I took a trip to Puerto Rico with my two sisters and a great friend in May 2009, nearly a year ago, but never recounted our days there and am beginning to regret it. I've forgotten soooo much, but I'll do my best to remember. Here goes!
Day 1
We all hopped on a plane from SFO to Puerto Rico's capital, San Juan. Directly from the airport, we boarded a taxi to the Fajardo station to get to our final destination, Vieques, a small island just short of an hour's ride by ferry. I think it was a holiday or something, so there were fewer ferries running that day. Our wait at the station was several hours long and we were all left with nothing to do. A couple of us flipped through magazines, some slept, and my little sister Sandy guarded her phone by the power outlet for most of the time. Why? I really don't know!
People finally started arriving, and rows of plastic chairs started filling up. From this station, you can catch ferries to the two eastern islands of Puerto Rico, Vieques and Cullebra. They both seem to be fun, beachy, party islands because many of the locals carried large ice chests and bags of food with them. They seemed to be able to keep themselves occupied while the four of us continued to flip through mags and just chit chat. Finally, after several hours from our initial arrival, the ticket booth opened and a large crowd gathered in front to purchase tickets. The ferry arrived shortly after, but the wait continued as those passengers debarked. At last, we got on the ferry and were on our way to tropical paradise.
Upon arrival, we got into a taxi and were joined by a bunch of other travelers wanting to get dropped off at their final destinations. We were the last ones to get off, so we got a good taste of what the island looked like. Vieques didn't look like what I would expect. I didn't know what to expect really, but what I saw took me aback a little. This is a rather small island with about 10,000 inhabitants. The inner city areas are lined with small colorful houses, many of the streets barely wide enough for two-way traffic and littered with garbage. Around plazas, there are usually larger buildings, probably libraries and government buildings, designed with a Spanish influence. As we rode through the island, the sight of buildings were being replaced by lush vegetation. We were getting closer to our hotel.
After many hours of transport and waiting, we finally arrived at Hacienda Tamarindo, one of the only upscale accommodations in Vieques. This property is very quaint, with iron barred windows, round arches, palm trees, lots of tropical flowers, and a beautiful pool that looked out into the Caribbean Sea. Our room was a one bedroom suite with a pig theme. There were statues of pigs, paintings of pigs, even a pig bench! We also had our private patio area and hammocks close by.
On our first night, we wanted to check out one of Frommer's recommended places, Chez Shack, an outdoor Caribbean BBQ restaurant with a live band that sat in the middle of the jungle. When we finally found it, we found out that it was temporarily closed because the chef had quit or something. So we went for another choice on our list, but that was closed because it was getting late! By this time, all four of us were starving so settled on anything that was open. We chose a steakhouse with beautiful outdoor seating. It was a great way to start our trip; eating good food with good company.
After filling our bellies with steak, wine, cheesecake and coffee, we drove back to the hotel via one of the lampless roads winding their way through the jungle. By the time we got back, it was around midnight and because a staff member told us the pool was open 24 hours a day, we decided to go take a dip in the pool.
A few minutes into our pool time, I noticed a man standing at a hotel balcony, a couple hundred yards away. He yelled at us and told us that he's trying to sleep. Oops. All of our laughter and talk died down, and we reverted to whispers. Minutes later, I emerged from the water, and saw a pair of legs standing in front of me. That same man stood there, glaring at us. I don't want to get into the details of the argument, but he basically wanted us to immediately get back into our room, and we wouldn't. Of course we were in the wrong and shouldn't have been out there that late, but he could have been a lot nicer about it! I still hate him, stupid Steve Orwitz. I hope something fairly bad happened to you since then, like you slipped on dog poo and ruined your favorite clothing item. Grrrr... After he left us with threats, we finally went back into our room, pissed. What a way to end our first night on our vacation. I hate Steve Orwitz. We tried to lift the mood a little once in our room by telling dumb jokes. Pretty soon afterward, we said good night hoping our next day will be better.
