PR Day 8: Old San Juan & the Bacardi Factory

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DECEMBER 16 -- PACKING UP
Today we leave, and there's lots to do. When we returned to the villa after sailing last night, I started packing while Jesse watched the little one. We wanted to be ready to leave right away in the morning so that we could have as much time as possible at Old San Juan before our flight left. In accordance with our lease agreement, we had to strip all the beds and leave the bedding in the laundry room. We also swept and made sure the fridge was empty -- that part wasn't hard. The teens had devoured most of the food already. I did still have a few snacks to bring with for the airport.

After lugging our luggage downstairs, our next step was to get our rental car. Jesse and I headed into Fajardo -- only to discover that Enterprise had moved our rental to the El Conquistador branch. So we had driven 20 minutes to learn that our car was only 5 minutes away. Back we went. At least I'd discovered some new roads, including a short cut that led us straight back to El Conquistador. (I love new roads.) Apparently, a road cuts through from 3 to 987 and is pretty much only for El Conquistador traffic. A four-land road for one resort. Wow. Conveniently, it's called El Conquistador Avenue. It was also the first time I'd been through the downtown section of Fajardo -- I'd been wondering where it was located.

I felt like a movie star driving along El Conquistador's winding roads. We passed through the spacious golf course on our way up to the buildings on the hilltop. What a view. The 365º view of the island and ocean was worth entering the resort. I wish I'd gone earlier in the trip and spent a little more time there. And the buildings looked like something from the set of a elegant black and white movie from Hollywood's heyday.

Nearly everything was loaded and ready to go once we hit the villa. Off we went, looking back as we went. Despite it downsides, the villa had been a great headquarters for our group. Breakfast was next on my To Do list. I wasn't sure where we were going to meet back up with 3, but turns out we hit right where we wanted to be: at the McDonald's. It makes sense that the turn-off to the luxury resort would be at the All-American fast food joint. There were no signs there directing traffic, but if you're looking for El Conquistador resort, just turn at the McDonald's. We headed in, Jesse carrying Josey. An old man stopped him inside the door, delighted with our little girl. It's so much fun as a mother to see her enchant others. She is such a cutie.

OLD SAN JUAN/BACARDI FACTORY
Although on the map it looked like we should follow 3/190, we listened to the Enterprise lady's recommendation and veered off onto 66. From the map, it looked like 66 was just taking us on a loop to the south even though we wanted to go northwest, but it ended up taking us right past the airport like we wanted. From there we took 26 into Old San Juan, which brought us right past the imposing walls of San Cristobal Castle built in 1678. The first shot of the Spanish-American War was fired from San Cristobal's walls. It was designed so that none could overtake the fort without taking all its ramparts first, and no one ever did. From there, the road veered south towards the piers, which was just where we wanted to be in order to hop aboard the ferry to the Bacardi factory on the Catano side. We parked and then took to the cobblestone streets, stopping by a few souvenir shops, as well as a cigar shop. A group of segways passed us and I was seized by a desire to ride one. The ferry to Catano leaves from pier 2, the shortest of the four piers. Huge cruise ships were docked at the other three. I'd never seen ships so large. The ferry isn't well marked, and there were no signs stating that this was the way to the Bacardi factory. I asked the man staffing the ticket booth, and just hoped he knew enough English to direct me. He nodded when I asked, so I kept my fingers crossed and bought us all tickets at 50¢ each one-way. Ferries leave every half hour. We had three hours until we wanted to drop off our rental cars, and it was going to be tight. On the other side, we looked for the shuttle we'd read about to take us to the Bacardi plant. What we found were man with vans parked in a nearby parking ramp. He told us that there has never been a shuttle to Bacardi from the ferry, despite what we'd read online. Bummer. It cost $3 each person, each way, so $12 back and forth for the two of us. Along the way, our driver told us what to expect at the Bacardi plant. Tours left every half hour and lasted 45 minutes. Folks are transported via shuttle along the grounds. There is a large covered pavilion just inside from the parking lot. That's where guests get two free drinks each. A gift shop sits next door, along with the bathrooms.

Once there we realized we didn't have enough time to wait for the tour in 20 minutes, take the tour, and then wait around for a ferry. We decided to enjoy our complimentary cocktails and hit the gift shop. There were local artisans selling keychains, jewelry and more under the pavilion, and I couldn't resist buying a few things there. Inside, I picked up two bottles of the new Bacardi flavor, Dragonberry. A strawberry rum, it tasted delicious in whatever cocktail it was the bartender had whipped up. Yum. While I was inside, the teenage boys were tracking a huge iguana that ran across the lawn.

