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| We didn't stop here, but I was fascinated by the food cart! Baked potatoes! Yum! |
We discovered the best place for breakfast on our last day in Old San Juan. It was on the way to the Chocobar and we were intrigued by the interesting menu items and more appropriate breakfast pricing. It was called The Carthage Express and since Dick has been writing a play of ancient Greece, it seemed more than appropriate. |
| Pancakes with guava & cream cheese topping. |
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| Breakfast "taco" |
Back to the hotel to shower and pack up. I decided to investigate Uber. Neither of us had ever had a reason to use Uber, but having learned they had just started serving PR about two weeks prior, I thought it might be fun to try. It took a while to register (since internet service was limited wherever we went), but finally we had it all set up. Our car came in about 2 minutes and we had a lovely ride, chatting with our driver, Jose, who was practicing his English. We saved about $15 on that ride.
We arrived at our new hotel, Hotel InterContinental on the Isla Verde strip. This was the resort beach area in Puerto Rico. The hotel was gorgeous! Dick promptly asked me how much the room was per night. (ha!) Um, more than the Casa Blanca, but well worth it! The bellman took our bags to storage and we registered at the front desk. They promised to call us as soon as a room was ready, but we were free to use the facilities while we waited. It was about 1:00 and check-in wasn't until 4pm. Foreseeing this possibility, I had packed a beach bag. We changed and went down to the beach.
Such a beach! Beautiful, fine sand. The bluest skies, and the ocean was clear and warm. We immediately jumped in the ocean. It had to be about 85 degrees - marvelous to just float around, relaxing and wondering if this was truly "our" vacation! Blissful!
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| Pokemon? |
We had lunch on the beach - mostly because it was so much fun to call the waiter over and order drinks and a meal! No, Toto, this was not Brockport!
I enjoyed a delicious mediterranean salad and Dick had a sandwich of some kind. I enjoyed mine thoroughly, but Dick found it difficult and messy to eat on the breezy beach. 
After another dip in the ocean, we decided to check out the pool. It, too, was warm and inviting.
Of course we had to check out the swim-up bar and enjoy a Caribbean cocktail! We sunned ourselves and met up with a couple from Westchester, NY. They had been here before and advised us on all the places to eat, and how to cut down on your bar bill by visiting the market across the street and sneaking your own drinks down in your beach bag. They were a pair of characters.
Finally, we checked in and found our room to be spacious and with an absolute gorgeous view of the ocean. We were on the top floor (just under the last "N") and it couldn't be more perfect! We showered and changed for dinner after an afternoon siesta. |
| Dick swam with money in his pocket ... Here we are "money laundering." |
We decided on Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, mostly because we didn't want the bar selections or Italian - the choices the hotel offered. It was a good meal - not great, and not worth the pretentious bill. The steak was excellent, but the lobster tail was lacking. Good lobster bisque and good sides, but overall it left us feeling like we could have had something really spectacular (and native) without taking out a second mortgage. I guess this inspired us to find something better for the next evening.
On Saturday we had booked a visit to the El Yunque Rain Forest. A mini bus picked us up at the hotel and we drove about 45 minutes to the rain forest. It was truly beautiful, but we felt the whole experience was just not what we expected.
Perhaps it was the commercialism of the whole experience -- too many souvenir shops along the mountain road (a paved road), and an unscheduled stop to buy lunch at our tour guide's brother-in-laws roadside shack.
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| Can you believe they keep this bathroom locked? Why on earth? |
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| Resident Cock |
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| Never did see anything that was posted on the signs! |
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| Ylang Ylang (one of my Essential Oils!) |
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| I climbed to the top for spectacular views! |
Home in the early afternoon, we had more time to visit the beach and pool. Again, just a lovely place to be to relax and take in the beauty of the ocean.
We set out to find a local restaurant that had gotten rave reviews on Yelp. It took a bit to find, since we went in the wrong direction, but it was well worth the walk! 
El Alambique doesn't look like much when you see it, but there is magic happening inside that kitchen! The food is delicious and comes out looking like you're in a five star restaurant. We had an appetizer of ceviche, which was wonderful!  |
| Seafood Mofong |
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| Sweet Chili Salmon over Coconut Rice |
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| Pina Colada & Local Craft Beer |
We left stuffed and satisfied, and grateful for the walk that followed! We finished the night be visiting the casino housed in the hotel next to ours. It was a disappointing night there, but we still had fun. We also stopped by the market before returning to our hotel and bought a little dessert to share back in the room. Betty and William were right! That little market had everything - including half a liquor store! We skipped the liquor and opted for water and ice cream. Another wonderful day in Puerto Rico!
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