Two Minutes to Help You Plan: Puerto Rico

Cutest here. (Not pictured above) You may not be aware of this exciting news but TODAY is “National Plan for Vacation Day.” Created in 2017 by the U.S. Travel Association via its "Project: Time Off" initiative, this day is supposed to remind you to map out your vacations for the entire year. 

I’m suggesting you add Puerto Rico to your list for this year. You’re probably aware we just came back from there, too early, and we recognize that nobody really wants to hear about another's vacation for very long. A two minute read is probably max. So we thought we’d give you six (plus) reasons you should consider Puerto Rico, especially in the winter.  And right now is a great time to be thinking about the Caribbean.

1.      It’s easy to get there, even from Kansas City. We tend to fly through Atlanta (groan) and then it’s about three hours from there so the flight is nicely broken up.

2.     It’s hassle free.  I don’t want you to think we’re lazy, but it is nice to travel to a different part of the world, and a different climate, without the inevitable hassles of dealing with a “foreign” environment. As an American territory, they use American currency and most speak English. Maybe not all the Uber drivers so well but there’s always GPS which they do use.  And Ubers are plentiful and cheap.  (Ubers are about the only thing on the island that is.  Don’t go there if you’re looking for huge bargains.  Go to Portugal instead.)

3.     It’s a beautiful and varied country, surrounded by an ocean and a sea, with its interior being mountains and a rainforest. See our previous blog where Cute rhapsodizes about sand but doesn’t mention El Junque (rainforest and waterfalls and exotic birds) or the mountains (where we didn’t go, this time).

Watch him go. We were all very proud!

4.     The people are lovely and varied.  Pretty women especially, who were not adverse to showing their bodies, not that Cute noticed of course.  A voluble driver exclaimed to us they have won more beauty titles than almost every other country.  Puerto Ricans are always nice to visitors, at least in our experience.  When I tried out my grade school Spanish on them, they smiled and were good sports, speaking slowly back to me.  We laughed a lot. Restaurants were easy to navigate and we had some amazingly good meals.  We learned, like other places, that reservations should be made sooner rather than later.  When I face-planted (not my greatest moment) on a partially sand-covered uneven sidewalk, a man appeared instantly to help me up and later returned with water and napkins.  Enough about that.

5.     Very fascinating history and art museums, and architecture.  Puerto Rico has often been invaded. Starting in 1493 – you know, Christopher Columbus – and then Ponce de Leon, they began the destruction of the native people (Taino) who had been there for centuries. Then along came the construction of protective forts, parts which still remain. It became an American territory as a result of the sinking of the Maine in Cuba and the Spanish-American War.  All that is much more interesting than I’ve made it sound.

The four masks and the figure above and the video below are about the Tainos traditions.

These pictures show a few great items from the museums and a bit of the architecture.

Bottom middle is underground a church where bodies are buried from the 1700s on.

(We take too many pictures, I know.)

6.     It’s laid back and casual but vibrant and definitely different from here.  Lots of (usually loud) music. We accidently hit the biggest festival in the Caribbean, one of six major festivals in PR, called Sanse, short for Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastián. Those four days and nights were like nothing we’ve ever seen in terms of crowds, art, noise, dancing, music, food, beer, and joy.

But beautiful hotels and beaches (all public) and restaurants with interesting food, permits time and space to relax and soak up the scene at your leisure.  Nobody rushes you. They also don’t ignore you.  It’s just pleasant.

I don’t know if I’ve convinced you to visit this island but we were certainly glad we did.  In any event, this being National Plan Your Vacation Day, start thinking about vacationing.  Remember, it won’t be around again until the next to the last Tuesday of January.

Start planning!