Puerto Rico day 4

Busy, busy day planned today so we were up and at breakfast by 9am . . . I think that is a record for this group.  We figured since it is going to be so hot and humid that we needed to get out and about early and the fact there were three cruise ships in port today we knew it would be crowded too.  As we were eating breakfast, Marilyn handed me the local paper to read something that caught her eye.  It was a letter to the editor that was exactly what we had been talking about the last few days . . .

We are a military family that has recently been stationed here for three years.  I cannot say that my impressions have been good.  We have noticed that traffic laws are not obeyed, not even remotely; they don't check for traffic before changing lanes, they park IN the traffic lane because they are too lazy to walk from the parking space, people hawking stuff in the street and block traffic lanes, etc.  Traffic is horrible here!  People here also seem to be very discourteous; they leave shopping carts behind other vehicles because they don't want to even move them out of the way, they have a "no care" attitude about working, they litter everywhere, and so forth.  I hear about Puerto Ricans wanting US statehood, I personally hope you don't get it and doubt that you will simply because of the culture here.  First, you would have to speak English and it would have to be the language of the state.  You would have to start paying some income taxes and property taxes to make Puerto Rico more self-sufficient.  You would have to stop acting like a third-world country.  And I don't see that happening here.  The doesn't apply to ALL Puerto Ricans, but there seems to be a large amount of them that are this way.  We have driven all over the island in the months that we've been stationed here, and we have definitely determined that we want to spend as little money and time as possible on this island.  Puerto Rico is great, if you have nothing to do with the people.  Start forcing change and maybe things will improve for this place.  Sorry, but that is an honest outsider's view.

Well isn't that a bold move!  Honestly, I could not agree more with several of her points.  I know we are staying at hotels but just about every person we have encountered has been super friendly and bends over backwards to make us happy.  I know it would probably be totally different if we were living here.  So we finished breakfast and jumped in the car to head to Old San Juan for the day.  We are staying in the Condado area so we crossed the bridge into Old San Juan to start exploring.  Our first stop was the San Felipe Del Morro Castle.  Since this a National Historic Site I used my America the Beautiful Military Pass for free admission for our group of two adults and three kids.  I am a huge fan of our National Parks and usually make Colin do the Junior Ranger book but today I did not.  He was thrilled, and I admit it was nice to enjoy the site instead of trying to figure out answers to the questions . . . but we did not get the badge/patch so a little sad too.  As you enter the area it is a long walk but so pretty . . . open fields with no buildings near by . . . so nice that it has remained undeveloped!

Before we crossed the dry moat, Colin posed where the guards stood watch  . . .

 . . . and the entrance coat of arms was massive . . .

We really enjoyed the views and the crowds were non existent . . .

. . . just loved all the sentry boxes . . .

. . . if I had to stand guard here I would probably be day dreaming with those views!  And when we left there was a huge line to enter.  We waited for the free city trolley for about 15 minutes and then gave up . . . the kids were thrilled that we would now be walking across the city.  Of course we stopped often and let them have ice cream and snow cones so they would become more willing to walk!  We just wandered around the town stopping when we saw something that caught our eye.  And I was secretly leading us to Parque las Palomas (Pigeon Park).  Colin was thrilled but Marilyn not so much.  I let Colin walk in the park but no touching the pigeons . . .

. . . it wasn't that bad but there were thousands of them.  Thankfully, we did not get 'hit' and quickly left the area.  It was starting to become crowded and hot so we started asking for recommendations on a good local spot for lunch.  Several people mention Raices so off we went.  We were told it would be full of tourist but the food was good.  We arrived and were seated in an area with no one else!  I really did enjoy the decorations and murals . . .

We ordered our food and again I ordered mofongo . . . it will be hard to top the dish I had last night!

It was good but I liked the mofongo I had last night better.  It was a great afternoon of hanging out but it was sure getting h-o-t outside.  The kids were perfectly happy to be leaving since they were tired of walking.  I must admit it was nice to return to the hotel and relax by the pool for a few hours . . . it is so relaxing to just listen to the waves crash against the rocks as we lounged by the pool.

And one fact about the The Condado Plaza Hilton where we are staying . . . this was one of the Scout About scavenger hunt places for the kids to find . . .

. . . isn't that interesting?  Every time I crossed the walkway I thought about it . . . it was an eerie feeling.  We headed back to the room to change and relax a bit before heading out for dinner.  Of course after dinner the kids were wound up and a bit crazy so what do we do?  We let them have a sweet treat.  Colin requested another waffle . . .

. . . and back to the hotel.  It was a short walk and we were just talking about how the first time in all our years of traveling the kids got along so well . . . and about 100 feet from the hotel two of the kids had a moment . . . I blamed it on the sugar rush . . . oh well it only lasted a few seconds so I think it was a successful trip!  We said our good-byes and headed back to the room to pack for our flight back to Texas tomorrow!