If it were my choice, every single trip day would be filled to the brim with activities. Even at home, I'm not one to lounge around. Where Elisa's ideal weekend is being a homebody with no visitors and just relaxation throughout the two days, I'm pretty miserable. I want to be out and about, exploring and experiencing things. But that's why we work, I think. We balance each other. Elisa doesn't just get to lay at the beach all day and I have to take a few minutes to actually lay at a beach.
It wasn't always like that. My earlier trips were militant in nature and I could always count on a mini fight with Elisa when I was pushing too hard. Man, everything use to get to me when something varied from my perfectly orchestrated itinerary. If we were 10 minutes late, it was the end of the world. But let it be known that I can change, just like anyone. Specifically, we had a pretty good meltdown of an argument back in 2012 on our Disney World trip and walking back through the rain, I realized that pretty much everyone in the party was done with my butt kicking itinerary management. It was a good eye opener for me. Not that change came overnight. No, with each trip I would dip my toe into the relaxation pool and realize that trips were actually the better for it.
Granted, our trips also benefit from my desire to find adventure and force people a bit out of their comfort zones. Everything in moderation. This trip seemed like a near graduation for me on the relaxation front. In my opinion, I had finally crafted a trip that seemed to balance the activity with the relaxation. I was pretty excited for both, to be honest. And after our Culebra adventure the day before, even I was looking forward to a bit of a breather. Well, it didn't hurt that the following day would be an early start as well, but now I'm just getting ahead of myself.
We woke up when we felt like it, which was nice. It also led to a trip rarity. On vacations where my family (parents, Aunt) come along, Elisa and I are usually bringing up the rear in terms of being ready. Today, though, we were ahead. We didn't set alarms or anything, but once everyone was awake, we got dressed and ready for the day...and we were waiting around a bit for the other room. Take that! Talk about a balance of relaxation and schedule!
As today was a more relaxed affair, we headed down to one of the hotel restaurants that put out a nice brunch buffet. We all got seated and got drink orders taken care of before we were off to get food. Going through a buffet with Sam is always interesting. He likes what he likes, and he can kick the rest of the food to the curb. The minute he saw that they had "rainbow cereal" (Fruit Loops), he was in heaven. He added some yogurt and a banana and settled in for food. I headed to the very crowded omelette station. We slowly got our orders taken care of and settled in for a nice breakfast. After round one of the buffet, Elisa introduced us to the best part of it...going to the desserts and pastries and getting one of everything. It was fun to just try to sample a bunch of food and discover which ones were the best. Elisa was a fan of a cheesy kind of horn shaped food. I really liked the mini glazed donut holes. By the end of breakfast, though, we were all satisfied.
We headed to the car, ready for more adventure, but today would be less taxing. Our plan was to start in El Yunque, the rainforest not far from our hotel. I had discovered that large parts of it were still closed from the hurricane, but I was also keen to explore what we still open and accessible. As the government shutdown was still underway (remember, historians...Puerto Rico is an American Territory!), I was curious to see how this National Park would be impacted. After El Yunque, we were kind of open to next steps, though there was general interest in heading into Old San Juan.
Thankfully, despite my Google Maps not functioning (though we were getting better...we weren't shown to be in the ocean today!), the visitor center to El Yunque was only about 5 minutes away from our hotel. We arrived to a random "shop" in the middle of other buildings. It was the most bizarre "visitor center" I'd ever seen. They were nice, enough though. As we walked in, the place was filled with Cub Scouts, who seemed to be gearing up for an adventure in the rainforest with their troop. While people took a quick restroom break, Sam explored pictures of the hurricane, which no doubt added to the questions he would lay on us about natural disasters as we drove through the rainforest a bit later.
In talking to one of the rangers, I discovered why we were in such a weird set up. The main Rain Forest Center was still closed. The rest of what we could explore was pretty straightforward, though. Stop 1 would be a great overlook. Stop 2 would include a waterfall. Stop 3 would take us to Yokahu Tower, and we would end up at Juan Diego Creek. Sounded perfect. We all got back into the car and I meandered around to the entrance of the rainforest.
