11.15.10 Sightseeing in Old San Juan

We planned to meet in the lobby of our hotel at 10:00am to spend the first part of our day sightseeing and shopping in Old San Juan.  We started at Fort San Felipe del Morro. El Morro is Puerto Rico's best known fortress. "Spanish troops fortified this 'morro', which means 'promontory', to keep seaborne enemies out of San Juan."  We decided to tour the fort starting at level 6, where the views were spectacular.

After exploring the fort, we walked to explore the shops and sites of Old San Juan.

We walked through an old church and Brian bought two guayaberas, which are shirts for men. It is said that the name and style originated from a shirt with patch pockets in the front, made by a woman for her husband in order to enable him to carry guavas. What can I say, he loved them. We decided to stop for lunch at the #1 rated hotel in San Juan, according to trip advisor - Hotel El Convento. Hotel El Convento was originally a Carmelite convent built over three centuries ago, but is now a boutique-style hotel located in the heart of Old San Juan. We ate at the hotel's restaurant, Patio del Nispero and the lunch was outstanding! Brian, Erin and I ate sandwich wraps and Alex devoured a Cuban sandwich.

Alex and Erin headed back to the hotel and Brian and I continued to shop. Any further findings were unsuccessful, so we hailed a cab and went back to the hotel. Once we got back we threw on our suits and headed out to the pool. We met up with Alex and Erin and we all decided that it would be a fine time to test out the swim up bar, Atlantico.

Beers, margaritas, a dip in the hot tub and little time chilling out on the beach side of the hotel consumed the remainder of our afternoon.

We headed back into the hotel and made reservations at Marmalade. This was the restaurant that was voted #2 on trip advisor and the one that Erin absolutely had her heart set on. Brian, Alex and I were not sold 100%, but we agreed to it anyway.  Oh, and I forgot to mention that Brian did pick something up while we were shopping in Old San Juan for our brother-in law, Kit Patterson. He modeled Kit's  present when we returned to our room to shower up for the night.

We met in the lobby at 7:30pm and took a cab to Fortaleza Street in Old San Juan. We stopped into AguaViva where we were greeted by friendly waitstaff. We realized that we needed to finish up the shots we had left to take from the previous night of football bets, so each of us downed a shot of Ron del Barrilito. This rum is supposed to be some of the best drinking rum. Hmmmmmmm ... I don't know if I agree with that.

After the shot of rum, the bartender treated us to a shot that tasted like watermelon and then we all decided that it was time to leave. We walked down to Marmalade and we were sat immediately. We were greeted by the Chef and Owner, Peter Schintler. Peter gave us a incredible description of the featured items on the menu and convinced all of us to order the four course meal and wine pairing. Yes, we were going big! We actually did not realize that he was the chef until he walked away and Erin provided us with the inside scoop. We were all very excited! A few of us started with a pear, wrapped in prosciutto, filled with gorgonzola and honey mustard - unbelievable! We all had the white bean soup that would absolutely knock your socks off - I mean we all wanted to swim in it because it was so dang good. http://www.marmaladepr.com/index.htm.

11.14.10 Poolside in Puerto Rico

Brian and I woke up and headed downstairs for a Starbucks coffee. The sun was out and we were ready for a day by the pool. We ran into Erin at Starbucks, so we agreed we would meet out at the pool in 20 minutes. Brian and I threw on our swim suits and headed outside to secure front row seats by the water. The pool was pumping and the sun was blazing.

We were soaking ourselves in the pool every five minutes. Brian and Alex ran up to the room to access the WiFi's to update their Fantasy Football lineup, while Erin and I baked in the sun. When they returned we headed over to Atlantico, the poolside cafe for wraps, burgers, and cold beers. After lunch, the boys watched football, Erin napped, and I reclaimed my seat in the sun where I spent most of my time watching a family play volleyball in the pool. The family spoke Spanish and there were many words that I was unable to understand, but they were all having so much fun tossing the ball around and laughing that I could not help myself from laughing and smiling too.

