Many of the travelers that we met agreed that Puerto Rico offers all the benefits of international travel without the hassle. Because it is a commonwealth of the United States, no passport is required. However, the look and atmosphere of Puerto Rico is distinct and unlike any area of mainland US. The Spanish Colonial architecture and Caribbean influences blend to create a culture of rhythm and color.
Old San Juan
Day 1- Arriving in Puerto Rico- Our flight departing Cleveland (connecting in Chicago) left on schedule at 6:05am EST.
The flights were full of turbulence so we were happy to land and be on our way by a little after 3:pm AST. We had a great taxi driver who pointed out sights and gave us tips the entire way from the airport into Old San Juan. My husband described pulling into Old San Juan as “culture shock.” The one-way streets are very narrow and offer barely enough room for a line of parked cars, moving vehicles and pedestrians that are crowded off the narrow sidewalks. All of the buildings are beautiful Spanish architecture painted in bright colors with large iron gates that protect open-air courtyards. The streets are paved with blue cobblestones. It was unlike any place we’d ever seen.We arrived at our guesthouse Casa Candela on Calle St. Sebastian
and were lead to a beautiful room on the third floor and back of the building. Casa Candela is in a 400-year old building and features interesting and eclectic art throughout the passageways and rooms. Our room had beamed ceilings that were at least 15 feet tall and a balcony with beautiful views of Old San Juan, the water and the mountains beyond. There is also a roof-top deck with 360° views of Old San Juan, the bay and both forts.
The doors and windows have shutters that can be opened to let the breezes pass through the room and we left ours open most of the time. Our room had no TV or telephone and we loved that we had no idea what was going on in the outside world for the time that we were there. Nicer then a hostel but without the amenities of a hotel, there were some drawbacks to our accommodations. There were signs warning of sporadic water problems and there certainly were issues. We were without water for one entire afternoon and evening and a few hours on another day but we agreed with other guests that for what we were paying, we could get by with the large jugs of water that were provided.After settling into our room, we set out to walk around a bit and find some dinner.
We headed down the hill and walked up Calle Fortaleza to Calle Cristo. We finally decided on Maria’s Bar and Restaurant, which has friendly service and the biggest pitchers of Sangria we have ever seen. We each ordered tacos and enchiladas and the casual dinner hit the spot. We couldn’t finish our pitcher of Sangria so they poured it in a bottle for us to take with us. After dinner, we walked around the area a little and strolled by the water for a while before heading back to our room. We were exhausted after a long day of travel and got to bed early.
Day 2- Touring Old San Juan- It was a beautiful morning and I decided to go for a jog around Old San Juan (OSJ). I was greeted by many of the people also jogging along the city walls. When I returned to the room, J was ready to go. I got ready and we headed down to Cafe Mallorca (400 Calle San Francisco) for breakfast. The service was great and we both enjoyed simple eggs and bacon breakfasts with toast for a good price.After breakfast, J and I embarked on a walking tour of OSJ that I found on
TripAdvisor.com. We enjoyed being able to do the tour at our own pace and took the time to visit and explore many of the historical features of Old San Juan. The walking tour passed many Old San Juan landmarks such as the Paseo de la Princesa where an exhibit of aerial photographs was being displayed, the Raices sculpture, 
the promenade overlooking the bay and then continued up the path along the outside of the City Wall to the City Gate. At the City Gate, we decided to walk the .75-mile one-way Paseo del Morro path along the outside of the wall and under El Morro to enjoy the beautiful water views. 
We’d heard about the cats and were happy to see most of them looking healthy and enjoying the warm morning sun. We spent a lot of time at the end of the path sitting by the water and watching the waves crash against the rocks. After walking back through the City Gate, we stopped for Limbers (fruit-flavored shaved ice) - I chose passion fruit and J enjoyed limon. We sat in a small 
plaza right beside the gate and enjoyed our cool treats. As we continued the walking tour, we visited more sites such as the San Juan Cathedral where I said a prayer, the Hotel Convento, the shopping districts of Calle Fortaleza and Calle Cristo, Casa Blanca, La Rogativa Plaza, La Fortaleza, Cristo Chapel and Pigeon Park.
El Morro Fort was one of the highlights of our trip. It is a huge fortress with dark passageways and several levels to explore. There are beautiful views of the sea and city from the walls and observation areas. It only cost $5/per person to visit both El 
Morro and San Cristobal Forts so it is worth it to see both if you have the time. Although guided tours are available, we enjoyed doing the self-guided tour listed in the pamphlet we received when we entered.
We finished our tour of El Morro in the early afternoon and decided to have lunch at a restaurant near our guesthouse, El Patio de Sam (102 Calle San Sebastian). Our server was friendly and funny and we really appreciated his service. I enjoyed a margarita and J drank beer. We shared the appetizer sampler and Cuban sandwich.
All the appetizers were delicious with several types of Puerto Rican fritters and queso frito but I enjoyed the olive bites the most. We headed back to our room for a little siesta after lunch.
