Puerto Rico Part 1 – Day 1&2

I’m so excited to share with you all my trip to Puerto Rico! Jon and I had such a great time and even missed a snow storm 😊 The weather was perfect all week and around 80*. I only got a little bit burned, I missed the spot behind my knees and that got extremely burned! We definitely didn’t want to leave and head back to the cold NYC and back to reality. It was the perfect getaway before my busy season officially starts.

I have so many pictures to share so I’m breaking this up into three posts, so be on the lookout!

Jon and I flew out of JFK on Thursday afternoon and landed around 8pm Puerto Rico time. I didn’t know this, but they’re an hour ahead of NYC. We took a taxi to the AirBnB, and it only cost $22, a lot better than the $50 cabs to Manhattan! It was a quick ride, and then we got there the same time as Jon’s coworkers so we dropped off our stuff and then headed to Asere Cubano for a group dinner.

We ordered some sliders for our appetizer, and then got Ropa vieja for dinner. It was delicious and so filling!! We also got their house mojitos which were delicious, that seemed to be the popular drink on the island.

After dinner, we went to a karaoke bar and hung out for a bit. The music was all in Spanish and they taught us a little salsa dancing. We all tried the Medalla beer which tastes just like Bud Light, but it’s only a dollar.

The next morning, we volunteered at a Montessori all day helping with cleaning up the yard, garden, and paint. The kids haven’t been able to play in the yard since the hurricane, so it was nice to make some progress. We got to try some Puertirican dishes and they performed some drums and violins for us. It was cool to interact, and it felt great to help.

We stopped on our way home for some beer along the ocean, and we had the best views! The water was so pretty! It was so nice to get some fresh, warm air and vitamin D.

We went to the beach afterwards and walked around. I love walking along the edge of the water and getting my feet wet.

The next day we went to the other side of the island for our volunteer event. We helped clear a path to the beach so that the town can offer tours to fund their schools. It was hard work! The boys were cutting down branches and my job was to rake all the debris and sticks so that the path was clear. I got some huge blisters from that rake!

The area was very secluded and when we got to the beach it was gorgeous!! I didn’t get many pictures because we were swimming, but it was worth the walk to get there. We even saw a manatee there, but it was a lot smaller than I thought it would be.

We went to Old San Juan for the night to a party that had been recommended to us by one of the people we were volunteering with. The streets were all closed for the festival, so we had almost a mile walk from where the uber driver dropped us off. We got out on the balcony and it was so packed!! The bar scene isn’t really my thing, but it was cool to see all the people there! People said that it’s even bigger than Mardi Gras! Jon and I lasted about two hours down there and then we called it a night.

Thats a wrap on days one and two, come back tomorrow to see our favorite part of the trip, Castillo San Cristóbal!