After the pool, we headed back to our rooms to get cleaned up and head out for the night. We planned to meet at 6:30pm in the hotel lobby, but Brian and I arrived early to chat with the hotel concierge to find a restaurant known for Cuban food. The concierge recommended La Ropa Vieja or "Old Clothes" in the neighborhood of Condado.

Condado was about a 10 minute cab ride from Old San Juan. La Ropa Vieja was a simple, quaint place. We all struggled to choose an entree, but the waiter was so good he made all of the decisions for us. Brian and Erin ordered the shredded cuban skirt steak with sweet plantains and cuban rice. Alex ordered the ground beef, and I chose the plantain with chicken. The food was delicious.

After a delightful meal, vodka sodas, and a bottle of wine, we stepped out of the restaurant and walked over the the Renaissance Hotel. We were thoroughly impressed by the hip and elegant art and detailed architecture. We strolled through the hotel and over to the casino in search of a big screen TV and bar, so we could watch the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers game. We had no luck, so we headed out of the hotel and further down the block and stumbled on a local pizza joint with a hopping atmosphere and a raucous crowd. Four seats were available at the bar and TV's were at every corner. Erin decided to spice up the night by demanding that everyone bet on a winning team. The Potter-Dague's picked New England and the Hofto's chose Pittsburgh. To make it even more interesting, when a team scored a touchdown, the opposing team had to take a shot. Needless to say the night was a blast!

The bartender spoke very little English, so I did my best to translate our drink orders and our little bet at hand. Alex and Brian drank beers, while Erin and I guzzled a bottle of wine. Basically, Erin and Alex had several shots and we closed the bar down around the third quarter. We hurried back to the hotel lobby bar to watched the  Patriots beat the Steelers. Additional shots were ordered up and Brian and I began to feel sorry for our opponents, so we joined in on a shot. After that, we headed for the wrapper (A.K.A. bed).

11.13.10 The Party's Over...Now on to San Juan, Puerto Rico!!!

We headed back to Tortola to return the Jack Sparrow to its slip in the marina. Everyone seemed sad to end the trip. We cleaned up the boat, stripped the sheets, and discarded the remaining food items.

Captain Jerry docked the boat and we packed up our remaining items. Darryl, Lora, Ann and Jerry Krause were the first to leave. We all said our goodbyes while we waited for their airport taxi.  I decided that it would be a fine time for a group picture, so we took a few amazing group shots, thanks to my camera's self timer and a beer cooler to prop up the camera. 

Alex, Brian, Dale, and Captain Jerry returned to the boat to hang out while Erin and I went on a search for island spices, salsas, and rubs to bring back to family and friends as Christmas gifts. We walked all around town until we finally found a local island shop called Sunny Caribbee.

 

Erin and I loaded up on Jerk Sauce, Mango Chutney, Caribbean Hot Sauce, and Jerk Seasoning and headed back to the boat. On our way back to the boat we ran into Captain Jerry and Dale leaving for their ferry to St. Thomas to begin their journey home. We said our goodbyes and thanked them for an amazing trip. Erin and I continued back to the boat to find Alex and Brian finishing off the last of the heinekens and telling jokes, so Erin and I decided to join them. 

At noon, we requested a cab to pick us up at the Catamaran Company office at 1:15pm. We dropped our luggage at the office and walked over to Pusser's Restaurant for our last bushwacker of the year and some lunch. Unfortunately, the bushwhacker machine was broken, so we settled for good old Caribs instead.  Alex ordered the biggest deep fried hot dog we had ever seen and that made us all very happy!

When we returned to the office, the taxi was already there waiting for us, so we quickly loaded our bags and off we went to the airport. I had a hell of a time at the airport. I got my bag searched going through security and then I was stopped again when we were boarding the plane! This time it was a pat down!  Anyway, we finally made it to the plane and enjoyed a short little flight over to San Juan, Puerto Rico where we we spent three days and nights at the Caribe Hilton in Old San Juan. I of course did not miss the opportunity to get a few gorgeous shots of the BVI's from the plane.

