On Monday we once again packed up our bags & checked out of the hotel, this time successfully :) We took a taxi to our next hotel that was within walking distance to Old San Juan and had it's own private beach. We brought our things up to our new room and checked out the view from our balcony.
Then we walked into Old San Juan to walk around on our own. The tour we did a couple days before was great but there was just so much to see in just this part of San Juan
that we were looking forward to exploring on our own. We had so much fun 
getting lost on the windy cobblestone streets and stumbled across a Ben & Jerry's. We slipped in to cool off in their air conditioning and have a bit of ice cream. Then we continued up the street and found a Don Collins. Ryan was excited to go in and check it out. We had such a blast in there talking with the staff. The man who helped us was from Chicago and had a cool accent to prove it. He offered us several cigars to try and a couple of shots of rum to go along with them. We took our time hanging out there to finish our cigars and chat. It was a fun place!
Next we took a short walk to another one of the forts. Which I think
was the largest and was also situated next to a historical cemetery where only prominent political figures where buried. I wished we could have gotten closer to read some of the names but there was not a way to access it from up above by the fort. 
After the fort we took a walk along the water on a boardwalk that was in between the ocean and fort walls. I wish I had a picture of this because it was so cool looking. There were also several interesting statues and monuments along the way.
On Tuesday we spent the day sun bathing on the hotel's private beach. It was so much fun! They had men that would come out and set up an umbrella to provide you with a little shade, which was necessary because it was SO hot! This was the first day of the AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) conference so there was also a free BBQ and a ton of games to win prizes. Ryan and I tried a few of them and earned about 35 AAU $s. We figured they would exchange for gift certificates or coupons to the hotel restaurants... much to our surprise at the end of the day they exchanged these dollar for US dollar. If we had known that we would have worked a little harder! All in all we walked out with about $45 but some people made hundreds. It was CRAZY!
Wednesday Ryan went to a couple meetings for the conference during the day and I laid out on the beach and finished my book. That night we did an moonlit kayaking tour in the luminescent bay. We couldn't really take any good pictures on this trip because of the light but it was definitely a fun excursion. We kayaked through these mangroves and saw iguana sleeping in trees and of course the beautiful luminescent water. If you put your fist in the water and then opened it, it looked like an explosion of light coming out of your hand... I also let some water trickle down my arm and it looked like glitter! This is caused by the type of plankton in the water there. The tour guide compared it to fireflies but in the water and the difference is that this plankton could not control it's light like a firefly can...it just reacted immediately to touch.
Thursday we spent out at the beach and also walking around Old San again picking up souvenirs and gifts for family. Friday was our last official day of vacation and we had such a fun day! We did a catamaran snorkeling tour that lasted all day. I was a little hesitant toward the snorkeling given my bad experience with this in the past but Ryan had never done it before so I wanted him to be able to go. We first went to a little desert island and snorkeled at a reef along it's shore. While we were there it began to down pour rain! It was so cool because if you were treading above water with your head up you could hardly see because of all the rain & wind but once you put your face in and started snorkeling you couldn't even tell because it was so calm and warm under water. We took a break for lunch and then the captain took us out snorkeling a little further in the ocean. This was my favorite because the water was clearer, the reef was deeper and there was prettier fish. We spent a while snorkeling around the area and then I started to get a little scared when I stopped to think about the fact that we were out in the middle of the ocean and there might be sharks around somewhere... once I thought about that I snorkeled REALLY close to the boat :)
Then we walked into Old San Juan to walk around on our own. The tour we did a couple days before was great but there was just so much to see in just this part of San Juan
that we were looking forward to exploring on our own. We had so much fun 
getting lost on the windy cobblestone streets and stumbled across a Ben & Jerry's. We slipped in to cool off in their air conditioning and have a bit of ice cream. Then we continued up the street and found a Don Collins. Ryan was excited to go in and check it out. We had such a blast in there talking with the staff. The man who helped us was from Chicago and had a cool accent to prove it. He offered us several cigars to try and a couple of shots of rum to go along with them. We took our time hanging out there to finish our cigars and chat. It was a fun place!Next we took a short walk to another one of the forts. Which I think
was the largest and was also situated next to a historical cemetery where only prominent political figures where buried. I wished we could have gotten closer to read some of the names but there was not a way to access it from up above by the fort. 
After the fort we took a walk along the water on a boardwalk that was in between the ocean and fort walls. I wish I had a picture of this because it was so cool looking. There were also several interesting statues and monuments along the way.
On Tuesday we spent the day sun bathing on the hotel's private beach. It was so much fun! They had men that would come out and set up an umbrella to provide you with a little shade, which was necessary because it was SO hot! This was the first day of the AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) conference so there was also a free BBQ and a ton of games to win prizes. Ryan and I tried a few of them and earned about 35 AAU $s. We figured they would exchange for gift certificates or coupons to the hotel restaurants... much to our surprise at the end of the day they exchanged these dollar for US dollar. If we had known that we would have worked a little harder! All in all we walked out with about $45 but some people made hundreds. It was CRAZY!
Wednesday Ryan went to a couple meetings for the conference during the day and I laid out on the beach and finished my book. That night we did an moonlit kayaking tour in the luminescent bay. We couldn't really take any good pictures on this trip because of the light but it was definitely a fun excursion. We kayaked through these mangroves and saw iguana sleeping in trees and of course the beautiful luminescent water. If you put your fist in the water and then opened it, it looked like an explosion of light coming out of your hand... I also let some water trickle down my arm and it looked like glitter! This is caused by the type of plankton in the water there. The tour guide compared it to fireflies but in the water and the difference is that this plankton could not control it's light like a firefly can...it just reacted immediately to touch.
Thursday we spent out at the beach and also walking around Old San again picking up souvenirs and gifts for family. Friday was our last official day of vacation and we had such a fun day! We did a catamaran snorkeling tour that lasted all day. I was a little hesitant toward the snorkeling given my bad experience with this in the past but Ryan had never done it before so I wanted him to be able to go. We first went to a little desert island and snorkeled at a reef along it's shore. While we were there it began to down pour rain! It was so cool because if you were treading above water with your head up you could hardly see because of all the rain & wind but once you put your face in and started snorkeling you couldn't even tell because it was so calm and warm under water. We took a break for lunch and then the captain took us out snorkeling a little further in the ocean. This was my favorite because the water was clearer, the reef was deeper and there was prettier fish. We spent a while snorkeling around the area and then I started to get a little scared when I stopped to think about the fact that we were out in the middle of the ocean and there might be sharks around somewhere... once I thought about that I snorkeled REALLY close to the boat :)
All in all this was a very fun trip! We did everything we had on our list to do and didn't get sun burned! A real accomplishment for Ryan ;)
Below are some more pictures of our trip that didn't really fit in well above
Wow Sal! I just now read your honeymoon posts. Sounds like so much fun! I hadn't heard much about your trip. Now I feel so informed;) Love the pictures too!
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