Hey guys! So as some of you guys may know or have heard, I spent a week in Puerto recently to celebrate my 25th birthday. Turning a quarter century for me is a major milestone and the only way I wanted to spend it was relaxing, eating good food, drinks, and most importantly, great company. My trip to Puerto Rico was exactly how I hoped it would be so let’s get started!
Day One:
My partner and I arrived in Puerto Rico by early Saturday afternoon. The first thing we did was check into our Airbnb which was a beautiful oasis. Our host, Frank, was very welcoming and pleased to me us. The oasis was very clean and the interior design was Victorian vintage, from the bedroom to the bathroom. With just a one bedroom, and a bath space, the oasis is suitable for primarily couples. So I would highly recommend it for lovebirds who are looking for a more romantic space in San Juan. Later in the evening, we visited La Placita de Santurce. La Placita is a market square that is more than a 100 years old. During the day, the square is full of shops to buy fresh fruits and from early evening to night, restaurants and bars are open to have a great time! La Placita reminds me of Bourbon Street atmosphere in New Orleans, as the night gets darker the street gets louder. The first spot we went to at La Placita was Asere Cubano. Asere is a Cuban restaurant cozy and casual vibe. I had their tropical ceviche with green plantain on the side. We also got a few drinks at Asere. I had passion fruit mojito for the first time. I have a mission now to find a bar that serves passion fruit mojito in Minnesota. Wish me luck y’all! For veggies lovers, Asere has a meal called confit eggplant and it looked quite good. We also hit up a few bars in the square and watched the locals salsa dance with so much passion and love for one another.
Day Two:
Second day in Puerto Rico was spent learning the Island’s history. Being the history nerd that I am, I was so anxious and excited to learn about Puerto Rico history, and what better way to do that then visiting Castillo San Cristobal and Castillo San Felipe del Morro. Both Forts were built by the Spaniards in the 1500s to protect the city of San Juan from attack by land mainly from the the British, and Dutch who were also fighting to claim Puerto Rico. The Spaniards enslaved the Tainos people, who were natives of the island. Like the Native American genocides in America, most of the Tainos people died from diseases and Spanish oppression. Africans were also enslaved in Puerto until 1873, when slavery was abolished on the island. Puerto Rico became a U.S territory, after the Spanish-American War when Spain was forced to sign a treaty to give up Guam and Puerto Rico to the United States. Both forts were active military locations during WWI and WWII.
Whew! That was just a brief description of history we learned from visiting both Forts. I highly recommend this tour! FYI the pass you purchase to have access to the Forts is a 7 day pass. The receptionists leave out this detail because they want tourists to spend more money. You might be thinking why would I need a pass for more than 1 day? Actually if we knew this information earlier we would had explored the Forts on two separate days due to how massive both Forts are. There’s so much to learn and see that a few hours out of a day is just not enough! Both Forts are about 15-20 minutes walking distance. We took a rest break to munch on some empanadas and local beers.
After a long day learning the history of Puerto Rico, we relaxed in the pool at our oasis. Later, we had dinner at La Madre. La Madre is a Mexican style restaurant. For my margaritas lovers, this is the spot for you! The restaurant also have a night-club vibe to it so the music kept me awake. During the first couple days of the trip, I had a hard time staying up late because of my work schedule, I’m used to being in bed by 11:00 pm the latest. Nevertheless, my second day in San Juan was one of the best times I had in Puerto Rico.
Day Three:
It’s day 3 and the last day in San Juan but not quite and for sure not the end of our trip. We spent the day having a mini food tour and explored the neighborhoods in Old San Juan. This trip we wanted to be where the locals be and eat what the locals eat. We found a local restaurant called Fatty’s, it was hidden away in a back alleyway in old San Juan. Fatty’s is a Caribbean restaurant. On the menu you can find varieties of plantains from green plantains, to sweet plantains. Pigeon beans and rice, as well as jerk chicken. Of course let's not forget those mouth-watering empanadas! Funnily enough our waiter, Tony, is someone that became a highlight of our trip. Tony had a great energy to him and you can see the passion he had for his job. He suggested a few restaurants for us to try as well as some spots that offer great vegetarian dishes! One of the spots he emphasized was a place called Greengos. He said they had great vegetarian meals. He was right! Even the empanadas at Greengos were on the healthy side. We also chatted with Tony about our plans for the next few days in Puerto Rico. We told him we would be venturing to Guanica and he seemed really excited because he grew up in the area.
After we left Greengos, I decided to do a photoshoot. During my shoot, one of the locals stopped with her dog and offered to give me a few posing tips. This led to almost an hour conversation. She and Levi bonded over having dogs with similar personality. I wish I could remember her name. She also went on and showed us some historic sites we can visit in old San Juan. As well as telling us which gift shops to be mindful of in the area that charge tourists extra. We came to find out this local was a tour guide and she requested a tip. We gave her a tip but felt like she really tricked us and got a few bucks out of us! Regardless, she was great company!
Later that day, we went to Playa Ultimo Trolley beach which is part of Ocean Park Beach. Our Airbnb host recommended this beach due to it being less crowded. The beach is a favorite spot among the locals. The beach wasn’t too packed when we arrived. Since it was Memorial Day, a lot of families were on the beach but they were getting ready to leave when we arrived because it was already late in the evening. A kind gentleman who had his kiosk set up on the beach was renting beach chairs, he gave us free chairs, and also made a complimentary drink. I took a nice nap at the beach and waited in anticipation for the sunset.
There you have it guys! My 3 days spent in San Juan wrapped up in this post. The highlights of being in San Juan is how friendly people were. From our waiter Tony to the lady who decided to give us a “free” tour, and the guy who willingly gave us free beach chairs and made us that excellent drink. They were the highlights of this trip. Their kindness also reminded me of the importance of human relationship and why I love the job that I do.
Please stick around for sometime! I’ll be posting the remaining of my trip to Puerto Rico soon! I hope you guys enjoyed the first segments!