We arrived in San Juan and made it through customs without a hitch. We caught a cab and arrived at the Caribe Hilton Hotel around 5pm. The hotel was pumping! There were several weddings going on and the guests were dressed to the nines. This type of wedding glitz and glamour made Brian and I think about Mike and Paula's wedding in Brazil.  Boy, do the Brazilians know how to throw a party!  The check-in line at the hotel was at least a 30 minute wait, so Erin and I went over to Starbucks to order up a spring in our step. The lobby of the hotel was beautiful! It is an open air lobby with many high end shops, a trendy, yet sleek bar, and a beautiful pool with a swim up bar, and finally, an annoying parrot in a huge cage, which I assume they gagged around 10pm, so the guests can get some sleep.

We finally checked in, went to our rooms to unpack and met 20 minutes later in the lobby bar to access the world wide web on Erin's iPad, so we could find a restaurant for dinner.  After two vodka soders, trip advisor, and suggestions from our waiter, we came up with more restaurants than we could handle. We headed back to our rooms showered (I must of showered for 30 minutes because I finally could) and we met in the lobby at 8:00pm. We told the taxi driver to drop us off on Fortaleza Street in Old San Juan. All of the restaurants we wanted to check out were along this street and a few of the restaurants were run by the same owner and chef. We made stops at AguaViva, The Parrot Club and Dragon Fly to decide on a place to eat. We also stopped by Marmalade Restaurant because this place was rated #2 on trip advisor. Erin was very excited to eat here, but we could not get in because we did not have a reservation. We rolled over to the Parrot Club and they sat us right away.

The atmosphere of this place was great. It was welcoming and vibrant with bright colors and live Latin music. The Parrot Club was celebrating their 14th anniversary; green and yellow balloons covered the ceiling and were scattered throughout the restaurant. We asked our waiter what the significance of 14 years was and he did not seem to know or care, he told us they celebrate every year.

The food was excellent. We shared an order of plantain nachos with shredded beef, main dishes included empanadillas (a Puerto Rican specialty, a small savory meat pie, fried crispy and golden brown), mahi mahi with peruvian potatoes, and pork tenderloin.

After dinner we walked around checking out the cobblestone streets and old architecture. We walked down to the water and back up to Fortaleza Street where we found Tantra, an Indian restaurant for after dinner drinks. It almost felt and smelled like we were walking into some kind of holistic healing spa. The restaurant was comfortable and refreshing and we spotted a cozy nook with a ton of pillows in the back of the restaurant to sit and have drinks. Everyone ordered martinis, the specialty of the house, and each martini was served with a lovely rose petal embellishment. Half way through our drinks, a belly dancer came slinking out with finger symbols crashing and gyrating her hips. Brian was thoroughly delighted, but Alex was not impressed. The belly dancer tried to get us to dance with her, but we graciously declined. 

We finally headed back to our hotel to our king size beds, completely excited for a restful night of sleep. We all agreed to that we would not call each other until after 10am.

11.12.10 The Last Supper

We all dinked back to the boat and celebrated our last night with a wonderful crab, shrimp, and scallop linguini whipped up by Captain Jerry.  It was a sailor's feast to end an action packed spectacular trip!

11.12.10 Lora's Post: Last Night at the Pirate's Bight

People were jumping off the Willy T naked and there were dozens of people in the water. We went to the Pirates Bight  and had buckets of Bushwackers and B.B.C.'s.

It was a fun way to end our trip. We toasted Captain Jerry and Dale for organizing this trip, we went around and said our favorite moments, laughed and enjoyed ourselves.

We decided to have a Fourth of July party next year at Lake Roosevelt. Should be a fun time. It is amazing to think how 10 people can live together on a boat for a week and still be having as much fun when the week has ended.  What wonderful, amazing people we are!