Puerto Rico June 2013

View of Old San Juan and El Morro Fort

This post has a familiar feel to it, because I'm Back on the island, second time in 3 months but this time I get to explore more. Puerto Rico was an awesome adventure the first time. I spent 2 weeks working on the island in the town of Aguadilla on my first trip and this trip will be exactly the same. Monday through Friday I spend my time, 8 to 6, working at my companies facility.

This trip I decided to fly directly into Aguadilla airport, United Airlines and Jet Blue have direct flights from Newark airport. This flight is interesting, first off I can get an afternoon flight from Phoenix to Newark, as the flight from Newark doesn't leave until 9 at night. Since the flight is late night it is easy to sleep on the plane which makes the 4 hour flight seem much shorter. You land in Aguadilla at roughly 1 am and as soon as the wheels touch down the planes occupants start clapping. The first time on this flight I found it strange but learned that it is a custom to show the pilot you appreciate them getting you safely to you destination. You exit the plane on the Tarmac and are ushered into what looks to be a small airplane hangar. The baggage return is directly inside the door and it usually only takes 10 minutes to get your bag and get out of the airport. It's that small, the smallest airport I have ever been in. The rental car lot is down the street and does not have a large selection. This trip I cruised around in a small Chevy that had manual windows and door locks, but at least I had my own car. 

This trip I decided to stay at the Courtyard Marriott in Aguadilla. The hotel was converted from an old army hospital and was not on the beach but there were 2 big reasons I chose to stay here. There were no mosquitos eating me alive and I could get internet even if the power went out. I learned on my first trip that power outages are common in this part of the island. The locals just carry on with their activity and some local businesses even have back up generators. If they done have a generator you just have to kick back and drink your beer in the natural light provided by the moon and the stars. Not the worst situation but when you are trying to work after hours it becomes difficult if you have no juice. Besides the Internet the other benefits include restaurants on site, you don't have to drive anywhere, and a Casio in the lobby. I'm not big on gambling but this place was always packed. The hotel was not luxurious by any means but it had clean rooms, air conditioning, wifi, and no mosquitos. I am also a Marriott rewards member so it was a no brainier to try and rack up more stays to improve my status. 

One of the places I made sure to revisit was One Ten Thai. I fell in love with this restaurant the first time I ate here. The restaurant is small with only 10 tables inside and 10 on the patio. The restaurant shares a space with a bar that specializes in craft and local beers. There is always a wait to get a table so the best thing to do is grab a craft beer from the bar. I said this before, but this place is a must do if you are in the west side of Puerto Rico. The prices are low, the food is amazing, and there  is a great variety of tasty cold beers. My recommendation is the red curry with chicken and a Boquerón Blonde Ale. 

There are a few other restaurants in the area that I explored on this trip. There were a few occasions where I dined alone and others where I was joined by colleagues and friends. Of the restaurants I stopped at was Desacheo's, it is a restaurant that specializes in local Puerto Rican food. The restaurant is a bit on the high end but has great churrasco(grilled skirt steak) and rice and beans, plus they have great drinks and sangria. Another restaurant/bar where I would go with friends was Ocean Front. This establishment was multi functional, it has a hotel, inside "fine dining" restaurant, and outdoor restaurant and bar. The property is beach side at Jobos beach and has a beautiful view of the water. Again many of the restaurants in the Aguadilla area specialize in local cuisine, Ocean Front is no different. One of the dishes I enjoy here is Mofongo, which is a dish of fried, seasoned mashed plantains  with your choice of meat. Many people like the seafood versions but I prefer the Mofongo with churrasco. Ocean Front is perfect to grab food and a cold local beer called Madalla while sitting on the patio watching the sunset. In the later parts of the evening many of the restaurants on Jobos beach turn into bars which have live bands, music, and stay open until the early morning. It's easy to lose track of time in these ocean side spots. 

Saturday was spent hitting the local beaches again. I met a colleague and we walked from her hotel condo to Jobos beach. We packed our pockets with  Madalla which is sold in 8 ounce cans. The walk was great as the day was beautiful and we found a spot to sit near the water on the beach. Jobos beach has beautiful clear water that is great for surfing because there are a number of rocks in the area. Because there are rocks the shore is not completely sand like some of the other beaches in the area. As you wade out into deeper water it's important to pay attention to where you step so you don't step on rocks or sea urchins. After a few hours on the beach we headed back to grab some lunch and relax before having a bbq with other team members who live in Aguadilla. 

Inside El Morro Fort

Blue Cobble Stone Streets in Old Town San Juan

Sunday morning I met my friend/ colleague as we were going to take a day trip to San Juan. We grabbed breakfast on the way out of Aguadilla. The drive from Aguadilla to San Juan is about 2 hours if the traffic is low. It started raining, which is common, but it didn't last long and made for some beautiful sites. The rainbows appeared to be coming directly from the dense jungle and ending in the ocean. Once we got to San Juan we went directly to Old Town San Juan. We had a mission, tropical drinks and site seeing! After parking we found the first bar to grab a drink. As we imbibed we planned out our day of walking Old Town. The must see attractions in Old Town Puerto Rico are the fort "Castillo San Felipe del Morro" and the blue cobblestone roads that cross cross the area. The fort was built in the 16th century to guard the entrance of San Juan Bay. The fort has been restored and is now a UNESCO world heritage site. If you are in San Juan this is a definite stop on the trip. Other than the fort there are plenty of shops and restaurants in the Old Town area. Remember San Juan is a major stop on many Caribbean cruises. Many of the stores and restaurants are geared towards selling products to tourists.  Even though there are many "touristy" spots there are some hidden gems if you are paying attention. One of the little shops I like to stop in are the cigar shops where you can get hand made cigars from local vendors. 

I was a little more adventurous on this trip and I had my own rental car so it was easy for me to explore the nearby towns. One evening I decided to drive to nearby Mayaguez. This small city has a more metropolitan feel to it, as there is a large mall and numerous restaurant chains in the area. I prefer to eat local food when traveling but every once in a while it's nice to have a comfort meal I'm used to from a big chain restaurant. Mayaguez provides many options from Fudruckers to Macaroni Grill. All of these places are about 40 minutes away from the center of Aguadilla but the drive is beautiful and it passes quickly. 

Since the flights into Aguadilla land early in the mornings the outbound flights are also early morning. The United Airlines flight leave at roughly 2 am and land in Newark at 6am. You don't have many options once you check out of your hotel so I met friends for happy hour on Friday afternoon, then had dinner and drinks until about midnight. Again the airport is small so I check in and head to the only bar and grab a beer and kill some time until I need to go the thought security. I didn't know what to expect so, as I would at other airports, I make my way through the TSA checkpoint roughly and hour and a half before my flight. That was too early! There is only one gate at this airport and nothing to do. The gate area has seats and 2 very small shops selling duty free goods like alcohol and perfume/cologne. Absolutely nothing to do, no restaurants, not bars, not even windows. You just sit there waiting for boarding. The bright side of a small airport is boarding is quick and the flight is off within minutes. The connecting flight from Newark to Phoenix is an hour after you land. This leaves very little time to do much and since it is 6am and most of the Newark Airport is closed. You have just enough time to stretch out grab a bite of food and hit the restroom. I found a breakfast spot that makes New York bagels. Perfect to grab on the go and head towards home!