Ferrying back, we could see El Castillo San Felipe del Morro perched on the end of the peninsula. I was disappointed we didn't have time to check out the 20-foot-thick walls, some of the oldest in the western hemisphere. A World History Site, El Morro was built in 1589 and repelled an attack by Sir Francis Drake in 1595. The fort later fell to the English, but they held it for only three months before dysentery took the lives of nearly half the men. It was the last time El Morro fell. Free tours in English and Spanish are given daily at El Morro as it is maintained by the United States National Park Service.

As we drove out the narrow cobblestone streets, I wished we'd had longer to explore this unique area, one of the oldest in our part of the world.

ALL ABOUT A CELL PHONE
We wound up getting to Enterprise at 2:30 p.m., one-half hour later than we wanted to. We grabbed our stuff and jumped aboard the shuttle that was waiting there, in a hurry to get to the airport. The rushing proved to be my downfall. I neglected a very important detail: giving the car one last sweep before handing it back over to the Enterprise folks. I didn't realize my mistake until we had unloaded, walked into the airport, waited in line to be checked out by the US Department of Agriculture and were waiting in line to check-in. Suddenly I realized that the last time I had looked at my phone was on our way into Old San Juan. I had put it in the upholder. After that, my mind was blank. I frantically checked my purse, our carry-ons, and the diaper bag. I dug into the big bag. It wasn't anywhere. I started my search over again, and told Jesse what had happened. One of us needed to go back. Our plane left at 4, and the line through security was long. Of course, the line stalled at Jesse who was the last to get his ticket. Then he headed out, and I wasn't sure when I'd see him again. We went through security oh so slowly. Jenni asked the lady at the head of the line if she'd allow Jesse to go to the front of the line when he showed up. I hadn't even thought of that. She agreed to do so. How wonderful. Our gate was nearby, and Jenni and I tried to stall. Every so often, she called Jesse to check his progress. He had 45 minutes to get there and back. Possible, but it would take everything working out perfectly.

Instead of grabbing a cab because he didn't want to pay the $30+ cab fare, he waited around for the free Enterprise shuttle. (I would have pointed out that my $200 phone was well worth the $30 fee, but he was talking to Jenni.) The shuttle was running behind. He was just about to give in and get the cab when it showed up. He told the guy he was in a hurry. The shuttle was full, but the driver still stopped at every Enterprise sign to let those waiting know there was a shuttle right behind him they could hop aboard, not exactly anyone's idea of rushing. He still hadn't started his return trip when we walked up to our gate. It wasn't looking good. Jenni walked onto the plane, while I waited there anxiously, wondering if the baby and I should go or stay. Clint had loaded all our carry-ons; all I had was the diaper bag. How could I stall? The staff were insistent that the plane was going to leave on time. There were 14 people who hadn't yet shown up; they must have been caught up in the long security line. One by one they rushed up and were ushered on. Finally there were just about to close the gate, when I saw Jesse appear down the hallway. He was running with shoes and belt in hand as fast as he could, slipping and sliding on the linoleum floor. I have never been so happy to see someone. He rushed up and I didn't even ask if he'd found the phone. It was suddenly more important that he was there, coming home with us. We boarded, the last to do so, and minutes later the plane took off. Finally, I could stand it no longer. "Did you get the phone?" I asked. He shook his head "no", but then he slowly took something out of his pocket. It was my Google phone. I breathed a huge sigh of relief. Wow. I got both the phone and my husband, and we were headed home.

TRIP HIGHLIGHTS
As we returned home, I mulled over all the wonderful moments we'd experienced. At the top was introducing Josey to the ocean and watching her go from uncertain about the water to crawling down the sand at top speed towards the waves. I love the exhilaration from exploring a new place. We sailed and we snorkeled and we relaxed. It was a great trip.

Jesse's favorite part of the journey was our day at Culebra. As camera man for most of the day, he "just hung out," relaxing as he does best.

Culebra was also the highlight of my trip. It was the Caribbean I dream about, the place I could stay forever. What a beach.

Second up there was watching my honey run through the airport, and make it onto the plane mere minutes before take-off.

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