After a long but unremarkable flight (that’s a good thing) we arrived in San Juan at 10 p.m. local time.  It took awhile to get the luggage but GLORIOSKI it was all there!  Yay! I’m always amazed when my luggage arrives with me.

We got to the Ritz and unpacked and I got my grump on because I was hungry and tired.  The porter had some food suggestions and also said we could get room service, but hamburgers, the least expensive meat thing on the room service menu, are $18 not including mandatory gratuity.  Yikes.  So we each had one of my supplements to take the edge off and give us time to decide whether or not to eat that late.  We went out and walked up and down the street – Isla Verde, I think – and got the lay of the land a little.  Then, around midnight, we found the beach and strolled along the pristine sands of Isla Verde bay for a half hour.  It was nice, and really great to move after being cramped up in that plane for 8 hours.

Walking on the beach at midnight in Puerto Rico. Most days, you can’t get there from here.  Quite idyllic and I got my grump decidedly _off_.

Finally made it to bed around two (fucking jet lag) and slept in a little.  Had breakfast outside looking at the ocean and the little black birds that were very good at stealing food.  There was also a largish iguana and a lot of smaller lizards around.   The flora and fauna here are wonderful!

The grounds at this hotel are lovely, especially the Ti plants.  I remember when I was very young we would buy these $2.00 sticks that were Hawaiian Ti plants.  You’d put them in water and sometimes they’d grow into leggy tropical plants that would die off just as quickly as they appeared.  Anyway, this is the first time I’ve seen what a Ti plant really should look like.  Gorgeous!

And here was the iguana – he/she was chomping the flowers off the impatiens plants like a little goat plowing through the garden.  I loves me a good lizzzard.  Don’t you just ❤ that he has food on his face?

We hung around the pool for a bit around noon but kept missing the wait staff with the goodies, dammit.   We walked on the beach again, then headed back up the street for lunch and adventuring. Our main goal of the day is to find a liquor and grocery store, harder than it sounds because we’re on foot.  Good exercise, though!

We ate fish tacos at a little place called Lupi’s – pretty good, actually.  Didn’t care for the gringo salsa, but the margaritas more than made up for it, or I just didn’t care any more.

More pics here.