The last few days....

1o/15/08

Wednesday… wow. I cannot believe that we are leaving in two days (Ronnie, as the optimist, says that we really have three days…). This morning, we went to the bakery again (surprise!) We were watching the news this morning and last night and our little tropical storm has become a hurricane: Omar, to be exact. And, it should be hitting the island tomorrow, with winds in our area of 35-50 mph and 4-6 inches of rain! Yikes! But, this morning was beautiful again and we decided to drive out to a town called Isabela. At Isabela, we found an amazing view of the ocean. The Atlantic waves were crashing over the mountains, spraying white sea foam at least ten feet into the air. The sight reminded both Ronnie and I of Hawaii. After Ronnie took some pictures, (hah!) we took Eva into the water! The video Ronnie took is priceless; I mean, I would give my arm for it. We stripped her down to just her diaper, and I sat her down into a few inches of water. Her emotions went from content, to tears, to a little squeal, then, after a little ripple of water splashed her, she broke out into tears. So cute!

We found a cute little roadside restaurant for lunch that sat just a few hundred feet from the ocean. Lunch was fried blue marlin fried on a stick (food on a stick=pinchos), rice and beans, and fried plantains. Lunch was okay, but the atmosphere was fun: a rooster on the table, a lot of locals, and blackbirds enjoying whatever food they could get. After lunch, we found a surf shop and I got my cute, green souvenir neck-a-lace. On the way back into Mayaguez, we talked about the coming storm and agreed that it would be cool to be nearer to it in San Juan, but we knew that we would not be able to get out of our hotel for the day. We decided to try for Thursday checkout instead of Friday as we had planned. After calling Travelocity, they said that we would be able to checkout a day early and get a refund so we made plans to go to San Juan the next day. As excited as I was about the prospect of going somewhere new, I was sad to be leaving Mayaguez, the bakery, and our adorable hotel.

Our last night was my favorite of the trip. We went to Sancha Panza again for dinner (yummy) and then, we got some Rex Cream from the little shop by our hotel… So good! We took our ice cream to the hotel and ate it in the open air lobby. Then, we went up onto the rooftop of the hotel and enjoyed the views, talked, and even danced a little to the music from a nearby club. We had the rooftop to ourselves, and you could feel the wind from the coming storm and it played in my hair. We had learned that the storm would miss us and that we would not feel any effects beside a little rain. Wednesday night was amazing and I was reluctant to go to bed because I did not want to give up the fun that we had in our little town.


10/16/08

Thursday (wow, how time flies)… we checked out of our hotel this morning with mixed emotions. We both loved our hotel, but we were headed to the big city and an oceanfront hotel. So, after breakfast, we headed out. The trip was smooth, and we were thankful that it took two hours and not seven and a half hours! We had missed the sights along the road on our trip out to Mayaguez because dark had already fallen, and I was surprised to see that the road followed the ocean and the view was amazing. We even made a U-turn to take pictures at one spot where the ocean looked like it was glittering in the morning sun.

Once we got to San Juan, Ronnie went into our new hotel to check us in and then we went to the room. The room was more expensive than our first hotel and lacked the charm but had an amazing ocean view. We opened the windows, and laid down on the bed for a short little time of rest and we listened to the waves pounding against the shore. The only real affects of Omar that we saw was the waves and they were powerful, about five feet tall; but really, they just made the ocean even more beautiful. Naptime was short; we fed Ebbie and then went onto to find lunch for ourselves. San Juan was definitely much more touristy than Mayaguez and it did not take us too long to find a cute restaurant with an ocean view. We were one of the few groups in the restaurant and we grabbed an amazing seat next to open windows where the waves were crashing just a few feet below us. The view was literally amazing and the food was good, too. We had tostados, rice and beans, and guacamole. The food was definitely less authentic than what we had been eating, but we enjoyed it.

We wandered around town, got some souvenirs for our family at home, and went and sat at a neat oceanfront park in the dark. Ronnie and I talked for a little while and just enjoyed our last night of our vacation. We were not really hungry but we figured that we could go and get some appetizers somewhere. We ended up at Chili’s, where we ate a full meal and enjoyed “American food”. After dinner, we went back to our hotel and watched some television before falling asleep.

10/17/08

Our last day… I woke up this morning not feeling so great. My stomach was cramping, but Ronnie took care of me. After we fed Eva, we walked down to Walgreens, got some medicine and then found a breakfast place where we ate pancakes and French toast. Breakfast was good, but we were ready to get going and enjoy our last day. We had been looking forward to going to the fort in Old San Juan since we saw it on our first day and we were excited about going today.

The fort exceeded my expectations. The view was amazing from the top of the fort, the Atlantic ocean stretched out as far as we could see on one side and the town of Old San Juan filled the view on the other. The grounds were covered with Iguanas and very few people so we got to just stroll around and enjoy the views. I really liked going up into one of the watch towers. From where I was looking out the little window-slits, I could see an Iguana basking in the warm sun and the ocean behind him. Ronnie said that his favorite part of the fort was the from the top of the fort. We both also liked going into one of the dungeons where they kept prisoners. One of the walls had drawings of old ships, possibly drawn by someone awaiting execution for mutiny.

After the fort, we had to get some gas in our trusty rental car and we ate some sandwiches for lunch. Then, sadly, we headed to the airport. I cannot believe that today is the only day that it has not rained since we have been here! But, overall, the weather was great and did not inhibit any adventures on our part. We are all on the plane now; I am in between a sleepy little girl and a sleeping husband. I cannot wait to get home and see our Sammy cat, sleep in our bed, and shower! But, no doubt, this has been the best vacation of my life (sorry Mom and Dad! Even Disney does not compete with traveling with my little girl and my amazing husband!)

Until next time… J