Puerto Rico

Clay and I just returned from a wonderful trip to Puerto Rico! It was so nice to get away without the kids and just enjoy some time to ourselves.
We stayed the first 2 nights in Old San Juan in a lovely boutique hotel called El Convento. It was originally a convent from the 1500s.



(behind us is the oldest cathedral in the Western Hemisphere, built in the 1500s...it was across from our hotel...and where J Lo and Marc Anthony married too)


While in Old San Juan we toured El Morro, the fort built in the 1500s by the Spanish to keep out invaders trying to get the island. It is truly amazing something so massive was built so long ago without modern day technology.




We also took a little ferry ride to visit the Bacardi factory. We learned the history of Bacardi, and enjoyed our free drinks too :)


Sunday we took a nice walk around the wall of the city (again, built in the 1500s and measures 1.75 miles). Old San Juan has a lot of shopping and restaurants too so we had fun shopping and eating around the city :)


It was then onto the Rio Mar Resort about 30 miles out from the city to enjoy the rest of our vacation. The resort was lovely and at the base of the rainforest, and on the beach. We mostly just laid by the pool, walked on the beach, and sat in the hot tub while we were there...so relaxing!







One of the neatest things we did was go to the Bioluminescent Bay one night. There are 5 bioluminescent bays around the world, 3 of which are in Puerto Rico. We met a nice couple at the resort who were going and offered to have us join them since they had a car. Once there, a company takes you out on kayaks. It is a short paddle across a bay until you get to a narrow river in a canopy of trees, and then it is another 20 minute kayak trip until you arrive in the bay. Once there, it was dark outside, and when the water is aggitated by your hand or the paddle from the kayak, the water lights up flourescent yellow. It was truly beautiful and amazing. It is due to a micororganism that lives in the water and has the same properties as a fire fly. Here is a pic I found online to give you an idea...we didn't bring our camera in order to not risk ruining it should our kayak have tipped over (thankfully it didn't!)