So a little before arriving in San Juan, I see these beautiful beaches and islands from the air. Blue and turquoise waters. Completely stunning! I'm getting pumped. We are away from the Mississippi mud that makes the Galveston waters nasty and brown. I haven't seen water like this since Hawaii. I'm getting pumped. Here is a sample shot taken from the plane:
Geographically speaking, I'm not sure where we are when the pic was snapped above. It was close to Florida. Regardless, it was gorgeous! I'm getting excited at this point. I can't believe how spectacular the water looks from 25K feet. My excitement turned to dismay on final approach to San Juan:
And no, that is not a black and white photo. That is full color! I'm becoming a bit pissed. I've heard such good things about San Juan: the beautiful city (especially Old San Juan), the beautiful beaches. I see none of that. It looks like damn Galveston! Thankfully, in the end, my initial impressions were wrong. We arrived on a gloomy, rainy day.
So we arrived in the late afternoon in San Juan. We weren't staying anywhere interesting, we were close to the airport, a typical airport area hotel. We stayed at the Embassy Suites. Our plan was to explore the city a little, sample some local cuisine and get ready for the real show, our cruise! IT didn't quite work out that way.
Kaitlynn had a meltdown on the plane the last 30-45 minutes of the flight. Ever been on a flight with an unruly child? Well, we were "THOSE parents" on this flight. We hoped when we arrived, she would be fine. She had a big meltdown in the airport. Terrible! We had visions of police coming by wondering why a 6 year old was screaming at the top of her lungs. Well, we finally made it out.
One thing was certain though: We found a place that was MORE humid than Houston! It was awful! I guess the afternoon showers spiked the humidity. We catch a cab. If you ever go to San Juan, use the Turistico cabs that are found throughout the city. They offer flat rates to different zones. There is usually a stand at the airport, hotels, etc. You see a person at the stand, tell them where you are going, how many pieces of luggage you ahve (they charge per piece of luggage too!) and they'll give you a paper to give the cabbie and he'll abide by that rate. Its nice because you know what it'll cost to get somewhere ahead of time.
We catch a cab to the Embassy Suites. Pretty nice hotel, nice tropical feel, but not in the best location. That's alright, we are here to sleep and maybe get a bite to eat. We decide to head to Walgreens to pick up some last minute supplies: Cokes, sunscreen, etc. We were drenched in sweat from the 3/4 mile walk. Kaitlynn seemed to be not doing so well. We were afraid that in her tantrum, she may have hit her head. She was being very quiet and languid, so we picked up soem Children's Tylenol since she said she had a headache. We make the walk back to the hotel, get into the elevator, and Kaitlynn throws up in the elevator. Poor thing! We get back to the room and are a bit worried. Does she have a concussion? Does she have food poisoning? We call the doctor on call at the hotel and they said not to worry, that she probably vomited the medicine since she had nothign to eat before. We let her rest and sample the Outback Steakhouse, which is the only restaurant in the hotel. Unfortunately, we didn't get to get any real Puerto Rican food that night. We were all exhausted, nobody delivered, and I didn't feel like walking back up to pick up food.
So our first night in San Juan was a disaster. I was afraid we may have to bail on the trip if KK wasn't doing any better. Fortunately, about an hour of napping that evening, KK awoke, was her usual, cheerful self, and she ate 6 fried shrimp and wanted more.
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