Beautiful Beach Blanket Bingo
What could be better than one of the most beautiful beaches in the world; Balneario Sun Bay, Vieques, Puerto Rico? What could be better than being on Sun Bay at Christmas time, soaking up the suns rays with a cold beer and a good book?
How about sharing that beach blanket of perfection with two clock-stopping hot beauties?
Yes, I found my own version of Puerto Rican Gold – two gorgeous women that are willing to tolerate my presence in this tropical paradise.
Read MoreFlat Tire Fixing Freak
When you think of Puerto Rico, do you think of flat car tires? I didn’t think so, but so far today, I think I should have.
Out for my morning run around Old San Juan, what do I find at Paseo la Princesa but a tourist with a flat car tire? Worse, one who seems not to have a clue how to change it.
While he is on the phone telling the car rental agency he’s missing the tire iron, I reach into his trunk and find it instantly. Then, as he’s jacking up the car after I loosened the lug nuts, the car rolls back on the jack. Tourist-boy hadn’t put on the parking brake.
Read MoreA Bummer of a Bacardi Tour
Reading up for our Puerto Rican vacation, one place Mom and I agreed on going first was the Bacardi Rum factory tour. Not for the free booze mind you, though that was not an insignificant allure, but to learn the history of rum and the process by which its made.
Today, we made the trek to the factory, starting with a catamaran ferry ride across San Juan harbour and including the now customary flat tire change. Once at the factory, we enjoyed a free rum drink while awaiting the tour, introducing Mom to tasty mojitos.
Read MoreAn Intergalactic Busy Signal
Driving the twisting back roads of Puerto Rico towards the famous Observatorio de Arecibo radio antenna, the world’s largest radio/radar transceiver antenna, I couldn’t help but to have flashbacks to the movie Contact. Specifically the scenes where it was shrouded in tropical rains, a hidden techno-wonder, that suggested man’s mastery of radio waves, of physics itself.
Arriving at the visitors’ center, I was greatly disappointed to realize that Warner Brother’s post-film largess was spent on a museum that not only didn’t mention much of Arecibo’s successes or technology, it didn’t even have convenient access to view the actual antenna.
Read MoreOld San Juan Taxi Mafia
How much do you think it is for a taxi in Old San Juan. How much might it be to go the two miles from Plaza de Armas to Puerta de la Tierra? According to the door of a Puerto Rican taxi it is $1.75 for the first mile, $2 per mile there after. But then you didn’t ask the driver.
According to the San Juan Taxi Mafia, any ride in Old San Juan, no matter the distance, is $10 at flagfall, increasing if you bring along luggage, no matter if the driver touches it or not.
To leave Old San Juan for any other destination in San Juan City, its $15 with the price jumping in $5 increments as you pass invisible zone boundaries. That means a trip to a center-city museum or a cool guayabera store is around $20 each way just for transportation.
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