4 Days in Puerto Rico

I took my son on my third trip (of four) to Puerto Rico.  At the time, he didn’t have a passport so I saw this as an opportunity to take him to a Spanish-speaking country.  It was his first “foreign” trip since he was a baby.

We left on February 15 and I purchased the tickets almost eight months in advance.  Maybe I could’ve saved some money had I waited. I bought the tickets on June 24 and I paid $440 a piece for the plane tickets on American Airlines.  I think I paid too much. I paid $362 a person to return to Puerto Rico for a July cruise later that same year with those tickets being purchased just over two months in advance. We left Detroit with a connection in Miami arriving very late on the evening of the 15th.  Upon arriving in San Juan, I rented a car that I reserved on Priceline with Enterprise for a cost of $95. That was the first time I saw a rental car transaction completely done with an iPad. All the damage was marked on the record stored on the iPad and as I drove out of the lot, the car was scanned and photographed.  That was the record time that I got out of a car rental place ever.

I stayed at the San Juan Beach Hotel and paid $433 for the four nights we were there.  Sadly, that hotel is out of business now, but it was located in the Condado Beach area.  I was so thankful for a tip from the lady who serviced our room.  My son and I were in the room when she came in, looking out the window at the water.  The water seemed quite rough.  She came over, looked out the window, and saw a child unattended in the water. She looked at us and pointed out the window, “That’s not good.  That child should not be in that water alone.  The water here is very rough.  Last week a child drowned out there when a wave carried him away.”  I was so thankful for that advice that I didn’t let that boy of mine out of my sight the entire time. Being February at the time, it was rather windy.  Perhaps the waters calm down at other times during the year, but I would heed that advice nonetheless regardless the season.

San Juan has some great sights and wonderful food. Make sure to stop at a food truck for some good, local food.

Our first stop was to explore old San Juan.

One could not visit San Juan without a visit to the Castillo of el Moro. Detailed information can be found here.

The Fortress of San Cristobal is worth a visit as well if you have the time.

One of the good things of having a rental car is the freedom to explore. El Yunque Rainforest is easy to get to if one has a rental car.  Plan a few hours to hike through it.  The vegetation is lush.  You will see a waterfall or two as well.

~Bella