Party in the USA...I mean, Puerto Rico!

Last weekend Jeff and I left for a fun weekend in Puerto Rico! (The whole time we were there, I was singing "America" from 'West Side Story') AND, I'm also not gonna lie, it's pretty cool to be able to leave and take a fun weekend trip whenever you want...fo' free! (The perks of Jeff's job! Ha!)

On Wednesday morning, we left for the airport bright and early at 5:30! Jeff works on Wednesdays until 2, so I took the first flight out of St. Croix to San Juan. Jeff kind of psyched me up for the flight.  He wasn't the pilot, but he kept asking me if I was a nervous flyer.  In the end, it was totally fine and I was worried for nothing!! I got to San Juan at around 8am, and basically just waited in the airport for the day.  We were a little nervous because it was looking like Jeff might not be able to get to San Juan since most of the flights were full, but eventually (after a few too many mojitos at the airport bar) he got to San Juan! We met up with another pilot at the airport who were were going to stay with and got the keys to his apartment so we could drop off our bags.  We walked through San Juan, walked on the beach, and finally found a place to eat.  I was exhausted from being at the airport for so long (such a princess) and we went to bed pretty early.

The first day in Puerto Rico...had to take a beach pic, of course!

 
On Thursday, Jeff and I set out for Old San Juan.  We went to this place right downstairs that had the most amazing breakfast and the most amazing bakery.  (I would be in serious trouble if I lived there!) We caught the bus to Old San Juan, which was really fun.  We got to Old San Juan but of course, I was having problems with my shoes. We found a Starbucks and then found a Foot Locker where I bought some cute shoes that would hopefully be more comfortable.  We did some souvenir shopping and then headed to Castillo San Cristobal, which was an old fort.  It was so much fun to walk around and it was HUGE! We were there for a good couple of hours! It's crazy how big it is! Here are some fun pictures from Castillo San Cristobal! :)

 After we were good and exhausted from walking around (it was SO hot!), we decided to cool off and get some fro-yo! I had been seriously missing fro-yo and was so excited that Jeff knew a place to get some! Here's a picture of our amazing fro-yo! It was that good!

It makes me want some fro-yo right now!

After we cooled off, we set out to see more of Old San Juan.  I just love the streets and how colorful everything is! All of the buildings are different colors and the streets are all cobblestone.  It's absolutely gorgeous and I wouldn't mind living there! I tried to take some pictures to capture how pretty the streets are and I also found a few houses that I wouldn't mind living in if I did HAVE to move there.

Of course, I found a cute feline friend...I wanted it so badly, but Jeff said no.

Future home option number one.

Another contender for one of my future homes.

We did some exploring and some shopping and then went to a pizzeria that one of the other pilots in San Juan recommended.  I know, you're thinking, 'Really? Pizza? In San Juan?' YES.  It was amazing. We ate, drank some beer, and stayed in the cool air conditioning.  It was a great way to cool off. We then headed to the birth place of the Pina Colada! So much fun!

Please excuse how sweaty we look...it was a LONG day!

We were searching for a place to watch fireworks, but sadly, San Juan wasn't doing fireworks for the 4th of July, so we ended up meeting up with a few pilots from San Juan and getting some margaritas.  (What better way to celebrate America?!)

On Friday, we got up bright and early and headed out to pick up our rental car.  We said goodbye to San Juan, and set out to go see more of the island.  It was such a great idea to get a rental car! We could've flown from San Juan to Mayaguez (on the other end of the island) which would have been faster, but it was so cool to drive because we got to see everything and just stop and do whatever we wanted. One of the things that Jeff really wanted to do was go to the Arecibo Telescope.  (pause for nerd alert) Okay, okay, it was really freaking cool! It's the largest telescope in the world. THE WORLD. They also filmed three movies, including "Contact", there and have discovered so many things there! Jeff and I geeked out in the visitor's center for a while and learned a bunch of really cool space stuff. Then, they take you to watch a video about the telescope.  Then, they take you out to see it.  It was HUGE. I can't even begin to tell you how awesome it was, so I'll just post the pictures.

I have to admit, this was a pretty funny idea. I'll give the BF some props for this.

In honor of being at the largest telescope in the world, we bought some astronaut ice cream. Okay, it was really good!

 After the telescope, we headed out to this random place called "The Cave of the Indians".  Okay, so it's basically this guy's house/property.  He charges you $2.00 to park and then 50 cents per person.  You then can go into these caves that have hieroglyphics. There is also a place on the property called the seven arches.  This place was where a bunch of movies have been filmed, including Pirates! (Just a fun fact for you!) We walked up to the caves and then you have to get on a home-made wooden ladder to get down to the caves.  Ummmm, no thanks.  I knew that I would fall.  (Let's be real, if I can fall down the stairs at a movie theater and break my foot, I can do a lot more damage on a rickety wooden ladder!) But Jeff went down and snapped some pictures. Then, we went over to the Seven Arches and it was truly amazing.  Here are the pictures for your viewing pleasure!

Pictured: Scary ladder I refused to go down.

Isn't the BF so cute?!

We kept driving and ended up in Rincon and went to this amazing place right on the beach.  We ate dinner right at sunset.  I got to try mofongo for the first time, which is plantains with whatever meat you want.  Jeff ordered fish and it was amazing! And talk about presentation! How cute is the bowl that it came in?!

After dinner, we drove and met another pilot that Jeff knows.  He was nice enough to meet us out, let him buy us a few drinks, and then he let us stay with him! Again, another perk of Jeff's job!

On Saturday, we finally got to sleep in! We were going to get up and go to this place that Jeff's friend recommended, but we decided that sleeping in until 10:30 was a much better idea! We left Rincon and headed for Mayaguez.  It was really cloudy and probably going to rain that day so we were kind of lost on what to do.  We originally were going to go to the beach and maybe do some snorkeling, but with the weather, we decided to go to the Mayaguez Zoo! This zoo was so cool because it had a recorder that you could listen to at every exhibit! We saw some awesome animals and saw a few I had never heard of before. (Did you know there's a big antelope-like animal called a Bongo?! Well, now you do!)

It was rainy, so we bought some umbrellas and headed out to see the zoo! We were there for a good three hours and had a blast! It was much better than the Phoenix Zoo!

These chickens are FURRY!

After the zoo, we decided to go to the beach and watch the sunset.  It was absolutely gorgeous! I'm such a lucky girl to get to see sunsets on the beach on a pretty regular basis!

Jeff was trying to get real artsy-fartsy.

After the sunset, we decided to head back to San Juan. We planned to take the earliest flight back to St. Croix on Sunday, so we stayed in San Juan for the night, dropped off the rental car in the morning, and were back in St. Croix by 9:30am on Sunday morning! It was a fabulous weekend!

On Sunday, Jeff and I just had another lazy Sunday hanging out with the puppies.  On Monday, Jeff had to go back to work but we went to see the new Superman movie on Monday night.  It was pretty good, and I appreciate that Superman was pretty fine. (A little something for the ladies!) On Tuesday, I got to go flying with Jeff! It was tons of fun! (I'll update you more on that later!)

Today, we're going to the crab races at the casino! I have NO idea what to expect, but I'm sure it'll give me lots of writing material!