av Ashford, there was a small hole in the wall restaurant called Latin Star serving daiquiri out of a pineapple. I had to have one (maybe 3). The food was disappointing, but the drinks were on point. We continued to walk down av ashford until we decided we were both exhausted and ready to crash for the night.
Day 2
Saturday morning started early. After getting dressed, I looked around for a mimosa to start the day. I Stumbled upon bar gitano. The mimosa was great, service was great, and the price wasn’t bad at all. I probably should have got food first, but I decided to wait until we went to the other side of town.
We summoned a uber and headed to Old San Juan (not to be confused with San Juan). The uber driver dropped us off in front of our destination, Mallorca. It was another hole-in-the-wall joint. We were seated right away and decided to try something new. I ordered a bacon, egg, and cheese Mallorca topped with powdered sugar. AMAZING.
After stuffing our faces, it was time to explore this side of town. The narrow streets made for constant maneuvering of cars and people simultaneously. The buildings were full of color, which was art in itself. I found myself weaving in and out of the shops with air conditioning to escape the humidity for a brief second. As we walked around with no destination in mind, we ran into a guy who offered us a boat tour for $10 a piece. Boat tours have been a common theme for us while traveling. Every trip has included some form of water travel and/or sport. The “LA Paseadora II” was a small passenger boat that seated about 25 people at once. It wasn’t luxurious by any means, but it was enough for us to enjoy the ride.
The tour included views of the “smallest” house in the world according to the Guinness book of world records. Our tour guide also gave us the run down of Fort San Cristóbal.
Personally, I think the most memorable aspect of this boat tour was not the tour itself, but the brief connections we created with other people during that forty-five minutes. I chose to limit the amount of time I was on my phone for this particular reason. There were two sisters from Brooklyn, New York. Very energetic and friendly. There was a couple from New Jersey laid back, but friendly. This created a connection within us all. New York and Jersey are part of the tri-state and I proposed to my fiancé in New Jersey. And just like that, the ice was broken amongst this group. Another human connection was formed.
The tour ended as we said our goodbyes to everyone. By this time, hunger pains begin to kick in. It was time for another food run. We walked around in the sweltering humidity with intentions to find a good food truck. I have to admit that the humidity lead to a brief stint of agitation for me. In the meantime, the two of us were also on the lookout for nice magnets to put on our refrigerator. This has become our creative way of keeping track of the places we’ve explored. There were no food trucks in this area, so we decided to walk back toward the area where we boarded the LA Paseadora II. During the walk, there was a restaurant with an outside chalkboard with a bunch of different writings on it. I asked the waiter if I could get a piece of chalk to add my two cents. I was surprised to hear D’Angelo’s “How does it feel?” Playing in the background. The ambiance was just right.
It was obviously hurricane season because it poured down a few times, then went back to partly sunny in a matter of minutes. Mother Nature couldn’t figure out what she wanted to do. As we walked, it began to pour. Luckily, I bought an umbrella just a few hours before it began to rain. Instead of walking to the food trucks, we stopped at a local Mexican restaurant on the beach called Tijuana’s. By the way, the passion fruit daiquiri was to die for.
Our uber driver picked us up down the street from Tijuana’s in the pouring rain. We headed back to Condado with hopes that the weather would clear up so we could take a swim in the Atlantic Ocean. Luckily, the weather did break for the rest of the night. The Latin Star restaurant must’ve made a ton off of us as we stopped to grab another daiquiri in a pineapple en route to the beach. It was my first time actually swimming in the ocean. Of course, I was in awe. The surfer waves were violent, but beautiful. All I could think about was how small I am in this world compared to this abundance of water. It gave me perspective as I sat in the sand while the waves effortlessly shifted my stationary position multiple times. There was nothing I could do about it. It made me think, “when Mother Nature does her duty, she doesn’t care about race, skin color, sexual preference, etc”.
The beach stop had come to an end. After changing clothes, it was time to… you guessed it, eat again. Even though I began transitioning to a more plant-based diet, we decided to have steaks at a local steakhouse called Buenos Ba Ayres about a block from the Casa Condado hotel. “Ribeye steak and house made lemonade please”. The Lemonade was perfect and just my luck, there were no refills. I ended up ordering another one. After inhaling the steak, we decided to find a nice hip-hop club to go to on the strip of Av Ashford. As we walked the strip, there were a lot of sights and sounds. I distinctly remember hearing hip-hop blasting from an upstairs nightclub. I thought to myself, “that’s the one”. I walked up the stairs and immediately went to the bar and ordered a Long Island ice tea (my go-to). We danced for a while, then the yawns began to come back to back. My last night in Puerto Rico was coming to an end.
Originally, I was supposed to stay an additional three days, but I forgot professional development for work was at the same time. I was grateful that I had the chance to spend some time on the beautiful island of Puerto Rico even though it was cut short. I woke up early the morning of departure and had breakfast at pannes. The pancakes were amazing. I summoned a uber then headed back to the hotel where my bags were packed and stowed next to the receptionist desk. It was time to get back to reality. My fiancé decided she would stay for the remaining three days of the trip given that fact that it was already paid for. We said our goodbyes and I was off to the airport. My time in Puerto Rico had come to an end.
MyMelaninJourney 