"Just a Short Walk"

Day #1

After a 6 hour overnight flight from Seattle to New York . . . a couple hour layover in NY . . . a 4 hour flight from NY to San Juan, Puerto Rico . . . finding our luggage and a taxi . . . we arrived at our hotel about noon.  Check-in time wasn't until 2:00 pm, but they let us leave our luggage in the hallway while we headed out to find lunch.

More important than lunch, though, was a walk to the beach.  (smile)  I really thought that Jim might just walk right in, while wearing his traveling clothes.  (picture above)

Bebos Restaurant was the first Puerto Rican restaurant that we found, and the food was delicious.  Jim loved his Goat Stew, while I was a little less daring with Puerto Rican Chicken & Rice.

Isn't this beach beautiful?  As you can see, we came at the "Off Season", and nearly had the beach to ourselves.  Our cute little hotel, At Wind Chimes Inn, was a Restored Spanish Colonial Villa, just a block from the beach.  It wasn't modern or fancy, but it was just what we needed (and in a great location).

Day #2

Bright and early Monday morning, we were excited to go explore Old Town San Juan.  We asked the hotel clerk how far it was, and she told us it was "just a short 15 minute walk" down the street in front of our hotel.  Sounding like a quick and easy jaunt . . . we headed off.

We walked . . . and walked . . . and walked . . .

We stopped for breakfast at an Italian Restaurant, and enjoyed Ham & Cheese Croissants.  Then, after a quick stop next door for Mocha Frappuccinos from Starbucks . . . we headed out.

We walked . . . and walked . . . and walked some more . . . thoroughly enjoying the beautiful views . . . and stopping to buy water to keep us hydrated.  (It was 90+ degrees out with very high humidity, as we took our "little walk".)

We finally arrived at our first destination:  Castillo de San Cristobal (an old Spanish Fort).  Yes.  It is part of the U.S. National Park Service, since Puerto Rico is a U.S. Territory.

Yes.  Mama was wearing a skirt and sandals for our "little walk" to Old Town.

This is the first Iguana either of us had ever seen.

Were the Colonial Spanish Soldiers short?

After exploring the fort for awhile, it started to rain and we decided that was the perfect time to go find some lunch.  By the time we found a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant (the restaurant was maybe 6' wide, with 4 or 5 little tables), it was pouring rain and we were dripping wet.  The first thing the waiter asked was, "Would you like a towel?"  We dried our faces and then each ordered a different type of Puerto Rican Chicken & Rice dish.  Delicious!

It had stopped raining by the time we finished lunch, so it was time to explore Old Town a bit.  First stop:  "la farmacia" to buy bandaids for Mama's blistered feet.  (remember . . . I wore sandals for our "short walk")

San Juan was established in 1521.  Have you ever been to a 500 year old city?  The blue cobblestone streets and brightly colored buildings were beautiful.

Next Stop:  

Castillo San Felipe del Morro.

Another fort that is part of the U.S. National Parks Service.

We were excited about the free admission to the forts with our National Parks Pass.

At one point, I stopped to rest while Jim hiked 92 steps up (and 92 steps down) a tower.  My bum knee and blistered feet were just about done for the day.  

A sweet young ranger stopped by to chat and was excited to find out that we were from her home state.  She asked where we were staying, and could. not. believe. that we had walked all the way from our cute, little hotel.  Seriously?!?!  She assured me that our "short walk" was at least 5 or 6 miles.  (Google Maps later confirmed the 6 mile "short walk" that we had taken.)  No doubt my knee and feet were ready to be done.  (smile)

The "Burgandy Cross" flag was the Colonial Spanish Military flag . . . the middle flag is the Puerto Rico flag . . . flying side-by-side with our beautiful flag of the U.S.A.  

It was so interesting for us to try to figure out exactly how a U.S. Territory "works".  We still have many more unanswered questions than we do answers.  (Are any of you Readers from a U.S. Territory?)

After exploring our 2nd fort for the day . . . and walking over 6 miles . . . we hopped on the free Trolley through Old Town . . . asked a policeman how to get to the nearby bus depot . . . and caught a $ .75 City Bus back towards our hotel.  While it was not quite the "short walk" that we had expected, we didn't regret it one bit.  Oh. My. No.  We loved all of the sights and sounds of the city, and were so glad that we didn't miss all of the beautiful views.