in 19 days, i'll be in OLD SAN JUAN

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Known as "La Ciudad Amurallada" (the walled city) Old San Juan was founded in 1521. Old San Juan, almost 500 years later, is still surrounded by ancient walls of sand, gravel and limestone, its streets lined with deep-blue cobblestones used as ballast by Spanish ships. Centuries-old churches and meticulously preserved pastel houses huddle side by side within its seven-by-seven-block confines, yet OldSan Juan is more than just a living, breathing museum. It has plazas, parks, a Polo outlet and restaurants featuring cuisines from Transylvanian to French to Nuevo Latino to Italian. You could walk every block in an afternoon or spend a lifetime soaking in the details. And because Puerto Rico is easy and inexpensive to get to - and,of course, a Caribbean island where the average winter temperature is around 75 degrees - Old San Juan is a great place to get away to.

on with the journeys!

after acapulco in 1980, i didn't travel again until 1985 when my only son was 15 months old. his father and i flew to las vegas then rented a motorhome and drove from vegas to palm springs (all i remember about p.s. is how well manicured the rv parks were!). that trip ended up lasting 3 months long...we started out in cali - san diego first. we spent a month driving up the west coast and ended up in vallejo, california - north of san fran - to visit his portugese family. i really loved santa barbara and it's one place i want to go back to for a longweekendaway.

we returned southbound straight through the middle of california and headed east from there. through the grand canyon, desert, the beaches of south padres island, the french quarter very late at night...final stop - clearwater, florida. just beyond that, and a couple of weeks later, sarasota. siesta key - rated one of the top beaches in the world. sandcastle competitions, manatees, starfish, captain curt's crab & oyster bar across the street from our condo...just my son and i...daddy went home.during those years of hanging out in the surf in fla, dad did return for two cruises - one was a disney cruise out of cape canaveral and the other, a 7-nt mexican riviera cruise out of los angeles! imagine, we flew from miami (the cruise capital of the world) to lax for a cruise? lol...nonetheless, great cruise. cabo san lucas, puerto vallarta, acapulco (worse this time - very sensitive to the little children now that i was a mom), and xijuatenajo - gorgeous!

the next trip was with son alone in 1988 to akumel, mexico for an all inclusive stay in a resort in the mayan riviera (dad and i went our separate ways post-cruises ). the best part of that trip was smy on 'winning' the pinata at the poolside games...a huge donkey full of candy in our room - just about as close as you can come to heaven for a 4 year old boy! the worse part of that trip was the trip to cozumel (a 40 minute boatride on a catamaran...spent the entire time on a park bench in the town square right outside the 'farmacia' where i went for gravol...couldn't stay awake or walk...had to sleep with my son's little hand shoved inside mine in my pocket - my head hung down for close to 3 hours.

1989 was around the corner - as was the new love of my life and BARBADOS!

but - in 19 days, i'll be in...

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Photos

Old San Juan
Old San Juan