As we twisted and turned, I was balancing a worry about the boys getting car sick with a desire to look around at the lush green that was exploding before our eyes. As we had taken a map, Elisa was an expert navigator as we made our way to our first stop, an overlook. We pulled off and got out of the car. Wow. Looking farther into the rainforest, we could see the looming Yokahu Tower. Looking back, we could see all the way to the ocean. It was, in a word, breathtaking. We got a ton of pictures and then piled back into the car.
Next up was Stop 2, which would get us to a waterfall. Not far in front of our first stop, there was a parking lot and we jumped back out and headed down a slope. To our right we saw La Coca Falls, a huge black rock slab that had beautiful water running down it's entire facade. I got slightly annoyed at the people that had crawled up closer and wouldn't get out of the way for our pictures, but I got over it. We got some great shots of the kids looking at this natural wonder. I was definitely becoming a fan of El Yunque. But after a few minutes, Sam was urging us to leave. He desperately wanted to explore the "castle". He had no interest in knowing that it was a tower...no, we were going to the castle.
A short ride later and we were indeed at the castle. Sam immediately went to explore while Elisa and I took it a bit easier. The rest of our party headed up the tower while we just walked around and looked at the beautiful plants and flowers. It ended up being a nice adjustment, as we got to spend some time together and slowly make our way up to the top of the tower. There, the rest of the family was exploring. The view was equal to Spot 1. We snapped some more fantastic pictures, made our way down the long staircase, and were finally off to our final destination - Juan Diego Creek.
I had heard about this one - a place that, if you so desired, you could enter the pool and stand (or swim) under the waterfall. However, only one of us was really equipped for this. Only Elisa had worn a swimsuit, so when we arrived and made our way to the waterfall, the rest of us could only watch. Elisa, with a little nudging, could actually take a dip.
While she was deciding, I was observing the strangest contraption on a fellow visitor. They had what looked to be a sort of 360 degree cape on that went from their neck all the way to the ground. Inside it, she was fidgeting something fierce, and it dawned on me what I was seeing. A changing station for those that didn't have access to a bathroom. Color me impressed. She entered wet and in a swim suit. She exited in regular clothes. It's just like MAGIC!
Meanwhile, Elisa had decided to indeed get in the water. She stripped down to her swimsuit and slowly headed in. But she only got sort of close to the waterfall. She was nervous because the rocks were definitely slippery. So in a bit of an entertaining twist, my Mom (who had a pair of Elisa's old waterproof sandals) took them off and returned them to Elisa for use in the waterfall. With better footing, she was at least ready to get closer.
I was highly entertained when she got close to the water and I screamed "once in a lifetime!" She responded with "just take the damn picture!" That's my wife, ladies and gentlemen! And while she offered for me to get in the water too, I didn't have a swimsuit or a 360 degree changing station, so that dream died. I did, I'll have you know, get the pleasure of spending the next 10 minutes arguing with Sam about his desire to get into the water. In the end, (and in compromise) he was allowed to take his shoes off and splash around, so long as his clothes didn't get wet. Miles joined in, and while Lukas clearly wanted to, it was fun to see him torn between being a kid and being a moody teen. In the end, being a kid won out and I was glad for it. After the kids walked around barefoot and played in the water, we piled everyone in the car and headed back down. We were getting hungry and there was now more than just a murmur about our desired next destination. People wanted get to Old San Juan.
As we left Juan Diego Creek, the rainforest fulfilled it's name quite well. We we enveloped in a drenching downpour. It was so pretty. But like any good rainforest storm, it went as quickly as it had come. We meandered out of El Yunque and made the 30 minute drive over to Old San Juan. Prior to the rainforest, I had researched potential placed to park in case we did end up here. I found a great parking garage right at the foot of Old San Juan and took the Google Maps straight there (yay, it was working!). As we pulled up to the garage, though, I was a bit worried. It said it needed 6'9" of clearance. Surely our weird shaped rental car would make it, right? Unfortunately, as I pulled in, the top of the car hit one of those measurement tubs. This dumb ass car was 6'10" tall. Of course it was. So I quickly reversed and searched for other parking opportunities. I finally found one on the street and we departed.
