Puerto Rico

The morning after Christmas, we got up (very) early to catch a plane to Atlanta where we met up with Poppy, Uncle Darren, Aunt Annie, Jonas, Uncle Steven and Aunt Jackie to board a plane to San Juan, Puerto Rico. The flight was delayed so the boys had some extra time to ride around the Atlanta airport on the plane train, which of course was a huge highlight. Once in Puerto Rico, we had a nice dinner on the water before the 2 hour drive in the dark to our condo in Aguadilla. We started the first full day with a big breakfast at Mona's, then hung poolside before heading downtown to a sushi restaurant. The views from the condo were beautiful, looking out on the ocean and you could see Crash Boat Beach from the pool.

front row seats on the plane train

 

first dinner at Carolina Beach

view from condo

Crash Boat Beach below

 

view from our balcony

 The next day while Darren and Dad were on a scuba dive excursion, the rest of us toured Cueva Ventana ("window cave"), which culminated with a picturesque view of the river below. Afterwards, we found a nearby restaurant on the coast of Arecibo and were lucky enough to catch a rainbow while sipping piña coladas. Ahhh, vacation. 

 

That's Ed : )

 

 

On our drive back to Aguadilla, which was supposed to take 45 mins, we unknowingly drove into the heart of the annual Mask Festival in Hatillo, getting stuck in massive traffic and being directed several times onto one-way roads that ended up being blocked off. GPS was apparently not informed that the town was one big giant party with people adorning scary costumes dancing to rave music and ambulance sirens. Thanks to some locals and strangers pulling over to let us go the wrong way on a one-way street, we were able to make it out.

The next day, Darren, Jonas, Steven and Poppy went deep sea fishing while the rest of us had a nice day at Crash Boat Beach. The guys ended up catching Mahi Mahi and Mackerel which we grilled for a tasty dinner that night.

Manatees, Mom!!!

The next day we took a day trip to Old San Juan where we walked around the town, visited Fortaleza San Felipe del Morro and Castillo de San Cristobal.

It was another day at Crash Boat Beach the next day while Darren and Dad took on dive trip #2. The boys made mud balls and obstacle courses and Dean periodically reported back to us on mud ball status. That evening we had a nice dinner at Textura and a "Kids New Year" before ringing in the actual New Year back at the condo over a game of Cards Against Humanity.

New Year's Day was our last full day and we spent another day relaxing at the beach. The kids enjoyed "limbers" (ice pops) and got a kick out of petting the flock from the pelican whisperer. We ended our time with a beautiful sunset and a home-cooked meal back at the condo.

 

Adios Puerto Rico!

Thanks Dad for your generosity and such a memorable trip! We had a great time and really enjoyed spending time with everyone : )