In the early afternoon we headed out again for a shared favorite pastime- drinking and shopping! J likes to drink, I like to shop- it works out perfectly. We stopped at Barrachina, the birthplace of the pina colada. I had a few classic pina coladas with dark rum and J sampled aged local rums. We then stopped to purchase cigars, look at hand-carved nativities, jewelry and outlet shopping while popping in small bars along the way to enjoy a few drinks. Since we had a large lunch we decided against dinner and instead picked up snacks and drinks and headed back to enjoy the roof-top deck of the guest house.Day 3- Touring & Shopping- We decided to take the day a little more slowly.
After enjoying a delicious breakfast of toasted mallorca, eggs, bacon, toast and fresh-squeezed orange juice at La Bombonera (259 Calle de San Francisco), we spent the morning relaxing in various plazas around OSJ in between shopping for a hat for J and making purchases at the Puerto Rican Craft Store (204 Calle Fortaleza) and a few outlets for myself.
We set out for San Cristobal Fort in the early afternoon and enjoyed doing the self-guided tour. Although San Cristobal is larger than El Morro, it didn’t seem to have all the areas and levels that El Morro has. I suppose that most pick a favorite and I personally enjoyed El Morro more.
After the Fort we enjoyed a Puerto Rican lunch at El Jiberito (280 Calle Sol). Our server Luis made great suggestions- I had the chicken with a side of beans and rice and J had cube steak with mofongo. We then walked to the cemetery near El Morro and strolled though Casa Blanca’s tropical gardens. Finally, we headed down to the bottom of the hill to sample some of the local rums at Casa Don Q. Even though we had tried to take it easy, we were still weary by the end of the day.Luquillo
Day 4- Moving to the Beach- Old San Juan is a great option for a long-weekend vacation destination. Three days was the perfect amount of time for us to explore
OSJ, enjoy a few restaurants and bars, some shopping and the general atmosphere of the city. We spent a quiet morning sitting on the roof-top deck and packing up our stuff. We walked down to the Plaza de Armas to catch a taxi back to the airport where we picked up our rental to drive to Luquillo for the rest of our vacation. Along the way, we stopped at a road-side stand for a traditional weekend lunch of lechon asado, roasted pig. The people of Puerto Rico are so friendly and open- even though the pig man knew no English and we knew only a little Spanish, we figured out the transaction with smiles and laughs. We ate under a plastic canopy by the side of the road and the experience was one of the most authentic we had.For the second leg of our trip, we wanted to slow down and spend some time relaxing at the beach. After three days in the hustle and bustle of OSJ, it was nice to pull into Luquillo, a sleepy beach town that looks worn but appreciated by its warm and friendly inhabitants.
When we arrived at the B&B, the Luquillo Sunrise Beach Inn, we were blown away. To say that this place is immaculate would be an understatement. Everything looked great from the parking lot swept free of sand, to the rooms with new tile floors, showers and granite countertops, to the activity room with internet station, games, books and notebooks full of reviews of local restaurants, activities and more. What a great idea! We relied heavily on those review books when deciding where we wanted to eat. 
The front desk and support staff are all so friendly and helpful. The B&B also serves a great breakfast, with Continental items like breads and bagels with fruit and cereal and hot options that change every day like eggs and potatoes, banana pancakes with bacon and Caribbean breakfast pizza. We had a king-sized room with an extended balcony. Our view of the ocean was so close that we could actually feel the mist of the waves on our balcony!
So, this was Valentine’s Day, our 5th anniversary. We spent the afternoon sitting on the beach in front of the B&B, watching the waves crash. In the evening we started thinking of what we really wanted to do for our anniversary dinner. We usually just enjoy a special dinner at home and decided we’d really rather do something like that. So, we ordered pizza and it was fantastic. We walked to the local place, William’s Pizza, and ordered two personal pizzas. We picked up some rum and beer from the local carry-out and spent our 5th anniversary eating pizza on the balcony overlooking the ocean.Day 5- Beach Day- We just relaxed for most of the day.
We carried lounge chairs down the beach to an area near the rocks and a group of palm trees. The beach directly in front of the B&B, Playa Pared, is a surfers’ beach and there were always at least a few to watch. The swimmers' beach, Playa Azul, was just a 5-minute walk away. Only a short drive away is world-known Luquillo Beach, which boasts the European Blue 
Flag designation. In the early afternoon, we headed down to Luquillo Beach and to check out the Kiosks for lunch. The Kiosks are made up of approximately 60 individual food stands that sell everything from towels and souvenirs to Puerto Rican food like fritters and mofongo and other stands offer Peruvian food, upscale Italian or fresh oysters.We decided to try El Jefe Burger Shack (Kiosk #12). What a great place.
The burgers are delicious! J ordered the Sampler, which offers mini versions of each of their stuffed burgers- short-rib stuffed, Spanish-chorizo stuffed or Firecracker (green chili and jalapeño stuffed). J loved the Firecracker the most. I ordered a burger with cheddar, bacon and BBQ and it was scrumptious. The food takes a little longer at the Burger Shack because they make everything fresh as you order it but it is worth the wait.That evening we enjoyed one of our best dinners at Guavas (Veve Calzada Street # 16, La Pared Beach, Luquillo).
