The first couple days of my vacation, we spent beaching, disc golfing, and rollerblading around Cape Henlopen, a marvelous state park in my new home state of Delaware.
I had already been sailing around the Spanish Virgin Islands, but this trip I wanted to dedicate to San Juan. We stayed in an Airbnb condo with massive windows overlooking the neighborhood of Condado, specifically the lively strip right before the beach. It felt like Miami with even more Latin culture. The whole time I fantasized about being able to live there, and still be able to practice medicine with my American license since it's technically the US.
We spent a lot of time on the beach: swimming in the deliciously warm water, watching kitesurfing while sipping mimosas under an umbrella, playing some volleyball, and walking barefoot in the evening. I liked Anita Gelato so much, we had to go multiple times. We went dancing at La Placita, which is a whole quadrant of nightlife. We danced with crowds in the street to Bad Bunny and then ducked into a side bar to dance bachata.
We tried to go to El Yunque National Forest, but recent hurricanes had caused destruction such that cleanup was still needed to prevent avalanches. While turning away our rental car, the park ranger happened to mention a waterfall in Luquillo. We followed spotty navigation until we found a trailhead with locals renting parking spots, leading to a waterfall slide, a rope swing, and serene ponds with Bad Bunny playing in the background. Back on the coast, we then stumbled across the kioskos de Luquillo for food, with yet another gorgeous beach.
We shared an electric scooter to Viejo San Juan (the oldest city in the United States territory). It has one side that is painfully full of tour groups fresh off the cruise ship, and the rest is colorful old buildings and cobblestone streets. We were doing acro in a grassy patch in a plaza when a camera crew filming a commercial for a cruise ship featured us.
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| Finding flan in a packed yet quaint old diner |
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| Throwing a frisbee in the peninsular lawn of Castillo San Felipe del Morro |
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| Cementerio Santa María Magdalena de Pazzis |
Our most romantic night was in Viejo San Juan. We had dinner in the plaza of the Catedral Basilica Menor de San Juan Batista, once again had gelato, and then went to Steve's favorite cigar bar. We ended the night with salsa dancing at La Factoría -- a bar with multiple rooms of dancing from EDM to Buena Vista Social Club. The Despacito music video was filmed there and in the nearby barrio of La Perla.
