Watch out for that mountain! The plane that took us to Culebra was tiny and the landing terrifying! Will we survive? Watch and see.
Why are there US Army Tanks on Culebra’s Beautiful Flamenco Beach?
Why did the US Army leave two giant tanks at the end of Flamenco Beach on the Puerto Rican island of Culebra, considered one of the most beautiful beaches in the world? Find the answer in the latest Messy Suitcase YouTube video.
Big Bus Tour of DC
When you are traveling with someone without a lot of mobility, a Hop On Hop Off bus tour is the best way to give them an overview of a place. So I took my visiting sister-in-law on a Big Bus Tour of Washington, DC, on Christmas Eve. The tour is definitely overpriced at about $45 a person, but she loved it, and we had a birds-eye view of Washington’s most iconic buildings and monuments from the upper level. She loved it!
Big BusTours has a useful app that lets you follow your bus’s progress on a map, and see where the next bus is if you decide to disembark.
The audio version of the tour — everyone gets free headphones — included a lot of historical tidbits that we both found fascinating. But there are definitely some limitations to a bus. They can’t get as close as you like sometimes, so we saw the graves at Arlington Cemetery from a distance, and couldn’t even see the Potomac River when we passed the Wharf and the Southwest Waterfront. But now we know where to go back and explore!
Here are some of the sights we saw:
We are Back in the States!
We are back in the United States for a month and have settled into a beautiful apartment in the Penn Quarter of Washington, DC.
Saying Adios to Puerto Rico
Our two months in Puerto Rico were glorious and it was difficult to leave, so we of course spent some final moments enjoying the beach in front of our apartment in San Juan.
Then we headed sadly to the airport, donning long pants and shoes for the first time in two months. Even Putzie came out to say goodbye!
This was the sight out the window as our southwest jet flew out of San Juan International Airport bound for Manchester, NH, where our truck was parked.
How New England Greeted Us
After leaving a balmy 84 degrees, we stepped out of the airport to a frigid 29 degrees at the airport. We also discovered there was a Winter Storm Warning for much of the next day, our primary travel day through New England. With the sandals barely off, we were strategizing an early wake-up (after getting to bed after 2 AM) so we could cover as much ground the next day as possible before the predicted 8-10 inches swept in.
Still, this was what we encountered on the ground the next day, after we drove across Vermont to Burlington, picked up our son Gavin and his cat Ellie, and headed south to Saratoga Springs, NY.
It was a knuckle-clenching trip, especially one spot on a back road in upstate New York where our truck slip all over the road. Bb managed to right it with no harm done, but it was a tense journey from then on out, and reminded Bob why he likes to live in warm climates in the winter!
We spent the night in the best La Quinta ever, in Clifton Park, NY, where Ellie and Kaylee negotiated a reunion between growls and hisses.
It was great to be with Gavin again!
On to DC
On Sunday, we rose earlyish and continued the trek south to DC, finally moving into the Lansburgh at 425 8th Street NW at around 4 PM.
Our condo is beautiful, and the location is superb — just a couple of blocks from the National Mall, and a block from the downtown Christmas market. It even comes with a bar and a liquor cabinet for us to fill!
We are excited to begin exploring the Nation’s Capital and spending time with family and friends!
Leaving Puerto Rico Today
Beto’s enjoying a last hour of beach time before we fly to the snowy northeast today.
Lisa is capping her last run in San Juan in 2021 with coffee and a pastry (from 787 Coffee, of course) by the ocean.
Enjoy some last images of the weird, wonderful beach at Punta Las MarĂas, our home for the past month.
This evening we board a plane bound for Manchester, NH, where our car is parked. Then, tomorrow we plan to get up super early, drive across the state of Vermont before an approaching snowstorm, scoop up Gavin and his cat Ellie at Champlain College in Burlington, and drive down to Sarasota, NY for the night. On Sunday, we rise early and drive another seven hours to our next home: Washington, DC!
We are not looking forward to going from 84 degrees to 29 in a few hours’ time.
We Tour Puerto Rico’s Oldest Rum Factory
Puerto Rico is the rum capital of the world! So we have set out to visit as many rum factories as possible. We started with the island’s oldest, Ron Del Barrilito, in Bayamon, just outside the capital San Juan. In this part, we learn how Barrrilito rum is made with help from an excellent tour guide named Edgardo. Next time, we will taste it!
Visiting a Friend’s Hacienda
We drove up into the mountains with a friend yesterday to see the home he and his wife built in Utuado. The couple (they asked that their names not be used, for privacy), real estate hobbyists, scooped up 38 acres of property sight-unseen at auction 20 years ago, for just $1,000 an acre. Then they drove up to see what they had bought.
What they found was lush land, covered with banana and orange trees, and a slab where a house had been. The views into the valley and across the karst mountains to the ocean beyond were spectacular.
First, a Campsite
The pair camped on the land for many years, driving up on weekends to escape the bustling city of San Juan where they lived, two hours and a universe away from this quiet spot where roosters squawked and the coqui chorus reached a crescendo during the dark night, where the filament of stars was awe-inspiring. But one weekend when they were inundated with torrential rain for two straight days, which soaked through their tent, and they decided enough was enough.
It was time to build a house.
Creating a Home
Working with friends and neighbors over a period of years, the couple designed and built a small, rustic home with a large main room, a master bedroom, a loft space for their son, and a partially covered porch with an outdoor wood stove and oven. They used found materials and built tables and gigantic doors using local hardwood. Consequently the house looks like it has been there forever.
The home is completely off the grid, with solar panels on the roof providing the small amount of electricity they need. A cistern collects rainwater for showers and dishes. The place is kept cool by its high-altitude location and breezes that pass through the windows. In fact, it was ten degrees warmer than the city below!
The Yard
The house has evolved into a small fruit farm. Passion fruit vines climb up the side of the house. Banana trees abound. The yard hosts abundant bushes offering juicy blackberries. There’s also a bocce court.
The Woods
We hiked through the woods to their one-acre coffee grove, wearing tall rubber boots (to protect from fire ants and navigate mud) and deep-pocketed aprons. Our friend used a machete to clear the trail where needed. We then spent a lovely hour plucking deep red coffee cherries off the plants. We then hiked to a neighbor’s abandoned coffee grove and picked those bushes clean as well.
We also found a branch still holding a huge bunch of bananas on the trailside.
One the way back, John and Bob picked fresh juicy oranges out of some tall trees, using a long orange picker. Watch a video of them picking here.
Then we had lunch, burgers cooked outside, on bread bought from a bakery down the mountain, with papayas, bananas, and blackberries from the yard. Magnificent!
Processing & Tasting the Coffee at Hacienda Iluminada
This is Part 2 of our Hacienda Iluminada Tour. We learn how coffee is processed for 787 Coffee, and then taste it! Visit our previous blog for Part 1, touring the farm and learning how the coffee is grown!
Enjoy the video, and don’t forget to subscribe to our channel!
We Splurged on a Thames River Dinner Cruise!
It’s a splurge, at 109 pounds ($145 US) a person (plus tips), so if you can’t afford to do it, join us on a Bateaux London dinner cruise on the Thames River! London at night is lit up like a Christmas tree, especially the bridges. (Forgive the background noise in spots, but a lot of other happy celebrants were also enjoying the night!)