Guavas is within walking distance of our B&B. They have live music on the weekends and the music they were playing when we were there was amazing. Two classical guitarists were backing up a vocalist singing traditional songs. Patrons of the restaurant would sing along to their favorites and some stood up to dance at their tables when ballads were played. They served beautiful dishes that appeared gourmet in presentation but with appropriate portions. I had the Lobster Ravioli in a Saffron Sauce and J had the Stuffed Chicken. Everything was delightful and we consider this dinner to be the best of the trip.Day 6- Icacos- We took a Spread Eagle catamaran sailboat trip to the deserted island of Icacos, a small uninhabited island off the northeast coast of PR.
J and I spent the first part of the day walking around the island, beach combing. They served a great sandwich buffet on the boat and after lunch I jumped in the water and took a dip while Josh relaxed. In the afternoon the sailboat moved to another reef where I enjoyed snorkeling. Although we were careful to dowse ourselves in sun-screen we both were still slightly red and very tired by the end of the trip. We stopped at the grocery on the way back to pick up pan agua or water bread, a soft white bread, and other sandwich fixings so we could make lunches for our hike the next day. We decided to just have sandwiches that night and got to bed early.Day 7- El Yunque Rain Forest- Visiting El Yunque Rain Forest was the highlight of the trip for me. I love to hike and trekking through such lush vegetation was a thrill.
We took the advice of many and got to the forest early, a little after 8:am. By the time we left, the place was crawling with visitors- thank goodness we arrived early because we felt like we had the place to ourselves in the early morning. We drove all the way to the end of the road, parked and started our walk to the Britton Observation Tower from there. The entire walk to the Tower is uphill but because the path is well-maintained the hike is fairly easy. The view from the tower is amazing. We could see all the way to the ocean and were even able to see the area our B&B is in.
Next, we hiked the Big Tree Trail to see La Mina Falls, which was breathtaking. The trail follows a stream down the rocky riverbed filled with boulders that are easily climbable. There are cool pools to stand in and you are even allowed to swim in the pond that La Mina Falls pours into. We had the entire falls to ourselves. As we hiked out, we encountered a lot of people hiking in so we were happy to be done rather than part of a huge crowd.J and I headed out to Playa Azul to hang out at the beach that afternoon. J and I jumped in, waded out to where the waves broke and enjoyed splashing around. We had a picnic lunch that day and decided to head out for good old bar food for dinner. We ate at the Brass Cactus, which offers a great menu of pub-style foods like steak fajitas and beer-battered mahi sandwiches. I enjoyed a few stiff margaritas which were perfect.
Day 8- Beach Day- We had planned on biking the Pinones Boardwalk on this day but decided we’d rather have a quiet beach day instead. We walked from the B&B
along the beach to an outcropping of rocks that are a part of a Nature Preserve and explored that area for a while. We had tacos at a well-priced local Mexican place called El Sabor. In the early afternoon we got the call we’d be dreading- our trip to the Biobay had been cancelled due to strong winds and bad weather moving in. This was one of our most anticipated activities and we were disappointed that we couldn’t do it. We decided to go out for dinner instead and enjoyed a quiet Italian meal at Osobucco, one of the Kiosks. We were surprised that this place wasn’t busier than what it was because we enjoyed our meals of Pesto Gnocchi and Chicken Parmesan very much. The server was beyond gracious and the sage green decor with Caribbean wood accents was tasteful and welcoming.Day 9- Gallery Day- It rained most of our last full day in Puerto Rico but that didn’t get us down. We chose to use the day to drive around the area and visit local
galleries. Our Inn has a mural painted by a local artist and we wanted to see more of her work so we headed out to Palmer to check out her gallery and others in the area. First we visited a large gallery, the Coqui International Store, that exhibits the work of several Puerto Rican artists in the area. Everything from paintings to wood carvings to food delicacies are available in this area. Across the street is the Melloy Gallery of Jaymee Weinreich that she shares with two other local artists. Jaymee is the mural artist we were looking for and we were pleased and honored to 
meet and talk with her at her gallery. We ended up purchasing two linoleum prints from a fellow artist at the Gallery as well as a painting done by Ms. Weinreich that was displayed in our B&B. We spent the rest of the afternoon driving around Luquillo and Fajardo gathering the supplies needed to ship a box full of all our purchases back home. Because we enjoyed the burgers so much the first time, we headed back to try something new at the El Jefe Burger Shack. J got a Firecracker burger and I got my burger with sautéed mushrooms. I enjoyed being able to customize my burgers each time depending on what I felt like having.Day 10- Our Last Day- Our last day had finally arrived and we woke up early to
watch the sun rise over the Atlantic Ocean. Although we were sad that our vacation had come to an end, we missed our dogs so much and looked forward to getting home just to see them. Our flights home were not nearly as turbulent and we had much more room so we relaxed and enjoyed the flights back. We were home by 8:pm that evening and snuggling with our dogs on the couch shortly after.
