The Isle of Enchantment

Elizabeth’s high school graduation was the perfect excuse to get together as a family and celebrate with a beach vacation. It had been FOREVER since the whole family got together for summer vacation.  In fact, I can’t even remember the last time that happened…  After this amazing trip to Puerto Rico, we all agreed we need to plan more trips together!

When we first got the idea to take a summer holiday, we knew we wanted to go somewhere warm like the Caribbean.  We thought about a cruise, or other island, but Puerto Rico topped our list because of the convenience – easy to get to from Texas plus Emily and Kendal didn't need to worry about getting a passport for Bailey.

Then we found the Wyndham Villas through HomeAway.  We booked a condo for the week in Rio Mar, which was previously a huge coconut plantation and now functions as a beach-side resort.  Staying in a condo was a great option because we could be together and have the flexibility of cooking meals or eating out.

View from our balcony

Coconut trees over the pool - I kept warning everyone that falling coconuts kill more people every year than sharks but they just laughed at me.  It's true!!

Since David and I are the world-travellers of the group, we were in charge of booking the accommodations and planning the excursions.  I have to admit, I felt a lot of pressure and was crossing my fingers that everything would go smoothly… and thankfully, it did!

We had Tuesday and Friday to hang out on the beach and relax, with Wednesday and Thursday reserved for a day-trip to San Juan and tour of the nearby El Yunque Rainforest.

June is the off-season in Puerto Rico because of the weather.  It can get very hot and humid, and the risk of hurricanes during the summer months is greater.  We expected some rain, being literally across the street from the rainforest, but we got really, really lucky.  It only rained a couple of times, and each time, we happened to be indoors or driving in the car.

Because it’s the low-season, the resort was pretty empty.  We met a few other families, but other than that, we practically had the place to ourselves.  So we…

relaxed by the beach,

played in the pool with Bailey,

walked to the Wyndham to hang out at the Tiki Hut,

(where Elizabeth tried her first rum shot and hated it!)

and boogie boarded in the waves (there were no pics of anyone boogie boarding).

Even my parents enjoyed the boogie boards.  They were having more fun riding the waves than the kids.  David, Elizabeth, and I would get out past the break and just hang out on our boards.  We kept joking around that we were having “board meetings.”  Nerd alert!

On Tuesday evening, I had signed us up for a kayaking trip to Laguna Grande, a bioluminescent bay in nearby Fajardo.  The bioluminescent bay is caused by microscopic plankton that emit a blue light when touched.  Emily and Kendal stayed back to watch Bailey, but the rest of the family came along.

We met up with our group at 8:00 that night (the best time to see the glowing waters) and got our instructions.  Elizabeth, Mom, and I had never kayaked before, so Mom went with Dad and David got paired up with his new best friend, Brigham from San Antonio.

Brigham!

Elizabeth and I decided to brave the adventure together.

Unfortunately we got stuck behind a couple of horrible drivers, and since it was pitch black in the ocean, we followed their kayak lights straight into an anchored boat!  After straightening out and getting back to the group, we did a lot better!  It was still kind of difficult, though, because to get to Laguna Grande, we had to paddle through a narrow mangrove channel.  Traffic was pretty intense on the way there, with other tour groups heading back home.  But on the way out, we were going with the current and there weren’t any other kayakers so it made paddling much easier!

David, meanwhile, got to know our honorary brother, Brigham!  They talked through the entire journey.  David kept us laughing on the car ride home with all of his new fun facts about Brigham.  I couldn't imagine holding a conversation – Elizabeth and I were concentrating way too hard on trying not to run into trees or tip over!

As you can see from this pic, it was only about 3 feet deep in the mangrove channel.  So even if we did tip over, it was no big deal.

We saw a huge iguana in the trees and a giant termite mound.  Thankfully, the guides kept quiet about the boas in the mangroves until after we were finished.  I would’ve been freaking out the entire time if I knew there were giant snakes in the trees next to us!

The best part was, of course, the bioluminescence.  One minute, our paddles were dipping into black water.  The next, the water started to glow blue with each movement our paddles and kayaks made.  As we got closer to the lagoon, the light became more intense.  And once we were in the lagoon, the guides told us to stick our arms inside and swirl the water around.  The lagoon really glowed then, and when our arms came out, they stayed glowing for a couple of seconds. 

