Puerto Rico Me Crazy

What a wonderful fantastic relaxing and beautiful vacation we had. I truly have no idea why it took us so long to vacation somewhere warm. Puerto Rico was great. Here's the rundown and if it's too lengthy for you feel free to skip ahead as it's my way of keeping the memories alive as long as possible. We left early Friday morning. Saying goodbye to Luke was hard, but staying "strong" for him actually was better for me. It helped tremendously knowing he was going to be spoiled rotten with love for the next few days. Our flight seemed forever (in actuality was 4.5 hours), but whenever I'm going somewhere I've never been it always seems that way. We landed, grabbed our VERY heavy suitcases (bordering on 50lbs already) and crammed into the rental car. We were starving after such a long flight, but not knowing that much about local fare yet braved the Burger King for a bite to eat and then we were back on the road to the resort. We finally arrived at the El Conquistador Resort in Fajardo. It's amazingly beautiful. It's nestled in the hills/mountains of Puerto Rico close to the El Yucatan rainforest (the only one America can claim). So imagine gorgeus green mountains going into a perfectly manicured golfcourse and then millions of bright tropical flowers...breathtaking. The actual hotel was situated up on the cliff overlooking the ocean so it was a great panoramic view of the crystal turquoise waters. The hotel definitely had the white stucco, clay tiles and wrought iron style that I was hoping for. I didn't really know what culture Puerto Rico possessed, but Spanish/Mexican seemed to be it.

This was one of the many flowering trees there, but I loved the red vibrant flowers.

Our first room was on the first floor and opened up to a tropical garden overlooking the pool and then the ocean. It was a great view, but really close to the lobby (hence the mariachi band), so we asked if we could get a little further away from the noise. They were very accommodating and moved us to the 4th floor with such a better view because we were higher up. The pools were big and beautiful and the ocean was gleaming.

The view of the "island" from our room...we kept referring to "Lost" the whole trip.

I thought this would be a beautiful place to get married
(or renew ones vows on their 6th anniversary...hint hint!)

The next four days were spent going to the spa with Trisha (one of the best massages I've EVER had...seriously debated getting a second one), laying by the pool, drinking fun frozen drinks, napping, eating, and taking in the views. One day we went to the resorts private island. We took their boat over (15 minute ride) and spent the day playing in the ocean and taking the most awesome nap. The breeze off the ocean was perfect and the kiwi/strawberry colada I opted for topped it off. We explored the island a little (they had horses to ride, but I'm so allergic, which makes me so sad because I think horses are magnificent creatures), and had lunch there amongst iguanas (big ones) and bunnies (which came up to me when I offered them some lettuce).

The islands' island...what? Just a smaller island you could paddle to. I didn't
even think about it, too much energy to exert on my trip.

"Don't worry. Be Happy!" Oh and how we were!

Whose feet belong to who?

The Vacationers

My Michael Hosea
(*Only those who have read the most wonderful "Reedeeming Love" will understand this one*)

The first night we were there we decide to get brave and go to a restaurant called Lolitas. (I can imagine comments on that name, but we'll leave it at that). However, we kind of got a little off course and went through the whole town of Fajardo that night...back streets, people riding horses to the bar kind of areas. I was a little panicked, but it does the heart good right? :) Ross bravely went into a convenience store (again, when one car pulled up I did have flashes of a robbery), and got us back on track. It was fun though and we got to see more "real" culture. The second night when we got all snazzied up for dinner at a local restaurant the congeirge recommend called Pasion por el fogon (http://www.pasionporelfogon.net/e-index1.php) . It was one of my top 10 meals of all time. Again I was a little unsure because I'm not a brave one with foreign food, but it came highly recommended and when I saw all the magazine pictures they had been in I felt better. I totally under estimated how good this food was going to be. I had a dish called the Flank Steak "Mofongo". Monfongo is mashed plantains with caramelized onions - almost like mashed potatoes, but a little sweeter and more flavor. This was surrounding strips of this steak that was in an amazing sauce I can't describe all served in a little dish that resembled a barrel. I know that's a lot of detail, but it truly was a fantastic meal. I'm going to try to find a recipe for Monfongo and recreate it.


We all rolled back to the hotel for movie night #2. Backtracking slightly. When planning our trip we decided that each person had to pick a secret movie for each night and supply a complementing snack. (Can you tell we like to eat...a lot!?) Sounds easy, but it's hard picking a good movie and then sneaking that stuff in when you're sharing a suitcase with someone. We decide the order of viewing would be alphabetical based on the first letter of each persons movie. Night #1: Marc - "Best in Show" accompanied by chocolate chip dog treats (cookies). Yummy and great movie...BUT I totally zonked out. I felt terrible, but I did finish the movie on the plane ride home and it might just be own worthy. Night #2: Ross-"Cocktail" (I was this close to picking that as my movie, but I guess Blockbuster would have been out), accompanied by cocktails. Such a classic movie in my opinion. Night #3: Ashley - "Out of Africa" I had not seen this but heard it was great. I brought animal crackers to go with it, but this is not a movie to watch when the least bit tired. It's beautiful but slow and dramatic. Ross and I fell asleep and the movie has not been finished to date. I plan on getting to it someday. Night #4 - Trisha: "The Princess Bride" accompanied by glo-worms (yum!). However, since it was our last night and we'd all seen it we all sat in the hot tub/pool and watched the moon glow on the ocean...again, one of God's magnificent miracles.

The last day we were there, Ross and I went to their waterpark for half a day and had a blast. It was so fun just clowning around in the lazy river and going down the slides. I love water parks (way more than amusement parks). Then we went to the Ballyhoo Bar (seriously think Cocktail with the thatched roof) and watched Tiger win the US Open while drinking pina coladas and some sort of Baileys/ice cream drink.

Coming home is never fun, like reshuffling your suitcase because you're over the weight limit and then they just barely fit our suitcases on. There were things I would do if I went again like visit the rainforest and snorkel at the coral reef, but I'm so thankful we were able to just relax together and have fun with our great friends. I was sad to leave, but as you can imagine ready to see my handsome fella. It was the sweetest thing getting him up the morning after we got in and just seeing him stare at me and smile, not wanting to look away and go play. We are so blessed and so thankful that we were able to do this...and HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend you do too!




*Note: More pictures to come, my camera died after our island trip, so I will get more from Trisha and post those too!