Hi all, it's been a while since I've done a trip report, hopefully I haven't lost the touch. 2014 has been nothing if not interesting...so I decided to start 2015 off right, with a tropical vacation!

I'm starting by flying to San Juan, hanging out and clubbing in San Juan with a good friend from there, and then boarding a boat for the wonders of the Caribbean. Follow along as I make my own adventure...and hopefully relax at the same time!

To be continued....

So here's the thing. I don't like drunk drivers. They tend to cause harm to innocent people. I especially don't like sharing the road with drunk drivers. So when presented with the option of hitting the road at 3am on New Years morning to make my flight, or to get a hotel room the night before...I did the latter.

I arrived at the Sheraton Arlington at 10pm. The Sheraton had staff members outside letting cars know that the garage was full. Ok, I get it, it's New Years and the hotel is probably having a party and is fully booked. But, when I mentioned I was an overnight guest and needed to park somewhere I was greeted with: "Congratulations Sir, the garage is full, you'll need to park somewhere else."

Not a good start. Don't get me wrong, I worked in the service industry for years, from high school through part of law school, but no matter how bad your night is, you don't take it out on the customers. Never. So, since the gentleman was so polite, I pulled around him and went right into the garage...which still had plenty of spaces. And I parked. And I threw my hands up in the air, celebrated like I just didn't care. And then I ran to the elevators before Mr. I'm angry I'm working on New Years could find me all the way down on P3.

I got to the lobby, and what a sight greeted me. Tons of revelers, the deep throated bass of some rap music and a handful of Arlington's finest. FOrtunately, there was no one in the check-in line and it was handled expeditiously. Unfortunately, I was given a room with a double bed. Seriously. I haven't had a double bed since college. This is the downside of *wood's policy of no guaranteed bedding for points stays. The upside is I was given a room on the city side so I could see the Washington Monument, the Air Force Memorial, the Pentagon, the Capitol (etc) from my room.

Even though I was on the 12th floor I could still hear the music from the party on the first floor. No matter, I danced like no one was watching (because no one was watching), before collapsing just after midnight.

My alarm went off at 5am and I quickly (ok, lets be honest: not quickly) jumped in the shower and prepared for my flight to SJU. Check-out was painless as undoubtedly I was the only person (other than hotel staff) awake at 5:45, and I was parking in the garage at DCA by 6am.

DCA was a good old-fashioned zoo at 6am, and after working my way past the overwhelmed check-in counters for American, I found the relative paradise of the JetBlue check-in area. Right to an agent, bags checked, and off to security.

I have PreCheck so I get to enjoy security. No wait. No shoes off. I don't need to take everything out of my carry-on. I did miss out on the government endorsed touching (I mean if you're going to touch my twig and berries at least you can buy me a drink first, am I right?). As an aside, I think people would be much more ok with the intrusive pat downs if they could choose who pats them down. Think about it, TSA, think about it.

Boarding was a zoo. As tends to be the case with flights to Florida and Puerto Rico this time of year, there were almost as many wheelchairs as there were passengers. (And, of course, when we deplaned most of the same people that had to board early somehow walked/ran off the plane). I had purchased Even More Space so I boarded right after the wheelchairs and took my aisle seat.

I love Even More Space. Early boarding and plenty of legroom. I love aisle seats so I can get up whenever I want. I don't enjoy people that try to get me to switch from my aisle to a middle so they can seat next to their significant other. Let's be clear: If your relationship is so weak that you can't handle being a row apart for 4 hours, you have much bigger problems than your assigned seats.

Nestled in my seats, the door closed early and I slept the whole flight to SJU, waking up as we were on our final descent.

FLight:
Jet Blue 1347
Departed Early
Arrived On Time
Economy: 100% full

To be continued.

Arriving at SJU is always a trip. There are not enough gates in the nice section of the terminal so you always chance being dropped off in an area that approximates a 3rd World Airport. After walking to the bag claim and picking up my bags I headed to the taxi queue.

The taxi queue is a bit of a joke as only one taxi company is allowed to serve the airport, and that is the Taxis Turisticos. Read: Overpriced. On one hand you can't be cheated because it is a flat fare anywhere. On the other hand the flat fare is very high for the distance driven. For instance, w tip I paid $25 just to take the 10 minute drive to my hotel.

