February 23rd, 2008 mattdaddy
Originally we had planned on going to the caves and then to Rincon which is on the west side of the island. Well, the problem with the caves is that a huge bolder fell in January, killing someone. Needless to say, we didn’t go to the caves 
Alex talked to the concierge and she recommended a beach past a town called Isabella. If you look at the island, it’s pretty much in the top left corner. she said that going to Rincon is a long trip because the roads in and out of Rincon are really pretty local, so we decided to go with what she recommended.
Left early this morning and drove around two hours to the town. We had to drive around for a few minutes and went to a small hotel. She was really welcoming and wonderful and ended up driving her car leading us to the beach we were looking for. Talk about great people The one thing I can say about this place is that it was a bit remote. Not dirt road remote, but definitely tucked away
So we parked, laid everying out, and took in the place. Picture a crescent beach with a rock waterfall. Well, the rock waterfall turned out to be a peninsula that jutted out and was beaten by the waves and the water that crashed over, ran down in the rocks. Sharp worn rocks that REALLY hurt your feet:) I’ll post pics when I get home.
Clear water, rocks with sea urchins, schools and SCHOOLS of fish – what a beautiful place. Really just a peaceful place, unsullied by a lot of american crap. Swam around with the kids for a long time, climbed around on the rocks and just had a really nice day. We went to the Sonia Rican little restaurant that was right on the beach. It’s funny because it’s a shack, but it was reviewed by Anthony Bourdain on the Travel Channel as the best Mofongo in Puerto Rico. Well, I’m not sure if it was the best, but the Lobster Mofongo was pretty damn good. As were the HUGE shrimp cocktails and excellent cheeseballs.
Jobos Beach – great place to relax, and SURF – oh yeah. Lots and lots of boogeyboards and surfing.
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Update 3/3/08 – Pics here – Visit the Gallery
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February 23rd, 2008 mattdaddy
Va a Old San Juan y Fae & Beth y los ninos – oh, sorry. Starting to think in spanish, sort of. Okay, so I’m not really, but I’m at least giving it a shot.
I think that the biggest bonus of this week had been just spending time with my wife, my kids, and our best friends. Alex and I & Beth and Fae are very close, but tho Alex and I do work in the same office, we never get to spend quality time just hanging out. This week has remedied a lot of that lack . My shoulders are nice and loose, I’m not stressing about anything. I’ve gotten plenty of rest, and I just feel closer to mi familia.
So, we woke up and got moving for Day 5(thurs) and met Beth and Hannah downstairs. There was a place in Old San Juan that she had found a few years ago and wanted to get some stuff from, but we weren’t sure where to go. So we drove down and left David and Alex to have a day to themselves. Drove around in the northern section of Old San Juan and managed to find it, so I dropped them off and parked in the garage on the south side of town, down near the cruise ships. I have to say, I’ve gotten very good at finding my way around that town now:)
So they found the really nice store and shopped for a bit, found some really nice presents for the kids teachers and something for Alex’s sister and our friend Amy. Decided to walk around some, and of course, got another cup of the best coffee on earth in the square, and found a really neat little shop right off the square. It’s called the Poet’s Passage and the woman who owns it is very cool indeed – Lady Lee Andrews. She’s got a lot of cool poems and knickknacks there. If you’re looking for stuff to bring home for friends, this is the place to go. She was really cool and was painting on the front window and had Gillian hold the book for her so she could paint the window outside. The kids were sitting watching for a while, and Hannah took her journal out and sketched what Lady Lee was painting (and sketching well I might add). If you ever get to Old San Juan, I recommend this place – it’s right on Calle Cruz (#203).
So we were trying to figure out if we wanted to go to the main fort when all of us got hungry. Our friend Jason had recommended a place on Calle del Sol called El Jibarito. We went in and checked out the menu, but decided we weren’t that hungry so we went to find something else. Walked around for a bit and ended up finding another place that had GREAT food – St. Germain – on the corner of Calle del Sol and Calle Cruz. Aidan is still talking about the pizza made on Pita bread Gillian had a fruit salad about the size of her head. Fae and I split two sandwiches: pita with hummus and tomatoes and pesto chicken; and green apples, avocado, and brie cheese. Not sure which sandwich was better Gotta love when that happens.
So we went up to the fort for a bit, well, they did – I had to go get the car Met them at the fort, went back to the square for more coffee of course, and back to the hotel. We played bingo by the pool and David ended up winning 20$. The Paleys had a Paley night out, so we had leftovers, played some pingpong and made an early night of it.
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Update 3/3/08 – Pics here – Visit the Gallery
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February 23rd, 2008 mattdaddy
Day 4 was just about as mellow as I needed it to be. Woke up fairly late and spent most of the day going to the pool and beach. Very nice and needed. Got ready around 5 or so, went to a restaurant called the Ranch that’s on the roof of the El San Juan and had some really good dry rub baby back ribs. Gillian got very attached to a statue of a horse that looked an awful lot like Eeyore. Just a nice relaxing day reading books, and making sand castles.
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Update 3/3/08 – Pics here – Visit the Gallery
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