The whole family (including Brigham) in the bay.  It's too bad the bioluminescent light doesn't show up in pictures.  You'll just have to go to PR and take a kayak tour to see for yourself!

On our second excursion, we headed to the El Yunque rainforest, the only rainforest in the US, to hike to the waterfalls and zip-line through the trees.

Mom stayed back in the morning with Bailey while the rest of us went zip-lining.  After our safety briefing, we did five zip-lines, and then a 20-minute hike through the muddy rainforest.  We saw lots of icky bugs like millipedes and giant snails.

Our final zip-line landed us up in the trees, on a platform about 50 feet off the ground.  To get to the bottom, we had to rappel down the tree.  

Dad and Emily were pros and did their rappel unassisted.  

I’ve only rappelled once in my life, and it must’ve been about 20 feet off the ground, so I was pretty nervous.  But it was assisted, and turned out to be a lot of fun, even though David teased me that there was a tarantula on the tree and I freaked out about halfway down – stupid liar!  Joke was on him, anyway, as a baby tarantula ran across his foot about 10 minutes later.  Muahaha!

After our adventure swinging through the trees, we met up with Mom and Bailey and did a hike through the rainforest to the La Mina waterfall.

Before heading back to the beach for the afternoon, we stopped at a lookout tower to get a birds-eye view of the rainforest all the way to the coastline.

The most exciting thing that happened in Puerto Rico was Emily and Kendal getting engaged!

The first afternoon on vacation, David took Emily out of the condo to run an errand and Kendal got ready.  He put Bailey into her special onesie and I got the video camera prepped for Emily’s return.  When Emily walked back into the room and saw Bailey, she immediately said yes!

We spent the rest of the week discussing destination wedding ideas and future babies / cousins.  And it was our parent's 34th wedding anniversary later that weekend, so we celebrated their marriage by treating them to a traditional Puerto Rican meal at a nearby beach shack.

The beach shacks look grungy, but everyone told us that they have the best food on the island – and I think they were right!  While in PR, we ate a lot of great food.  We cooked together almost every night, but when we did eat out, we made sure to eat local.  We had tostones (fried plantains) topped with lobster, lots of fish and shrimp, mofongo (mashed yucca) with Creole chicken, red beans and rice, conch fritters, alpcapurrias (fried corn beef),  and everyone’s favorite – flan de queso (a mix between custard and cheesecake).   

Mufongo with Creole chicken

Fried fish stuffed with shrimp and a side of rice and beans 

(I kind of felt like we were back in New Orleans because the food was so similar)

One of the days that we ate out was during our tour of Old San Juan.  We first explored Castillo de San Cristobal, the largest Spanish fort in PR.  After roving through the dark tunnels and braving the fierce winds on the battlements, we took a stroll through the blue cobblestoned streets of Old San Juan.

Atop Castillo de San Cristobal (it was so windy!)

The Devil's Sentry Box - Legend has it that multiple soldiers stationed at this post disappeared never to be seen again.  Reality is they used to sneak off to be with their lovers and were found years later raising families.

When it started to drizzle, we stopped at a local restaurant for lunch.  The owner was really friendly and snapped some photos of our group, while making great meal recommendations.

We ate while it poured, and then went shopping.  I found a Coach store offering ridiculously amazing sale prices and ended up getting a couple of bags, while Dad wanted something more traditional and bought himself a Panama hat.

Dad with his flan de queso and Panama hat

Before the next downpour, we headed over to the Bacardi Distillery.  Before and after our free tour, they gave us each two drink vouchers.  I couldn’t believe that Bacardi did all of that for free – but I’m sure they make all of their money back through the purchase of additional drinks and gift shop goodies.  We got to try all of the different flavors of rum, with the family preferring dragonberry, cherry, and coconut.  Peach mixed with lemonade was also really refreshing, and my personal favorite. 

Bailey loved hanging out at the bar with Uncle David!

Friday was our last day of vacation, so we enjoyed it by hanging out in the sea, cooking lunch together, lounging by the pool reading and napping after the meal, and grabbing pre-dinner drinks at the Tiki Bar.

It was a great family vacation, with some fun excursions mixed into a relaxing week at the beach.  And we celebrated a ton – a graduation, an anniversary, and an engagement!  Congrats to Elizabeth, my parents, and the groom and bride-to-be!