Day 8: San Juan, Puerto Rico

The one downside to a cruise is the limited hours you are actually in port.  Today we are in San Juan, Puerto Rico but only from 7:00am-2:00pm . . . but really by the time you get off it is more like 7:30am and you must be back 30 minutes before the sail time of 2:00pm so really 1:30pm.  I guess a small amount of time is better than no time.  Since we are early birds, the hours worked well for us . . . well at least that is what I thought.  As we were getting off the boat, another boat was 'parking' . . .

I can not imagine trying to 'drive' one of these massive things!  We grabbed a taxi to take us to the farthermost point of our walking tour which was Castillo San Felipe del Moro . . .

Of course it was closed but we did not know that until we made the long walk up.  It would not open until 9am; it was barely 7:45am.  Well we beat the crowds and did enjoy the views with no people . . .

So we regrouped and headed to the cemetery next to el morro . . . amazing and did I mention how hot it was outside?

It did not take us that long so we continued on our walking tour to Castillo San Cristobal.  I had a less than stellar parenting moment and a kid that was being less than cooperative.  It always amazes me how he really can get the best of my emotions but he was being really bad and my parents were not to thrilled with him either.  We pushed on to San Cristobal but again it did not open until 9am but it was almost opening time so we waited.  We were the second group in line and quickly inside.  It was nice and the views great too.

All smiles now . . .

The last time I was in San Juan was a few years ago in August, and it was miserably hot . . . I thought June would be better, but well it was not.  So note to self do not return in the summer unless heading directly to the beach!  We were all just exhausted and decided to not return to el morro but instead head to what I call the 'cruise shopping street' . . . basically shopping.  We would pass a door with cold air and jump inside to cool off!  The one part of the day that Colin was looking forward to the most was Parque las Palomas or as we call it Pigeon Park.

It grosses me out, but we came prepared with food and a very eager boy . . .

. . . as soon as we checked that block he was a happy kid . . . guess we should have gone there first!  Oh well . . . our time was ticking so off to eat a traditional lunch as Cafe el Punto.  It was a super small place but the food was really good too.

We were the only people there but by the time we left the place was packed!  We made our way back to the cruise ship.  Colin was thirsty and he finally found one . . .

It has sort of become a trip tradition to see where we can find Dr. Pepper . . . the cruise ship did not stock Dr. Pepper so he was thrilled, and it only cost $1!  Back on the boat and headed to the outside back deck to watch as we left San Juan.  The views of the morro were amazing!

We relaxed a bit and decided to head to Boardwalk Dog House to try the hot dogs . . .

. . . I made it a goal to try all the free food places while on the cruise.  It was okay and did not need to return the rest of the trip.  Back to the room to take nap and dinner too!  Air conditioning never felt so good!