I stayed at the Sheraton San Juan Concention Center. I am always torn when picking a hotel in San Juan. The Sheraton Old San Juan is a very tired hotel, the air con often can't keep up with the heat and humidity, but it's in the middle of Old San Juan, with lots of restaurants and a CVS nearby. The Sheraton Convention center is new(er) with good rooms, a lovely pool deck with an infinity pool and fantastic bar/lounge. The downside is it's by itself on a lonely speck of land and you are really limited to the eating options in the hotel.

The room wasn't ready on my arrival so I went to one of the hotel restaurants, Texas de Brazil, a Brazilian Steakhouse. Since I hadn't eaten since the night before I definitely ate my fill of meat. And, then I ate some more. With a bottle of Evian (sin gas) and some house made raspberry lemonade the total (incld. tax + tip) was around $80! (Just a note for you fellow *wood afcionados, the restaurant is in the hotel, but cannot bill to the room so no *points for this meal).

About the same time I finished eating I got a phone call from the front desk alerting me that the room was ready and I went to pick up my keys. One of the biggest advantages of this hotel is they have a Platinum/Gold line and actually recognize it. So while there was a very long line of people waiting to check-in, I walked right up to the counter and was immediately helped. (And, surprisingly, no one from the regular line tried to tell me I was cutting!)

I was given a room with a pool/cruise ship port view on the 10th floor with club access. And...a King Bed. So luxurious. So mine!

I stored my luggage, took a shower, turned the air down to 65, and promptly fell asleep...at 3pm...and didn't wake up until 7 the next morning. I wasn't overtired...not at all.

Next: January 2: El Yunque, Fajardo and Clubbing until dawn!!!!!

The events of January 2nd shall always be burnt into my mind. An awesome day with one of my best friends.

I woke up at 7am, and after showering headed downstairs to the hotel restaurant. As a Platinum, I did have access to the lounge, but it was both crowded and didn't have any hot foods available so I went to the restaurant. The buffet was $25 and had a huge spread of available foods and an omelet station. A good filling breakfast later, and it was back to my room to relax and read until my friend arrived.

I had been to San Juan a few times but I had never managed to visit when my friend was also back visiting. He and I work together in D.C., but he lived in Puerto Rico from birth until just 2 years ago. Since working together we've become fast friends.

At 11am he picked me up from the hotel. Driving in Puerto Rico is quite a challenge. It reminded me of other South American countries where traffic signs and rules seemed to be advisory only and ignored by most drivers. Add to that the Puerto Rican government is bankrupt and the roads are crazy terrible with potholes big enough to swallow most cars!

We made it out of San Juan and in about 45 minutes we arrived at El Yunque. El Yunque was absolutely gorgeous. We headed to the visitor center which was very crowded with bus and van tours so just grabbed a hiking map and headed to the end of the road for the Mt. Britton trail. The scenery was spectacular even though clouds had moved in and it started to rain. Verdant green was all around us as we booked it to Mt. Britton a tower that is almost at the peak. Thanks to the rain and cloud cover the trail was uncrowded and we made good fun of each other and we slipped and slid our way on the trail.

The tower was completely shrouded in clouds and we could see nothing. Absolutely nothing. My friend then challenged me to race him to the top of El Yunque, but his sales pitch was a bit off:

Him: We need to race to the top.
Me: Why?
Him: Because if you don't you're a ..... and it's amazing
Me: Seriously?
Him: Yes, I've been there like 20 times and I've...never...seen anything.
Me: ?

SO instead we raced to the bottom. He won, but I swear it's only because I let him.

Our next stop was the La Mina falls trail. Halfway down the mountain it was amazing the difference in conditions. Hot and humid, no breeze and no rain. We started down the trail which ran right alongside a river. The trail was rated as difficult, because although paved, the trail was very steep. But, it was well worth it! The falls were spectacular and many people were enjoying the cold water pool at the base.

After exhausting ourselves, we headed another 1/2 hour to Fajardo where we grabbed dinner at an excellent seaside restaurant: DiYukas. We sat outside and enjoyed drinks and some excellent food. I had yucafungo, a dish of mashed yucca stuffed with skirt steak. He had mofungo, masshed plantains stuffed with shrimp. It was extremely filling...and awesome.

Once exhausted and stuffed we drove back to San Juan. Now, it was dark and driving was really quite the experience. My friend really pushed his Kia Soul to its limits as we drove in and out and around traffic. I suddenly wished for a bubble suit for my own protection!

Back at the hotel by 8pm, and it was time for a nap. After all we were going back out at 11pm for clubbing!