Ryan & I were very much looking forward to escaping the wet & dreary Seattle for the sunny & warm San Juan, Puerto Rico. The night before leaving we dropped the boys (Henry & Scout) off at our GREAT Dog Walker's home, Shorehound Dog Walking Co. If you live in the Shoreline area and are in need of a dog walker, house sitter or dog sitter they are wonderful!
After dropping the boys off we drove down to my parent's house in Sumner to spend the night so my dad could drive us to the airport in the morning. The next morning we started our journey bright & early, arriving at the airport just before 6am to check our bags & catch our 7:30am flight.
This first day was spent mostly traveling since both flights totaled about 11 hours and by the time we arrived in San Juan it was almost 11pm. Once landing at the San Juan airport and getting our bags we took a taxi to our hotel, picked up our keys and promptly headed to bed. We were exhausted!
The next morning we woke up in time to catch the hotel's complimentary breakfast. To my surprise this was not your normal continental breakfast of mini muffins, toast and dry cereal... they had an omelet bar, pancakes, bacon, sausage, pretty much anything you could want for breakfast. I don't know if this is a normal continental breakfast in Puerto Rico but if it is, the hotels here in the states have some explaining to do!
After breakfast we stopped by the travel desk to see what excursions they had available for the weekend. We didn't make ANY plans before leaving Seattle, other than our flights & hotels. To our surprise they had a group leaving that day for the tour of Old San Juan and Bacardi Rum factory. We were all over it until we found out it was leaving in less than 30minutes! While Ryan paid for the tour I ran upstairs to our room to shower & get ready for the day, which I did with time to spare before the tour guide arrived...just barely ;)
Our tour guide named Louis took us to the capital building in Old San Juan. The architecture & Murals were beautiful, as you can see. After the capital building we went to one of the original forts protecting Old San Juan. The original Puerto Rico was called Porto Rico... I bet you can't guess what that means, huh?
Yep, rich port. I believe there are 4 forts all together. During our vacation we visited 3 of the 4. The other was on a small island and harder to get to. The tour guide said that it was once used for the mentally insane and incurably ill... I bet it would have a fun ghost tour!
After touring Old San Juan, the capital building & the first fort we took a break for lunch at a popul
ar local cafe. We had some delicious traditional Puerto Rican food and the best Margaritas... hence the silly pictures we took including my hives :( 
(Now I have picture proof to show my doctor!)Next came the Bacardi Rum Factory. The factory was located outside of town across the bay
from the forts we visited. Our tour included 2 drink coupons each so we enjoyed some refreshing beverages while we waited for the English speaking tour. The primary language in Puerto Rico is Spanish, although most p
eople speak/understand English so we had no problem. Overall the tour was pretty blah and felt more like a walking/interactive infomercial but we managed to have fun anyway.
That night we returned the hotel in time to enjoy the "Manager's Reception" which consisted of an open bar and snacks such as popcorn, peanuts etc. We were surprised to hear that this was a daily reception and there was no limit to the amount of drinks you were allowed per room. These Puerto Rican's are really hospitable!
When we returned to our room we continued to be impressed by the hotel, as we realized the housekeeping staff had left us a little friend to keep our bed warm.
A little puppy dog made out of fresh towels!
On Sunday morning we woke up extra early to catch a tour to the rain forest, which left at 9am. AND we had to have breakfast of course!
Our tour guide to the rain forest was hilarious. He was from New Jersey but moved to Puerto Rico with his wife who is originally from there. (as a side note, we met his wife later on in the day as she was taking a tour to the rain forest as well!)
The tour of the rain forest
included a hike down to a pretty waterfall with 
a little wading pool where we took of our shoes and dipped our feet. Ryan took this opportunity to do a little boulder climbing and along with two other guys from our tour. They climbed down the waterfall, past where the local kids would go. I anxiously waited for him to return and took a few pictures. Luckily he di
d return without and scrapes or bruises. 
The next morning we packed up our belongings and loaded up our backpacks to check out of the hotel and move on to our next one. Just as we were finishing checking out the receptionist let us know that since our hotel stay was already paid for we wouldn't be refunded for the last night. Ryan & I looked at each other confused... we thought we were only booked through Sunday. But no, we were booked at this hotel through Monday! So we went back up to our room and unpacked everything again and spent the day laying by the pool reading :) One more day to enjoy complimentary breakfast and drinks in the evening!
Honeymoon Part Deux soon to come!!
(I have a strapless dress on in this picture... just thought I should let you know)
from the forts we visited. Our tour included 2 drink coupons each so we enjoyed some refreshing beverages while we waited for the English speaking tour. The primary language in Puerto Rico is Spanish, although most p
eople speak/understand English so we had no problem. Overall the tour was pretty blah and felt more like a walking/interactive infomercial but we managed to have fun anyway.That night we returned the hotel in time to enjoy the "Manager's Reception" which consisted of an open bar and snacks such as popcorn, peanuts etc. We were surprised to hear that this was a daily reception and there was no limit to the amount of drinks you were allowed per room. These Puerto Rican's are really hospitable!
When we returned to our room we continued to be impressed by the hotel, as we realized the housekeeping staff had left us a little friend to keep our bed warm.
A little puppy dog made out of fresh towels!
On Sunday morning we woke up extra early to catch a tour to the rain forest, which left at 9am. AND we had to have breakfast of course!
Our tour guide to the rain forest was hilarious. He was from New Jersey but moved to Puerto Rico with his wife who is originally from there. (as a side note, we met his wife later on in the day as she was taking a tour to the rain forest as well!)
The tour of the rain forest
included a hike down to a pretty waterfall with 
a little wading pool where we took of our shoes and dipped our feet. Ryan took this opportunity to do a little boulder climbing and along with two other guys from our tour. They climbed down the waterfall, past where the local kids would go. I anxiously waited for him to return and took a few pictures. Luckily he di
d return without and scrapes or bruises. 
The next morning we packed up our belongings and loaded up our backpacks to check out of the hotel and move on to our next one. Just as we were finishing checking out the receptionist let us know that since our hotel stay was already paid for we wouldn't be refunded for the last night. Ryan & I looked at each other confused... we thought we were only booked through Sunday. But no, we were booked at this hotel through Monday! So we went back up to our room and unpacked everything again and spent the day laying by the pool reading :) One more day to enjoy complimentary breakfast and drinks in the evening!
Honeymoon Part Deux soon to come!!
(I have a strapless dress on in this picture... just thought I should let you know)
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