Puerto Rico Day 1 -- 4/16/13

Before this trip, I knew absolutely nothing about Puerto Rico except that it was down near the Bahamas somewhere.  I didn't know the language and I’d never had any urge to go there.

These are all good things.

I’ve often lamented the fact that I’m not more spontaneous when it comes to travel.  In each of the last few years I’ve been fortunate enough to take one big trip that gets planned out months in advance.  But what about all those weekends I spent at home staring at the cat?  What about the Christmas breaks and long summers that I always wanted to do something but just … didn’t?  Not this year.  With my car note finally paid off (yay!) I actually had a little more scratch to play with this year and I was bound and determined not to spent another week of vacation wishing I could do something.  I decided it was beach time.

Thanks to the suggestion of a co-worker (good looking out Chere!) I picked Puerto Rico for my next quick trip.  I found a cheap fair through one of the emails that Travelzoo sends me and before you know it I had a whole package deal with airfare, 3 nights in a hotel, transportation to and from the airport, and a rainforest tour all booked for around $900.

Saturday before the trip was my 42^nd birthday.  Didn’t do much on the day what with the trip planned.  I bought myself a couple of DVDs and a new travel tote, got some Chinese food (a rare treat), scored an oversized cupcake from Kroger, and basically chilled. 

Since I’m still saving as much money as I can for the big trip I have planned for Ireland in September, I decided to skip the house sitter for Beata.  I’d be out on Tuesday and back on Friday so for those few days she’d be fine.  Plenty of food and water and some clean litter and she’d barely miss me.

The one thing I do love about being in the new perimeter location for the job is that I can leave my car in the parking garage when I go on vacation.  So convenient.  I can walk to MARTA to catch the train all the way to the airport and I don’t have to pay for parking.  Sweet.  Now the commute is still ... What's a word that rhymes with "bell"?

So on the morning of Tuesday morning April 16 I set off for work like I do on any other weekday morning -- after some initial difficulty.  I had packed the weekend before but kept remembering things just as I was trying to get out of the house.  Had to turn around once before getting out of the neighborhood and then make a second trip upstairs once I got home.  I thought I was never getting out of there.  The trend only continued when I parked my car at the job.  I had locked up and was walking away when I remembered that the swim shoes I had run back to the house to get were still in the backseat.  Grrrrr …  This one short little trip was never gonna happen if I didn’t make it on the plane. 

Finally managed to catch the train for the roughly 45 minute trip to the airport.  As usual, I'd given myself a good 2 hours to get through security as I'd already printed my boarding pass at home.  This is Atlanta, the busiest airport in the world.  You never knew what it would look like from day to to day.  So I was totally shocked when I got through security in less than twenty minutes.  Apparently, they've laxed on some of the 9/11 restrictions making the whole thing go by much faster.  Cool.  I put my shoes back on and went to get something to eat.

Reminder to self:  always, if possible, choose the upgrade to the exit row.  Yes, it costs more money but the extra leg room is invaluable.  There was even an empty seat between my window and the aisle.  Double sweet.  Being that I was so comfortable, I actually slept for most of the short 3 hour flight.

First impression of Puerto Rico:  it’s much bigger than I thought and covered in high rises. I couldn’t wait to get out and explore but the sky was looking awfully gray as we started to land.  I'd made arrangements with a company called Elegant Transportation to pick me up and before I even had a change to flounder around the small airport I spotted a sign with my name on it.  The driver was a nice man named Franscico.  He led me through the airport to a van with another couple in it and we were off.

On the trip over, he gave us suggestions on tours and restaurants.  He's a bit of a foodie so he was telling us about the restaurants around our hotel, the Conrad San Juan Condado.  Old San Juan was located near the hotel but he advised transport there.  He recommended some authentic PR food in the area but was sure to downvote the Starbucks located right next to the hotel and the Denny's located in the adjoining building (more on that later).

The Conrad is a gorgeous hotel if a little worn down.  There’s a big fish tank in the lobby along with these funky chairs that look like they were crocheted.  There's a full wall of mosiac tiling behind the front desk that reminds me that I really need to get back into tiling, I've always enjoyed.  With card keys in hand, I headed to my room on the 7th floor.

The room was very nice.  I loved the color scheme and the bathroom … well the bathroom needs to be in my house quite frankly.  With a big glass shower in the middle of the room, a vanity on one side and a closet, safe, and fridge on the other, it was way more than I expected.

 

I got unpacked, changed into some shorts and set out to explore … only to find that it had started to rain and not a light tropical storm.  It was pouring.  Dang it.  I want to go outside!  Stubborn me decided to take my trusty umbrella for a short tour around the grounds.

Man, do I love palm trees.  They were all over the property, leaves swaying the breeze.  Some even had coconuts in them!  Nice to look at but I'd hate to be swinging in one of the hammocks strung between some of them if one of those bad boys decided to drop.  The grounds have two pools, a large kidney shaped on with a net, a slide, and a swim up bar, as well as a deeper sea water pool (6 ft deep).  There were cafe tables set up near the larger bar and a massage tent set up between the pools and a small beach and man is it raining.  I trudged my wet shoes back under the shelter of the hotel awning.

 

I ended up on the patio located on the side of the hotel facing the water.  I plopped myself down on a deck chair.  Despite the rain I was happy to be on the island, watching the palm trees and the waves.  After a while a guy from a nearby group of people wandered over and introduced himself as Brian.  He was waiting to leave and decided to talk to a friendly face since he joked of being tired of his companions.  He was a social worker from New York on the island for business.  We ended up talking for a while about ATL vs. NY airports (ATL scared him for being so huge), sports (he was a Mets fan and hoped I wasn’t a rabid Braves fan), and other stuff.  I asked him about any sights I should see while on the island and he said that he’d been there multiple times (monthly meetings over the last few years) and couldn’t really see anything but the job anymore.  Apparently, the PR government was setting up too much red tape in trying to help the homeless so the island visits just meant frustration for him.

After our conversation ended, it started to get a little too windy for me so I headed inside to explore the hotel. There’s a small club of sorts as well as a freestanding bar and a gift shop on the first level.  The Mezzanine level has a couple of restaurants, meeting rooms, and a small casino.  I walked right on by -- never been a gambler.  On the far side of casino was the skywalk leading to the hotel's other building.  More conference rooms and a Denny's on this side.

I wasn't actually hungry (I rarely am on vacation) but I figured I'd eat.  I chose Denny’s (I know – real authentic PR food) as it happened to be right there.  I should have known that was a mistake based on how empty it was.  The waiter didn’t write down my order, had to ask me again, then came back to say that they didn’t have any pickles, and then brings me a burger with tomatoes that I didn’t ask for.  I shouldn’t have tipped him but habit made me leave him something.  Turns out Fransico knew what he was talking about.  Lesson learned but at least the burger was tasty. 

As the rain had slacked up during my meal, I took a brief walk outside.  A bunch of hotels, restaurants and shops line the street along with a bunch of cops.  They were everywhere, in cars, on bikes and on foot.  Good to know I'd be safe while there.

It started to drizzle again so I headed back to the room to rest up. I could only hope that the island would get all that rain out of its system overnight.