One of my Dad's contacts at the boys' Elementary School (he volunteers there) suggested a restaurant called Manolin, located right in the heart of Old San Juan. So following my Dad's directions, we bobbed and weaved through cobblestone streets lined with brightly colored buildings. Old San Juan definitely has a ton of character. And kudos to my Dad. Despite my doubts (I mean, I wasn't controlling the directions!), we arrived at Manolin and joined the long line. It was not a big place and with 8 people, I was sure we would be waiting forever. However, fortune favors the bold (well, or the lucky). A group of 8 chairs opened up right at the counter and Elisa beelined her way to the seats at her earliest convenience. We all sat down and ordered a delightful and authentic Puerto Rican lunch. Elisa, Sam, and my Dad especially loved the rice and beans. I really liked my Empanada. It was a great meal and a great kick off to Old San Juan.
From there, we explore the streets, coming upon one that had basically created a ceiling of colored umbrellas. It was really cute and we walked up and down the street admiring the effect. We browsed stores and got the boys some souvenir shirts. On the coming cruise, we would be having a Pirate night, so Miles and Sam found some pirate shirts and we got them. Lukas got a really nice Puerto Rico shirt. Elisa and I were already eyeing the Puerto Rican coffee, but we knew that we would have one more day near Old San Juan after the trip and we could collect our souvenirs then. I mean, the rental car already couldn't hold our luggage. It was probably a good idea to not add to the problem.
Prior to getting ready to head back to the hotel, Elisa needed...wait for it...a coffee. I found a highly rated one nearby and we made our way to it. While I inquired about the coffee (they...um, didn't have iced coffee despite every sign advertising iced coffee), Elisa and the boys explored the square. And while Sam was running around amongst the birds, a local stopped him and put some bird seed in his hands. Before you knew it, Lukas, Miles, and Sam had birds all over them. Elisa, in one of our videos, can be heard exclaiming her jealousy. So sure enough, Elisa got involved and as she took the bird seed, no less than 7 birds flew to her arms. She's the animal whisperer (which was only enforced later on in the trip). The boys had a blast. The birds kept flying onto their hands and arms, and it was especially entertaining when a bird landed right on Miles's head.
After paying the man for the chance to have the birdseed and play with his friends, I found a different coffee shop and Elisa and I got iced coffees. She got hers first and when we both tried it, we realized just hot Puerto Rican this coffee was. Holy cow. That stuff is likely to make you grow chest hair immediately. So despite the fact that Elisa and I avoid sugar in our coffees, we had the barista add some and the drink immediately became the greatest invention in the world. It was SO good. We enjoyed our coffees as we made our way back down to the car and headed back to the Wyndham. It was a great, relaxing day.
When we arrived back at the hotel, I only had one goal...another Havanas Bananas. The boys, on the other hand, had swimming plans. So back we headed to the pool. Miles and Lukas desperately wanted to play some pool football, but Sam wanted to go down the waterslide. So I strategically positioned myself to catch Sam down the slide, put him back on dry land, and then go run one play of pool football. Then, it was back to catching Sam. Thankfully, today wouldn't have any throw up and Sam just kept going and going and going, even later convincing his brothers to ride the slide with him in a sort of slow moving train. After some good swimming time, though, my original mission took center stage. I needed that Havanas Bananas.
No one was going to fight me either. Before I knew it, both Connie and my Dad had become fans and even Elisa joined us for a drink (a mojito, her specialty). As we had started exhausting the restaurants on property, we decided to head to the bar inside the hotel. First, we could actively avoid the bugs or ants or whatever liked to eat us for dinner. Second, we discovered that the margaritas were buy one get one free. We discovered just a few minutes later that these margaritas were able the size of an adult's head too, so those having margaritas were in absolute heaven. And while the service left a lot to be desired, the food wasn't half bad. My favorite moment was when Elisa had only had half of her margarita (if that) and donated it to me, only to be met with a brand new and completely full margarita right in front of her. When in Puerto Rico, amirite?
After dinner, we all headed back up to the rooms to rest and relax. While the boys had some interest in heading to the hot tub, I promised them that they'd get some day swimming time when we got back from tomorrow's adventure. Everyone settled in from a very successful day two.
Next time, we go back into crazy itinerary mode by heading out of the hotel before sunrise, get to the heart of unfiltered Puerto Rico, get worms, and (this part will shock you) I get another Havanas Bananas.
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