A ginger in San Juan? IMPOSSIBLE!!

Well, I successfully guided a ginger around San Juan this past weekend :) He landed on Thursday evening at SJU, and Ed and I picked him up there. We then made our way to our hotel in Condado, called the Sandy Beach. It was very cute; the hotel was a u-shaped building, with a courtyard through the middle, and the hotel was literally 20 steps from the ocean. Every morning we ate breakfast in this courtyard, with the sun shining down on us. Our room was small but comfy, and it was everything we needed. We spent the first night walking along the beach, as Chris had never been to a beach O_o Crazy, right? He loved it at night, and had a great time playing with the tide as it splashed his feet. Not surprising, the boy is a fish. We then went to bed, looking forward to the days ahead of us.

We woke up the next morning, and promptly went to the beach. Of course, he loved it. He was just having the time of his life fighting the waves, and proclaimed he could stay there all day and not get bored. I believed him, honestly. He was just having the time of his life in those waves. We spent a couple of hours in the ocean, during which I made a new fishy friend and Chris did not get burned. After that, we went into Old San Juan to meet Ed for lunch. He took us to one of his favorite restaurants, and we talked about everything from work to sports. Original, I know :P After lunch, Chris and I took a small tour of the streets, and then made our way to a shop that sells handmade gifts. I had bought my mom a thunder machine there when I was here in '09, and she wanted me to bring her back 3 more. When I asked the cashiers if they had any, they yelled and then said no. Typical. However, they did have one at their other store, and so I promptly went and bought it. Chalk one more up for the win. We then had ice cream, walked over to the Castillo de San Felipe and sat on the lawn there. It was a gorgeous day, but hot, so we were just happy to talk while sitting on the grass. We then went on a walk down the Paseo de la Princessa, and then had a long wait for Rachel, Tuber and Alejandro to meet us for dinner. It was nice, though--Chris and I sat and talked, and just took in the beauty of OSJ. Finally we got the go from Rachel to go the the restaurant, but not before one more hiccup. We ran into a man who was telling us a story about his father and him getting mugged in a bad part of OSJ. It was raining, and so Chris and I didn't really know what to do. At the end, he asked us for $8, and so I gave him a $10 to help out. He thanked me, and told me to email him at any point. He also mentioned that his father was the DA of Milwaukee. Chris and I both laughed, and told him we were from Wisconsin. He said we would know his name then. Of course, we didn't. We then went on our way to dinner, and had a wonderful dinner at a pizza place with Tuber, Ed, Alejandro and Rachel. Then it was off to bed.

The next day was a little less eventful. We woke up later and had a relaxing morning, and then headed to a surf shop to rent surf boards. Chris, for those of you who don't know him, is a major wake board fan, and has wanted to try surfing for a really long time. Unfortunately, when we got there, they said that the waves were flat and that it would be a waste of our money to rent boards. So we walked to the beach nearby, and upon getting there I realized that this was the beach where Tuber had his phone stolen O_o. So we were careful, and went swimming at this beach for a little while. We then made our way back to the surf shop, where Chris bought a pair of sandals. Since we came back, they gave us a 10% discount. So nice of them! We then went back to our hotel, swam a bit there, and then showered and got dressed for dinner. Sort of. We also passed out on the bed mid conversation due to being completely exhausted. Silly college kids. We went out to dinner at a little restaurant down the street, and Chris had mofongo (mashed plantains with stew) for the first time. He was pleased, but I don't think it's his favorite :P We then walked around Condado, and talked a lot. That's kind of what we do. We ended the night with some ice cream and some tv, just relaxing to round out a wonderful weekend :)

Sunday was check out day, so of course we slept in :P We had one last swim in the ocean (which was wavy, and so Chris cursed whatever god he could think of at the time), and then packed up and headed out. We stopped for lunch, then caught a cab to the airport to say goodbye. Alejandro picked me up and shuttled me to the WalMart in Rio Grande, where Rachel met me a couple hours later. And thus endeth our weekend in San Juan. We both wished it could have been longer, but it really was a wonderful trip with many great stories and a great person to spend it with :) Pictures soon!