Back in December, the hubby and I decided to take a last minute trip to Puerto Rico. We were already going to be locked in for New Year's Eve and we really couldn't do anything special for Adrian's birthday so we took a leap of faith and booked flights and resort for a week in the Caribbean. Puerto Rico was also on lockdown, beaches were closed, there was a curfew (even at the hotel), restaurants were operating at 30% capacity, and on Sundays everything shut down. Literally everything! But we chose to welcome the new year in warm climate and in a pool as it was better than the cold weather in the States and being locked inside our home which we had been doing all year long. Every day was a pool day with the exception of visiting Old San Juan one day and booking a private family snorkeling session another day.
We had never experienced Puerto Rico this way. We usually travel to visit family and travel around the island to different towns and beaches. This time we didn't rent a car, we stayed at a resort our entire stay, we did no beach day, and we didn't visit family. We did however walked everywhere, mostly up and down Ashford Ave checking out the cutest restaurants and coffee shops and different beach entrances.
We booked at room at the San Juan Marriott Resort and Stellaris Casino which is located about 15minutes from San Juan airport in the Condado neighborhood. It was walking distance from many restaurants and pharmacies/markets were we were able to get the necessities and even beer and alcohol to drink in the room after the curfew. This resort had a pretty nice size pool with a slide which the boys loved, even CJ. The beach, although closed to the public, was literally our backyard just steps away from the pool. We were able to go to the beach side wet our feet and even get in for a little while but we were not allowed to lounge on the beach or set camp for the day. The waves were pretty strong as well so we only went over to the beach side a couple of times and for an hour or so during our stay there.
We had only been to PR once over new year and we flew back home at 3am on the 1st. So we never really experienced a "real" New Year's Eve there. And this time was no different as we were to be in our rooms by 9pm. However we had an amazing view of this part of the island from the 20th floor. On the night of NYE hubby got us some champagne to pop at midnight, except that PR was an hour ahead so we "debated" on what time to use to pop the champagne. I mean we were on island time so why not celebrate the New Year on island time right? In either case around 10pm I sat in the balcony as the boys slept and watched the most amazing celebrations happening all around us. I don't know what was happening exactly out in the towns but there were fireworks going off for two hours straight! It was awesome to watch with people cheering and welcome the new year. Definitively a moment to remember and the best way to spend this time of year in comparison to what we had planned at home.
The next day we headed to Old San Juan and did some kite flying in El Morro. We had never done that before on prior trips so this was so cool to do with the boys. It wasn't as packed as it normally is so there was good distance between people around. We walked through the little narrow streets and found ourselves in a different part than were we normally walk through. I wanted to spend all day there and have dinner as an early birthday celebration for Adrian but the boys were begging to go back to the resort to get in the pool. They were pretty hot after being under the sun so long with the kite, it was too early for dinner and we had a heavy and late breakfast. There was no winning that battle for me so back we went. CJ slept most of our time there so I was bummed I didn't get any nice pictures of him running on the grass or walking through the streets. Next time.
On Sunday, Adrian's birthday, he asked to spend all day at the pool. We were literally there all day! Again. And of course out of all the days today was the day we got ready for dinner later than normal. Did I mention that everything shuts down on Sundays? Yeah well even restaurants shut down. Some opened for a few hours for phone orders only but of course we missed that memo and the timing. So we were stuck with no dinner. Parent fail moment for sure ha! Even the restaurants at our resort were closed! There was only one open, a gourmet pizza spot and they had run out of dough for the day. Just our luck. The chef was going to make more dough for the next day so they offered to make us some pizza for the birthday boy. For sure a birthday to remember, we celebrated with pizza and gelatos in the resort lobby area. All that matter is that our sweet boy had a great day and went to bed happy with a full and content belly :)
We had booked an early snorkeling session for our last day in PR. Our flight was late in the evening and we had late checkout so we made the best out of our last day there. Although we weren't impressed with the excursion. We've done snorkeling in DR, Jamaica, Mexico, and Costa Rica so we knew what to expect and this was not it. We saw really cool turtles and fishes but not worth the money. He did work with us being that we had the baby and he was very nice and knowledgable but again not worth it. Even Adrian said "you mean that wack snorkeling we did? Yeah that was crappy" during a conversation we had at home days later. I laugh thinking about it because if our 8 years old wasn't fooled you know it was bad hahaha.
So yeah, experiencing Puerto Rico this way was different for us. Specially during a pandemic. The food didn't disappoint at all and the memories we created made it all worth it.
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