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| View of Old San Juan and El Morro Fort |
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.
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| Inside El Morro Fort |
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| Blue Cobble Stone Streets in Old Town San Juan |
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!
