Because life is short & the world is big
Sunset, rooftop, Cabo Rojo.
After a tumultuous 2022 that was disrupted by health setbacks, we are finally here in Puerto Rico, our new winter home, three short blocks from Playa Ostiones, and looking forward to a healthy and adventurous 2023.
We currently have a full house with two kids and two cats sharing our space in Casita Fortaleza.
Happy New Year and Feliz Año Nuevo from Messy Suitcase!
The highlight of the Bateaux Mouches dinner cruise on the River Seine in Paris was when the Eiffel Tower put on a light show at 10 o’clock. Glorious!
We highly recommend this experience for anyone looking for a romantic or noteworthy evening in Paris. the views are unparalleled, and we lucky to have a clear, warmish early-fall with a full moon. Our only regret was that we neglected to inform them in advance that we were celebrating Lisa’s birthday! If we had they would have brought her dessert with a sparkler on top and played Happy Birthday on the violin! (Come to think of it, maybe it’s better she didn’t singe her eyebrows,)
Party taxi in Copenhagen! https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cis09mYpofm/?igshid=NDRkN2NkYzU=
#messysuitcase #Copenhagen #travelblog #travelblogger
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to sneak a video in the International Spy Museum. Good luck!
We spent a winter Monday at the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC. They shut down Bob’s video, but see what you can decipher! It’s a fascinating place and definitely worth a visit. We couldn’t even begin to capture it. Lisa’s favorite room was the one that showed videos about spying. There’s also an interesting exhibit on women in espionage.
Everyone is issued an interactive spy identity card when they enter, which they test their spy skills at seventeen different digital and physical interactive stations spread throughout the museum.
Unlike the Smithsonian Institution, the International Spy Museum charges admission. It’s right by the waterfront, so just a short walk to some interesting eateries.
Check it out!
Playa Montones is a beautiful family-friendly beach in Isabela, Puerto Rico. It has sand dunes as well as rock formations, though not a lot of shade, so bring your umbrella.
Its shallow water make this natural pool the family-preferred beach in Isabela, a safe environment for kids and toddlers to play around. A natural wall prevents the strong surf from rushing in.
The beach is also right next to the jogging/biking trail in Isabela, so you can add a nice walk to your day out.
Watch where you park, though! We got a ticket for facing the wrong way on the street.
When we lived in San Juan 28 years ago, Bob and I journeyed south to the Ponce home of Puerto Rico’s renowned carnival mask maker, Miguel Caraballo. We commissioned a beautiful mask that dominated the dining room wall of our homes for more than two decades.
That “vejigante” mask is now in storage in Colorado, and a little bent at the tip of one of its horns. Since we spent a few months in Puerto Rico last fall, we decided to commission another one. So last November, we journeyed to Ponce again, and met Miguel Caraballo, his son and his grandson.
Caraballo’s masks are world-renowned. He has a mask on display in the Museum of the Americas in Old San Juan, and another in the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum of American Art.
These papier-mâché masks are typically worn by young men who don the colorful costume of a vejigante, a character who roams the streets during Carnaval de la Playa de Ponce, or the Ponce Beach Carnival, playfully scaring children and other revelers. The carnival held each February, features a huge parade, with the vejigante as a protagonist along with the kings and queens of carnival.
Miguel Caraballo started making masks as an apprentice to a woman in his neighborhood when he was 15, 66 years ago. The masks are made with cardboard, newspaper and brown paper, pressed onto molds and held together with a glue made of flour and water. His son makes masks now, and his grandson of the same name does the family marketing.
We picked up our new mask five weeks after our visit. We were delighted! But it was so big that we almost didn’t get it onto the plane back to the States. We had to buy a very large bin from Home Depot to accommodate all the protruding horns. Although the package weighed hardly anything, the combined length, width and height exceeded Southwest’s size limitations by 2 inches. It was only after we cut open the package and took out the mask to show the ticket agent what we were carrying that he decided to seek special approval from his manager. We had to pay $75 for the oversized item, and the agent exhorted us never to try to fly with such a large item again.
We would have been heartbroken to have to leave such a special item behind.
Now that we have purchased a home in Puerto Rico, we plan to return to the Caraballo home to commission yet another mask!
Peopleareculture.com Article
Museum of the Americas
Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History
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After indulging ourselves on pinchos (kebabs) at a little food truck park on the way, we spent a peaceful weekday afternoon at Playa Santa, a quiet neighborhood beach in Guanica on the south coast of Puerto Rico.
There were no restrooms, though it looks like on weekends it’s quite lively, and you can take advantage of food kioskos and kayak rentals. The surf is calm and the kids are plentiful.
INFO
Puerto Rico is more than beaches and rum, coffee and conquistadors. It’s also pork!
For a glimpse into the real Puerto Rico, with a little tourist kitsch thrown in, we suggest you pay a visit to the Pork Highway, or La Ruta del Lechón.
Locals and visitors alike gather together friends and family for a day trip to the lechoneras of the mountain town of Guavate.
They drive along winding Route 184 up a mountain to feast on lechonera after lechonera serving slow-roasted whole pork (also chicken), heaping portions of rice and pigeon peas, yuca al mojo, mofongo, and other traditional Puerto Rican dishes, all in a party atmosphere. Get ready to dance!
Don’t worry, vegetarians – the yuca and rice are also outstanding.
Lechón means roasted whole pork, cooked for hours over hot coals or an open flame, so that the skin gets crispy while the meat remains tender and juicy. This is a dish you can typically only get in the countryside of Puerto Rico.
LINKS:
Discover Puerto Rico Guide to the Pork Highway
El Rancho Original
El Nuevo Rancho
Map
One of our favorite beaches on the northeast corner of Puerto Rico is Playa Peña Blanca, a secluded beach in Aguadilla distinguished by white cliffs and interesting snorkeling. It’s tucked away behind a neighborhood, and almost impossible to find, with hole-pocked dirt roads that aren’t found on GPS.
If you require amenities, don’t come here. There are no bathrooms, no official parking lot, no food stands or restaurants. But if you’re willing to pack your own food and drinks, have a sense of adventure and want to experience something different, by all means, come!
We paid a local to park in a yard in the neighborhood, not wanting to receive a parking ticket as we had done at Playa Montones a week earlier. It was $5 well spent. The walk to Playa Peña Blanca from the neighborhood was short, though a little rugged closer to the beach. We came back another day via a back road not found on GPS, which took us to a small parking area right beside the beach.
Playa Peña Blanca is a clean, intimate, secluded spot with crystal clear waters and interesting snorkeling. The left side is a little wilder, with stone steps down a hillside to where white karst cliff walls and caves abut the golden sand.
It’s hard to describe the appeal. You just have to experience it yourself!
Crash Boat Beach in Aguadilla is one of Puerto Rico’s most popular beaches. It’s a party beach with a festive atmosphere, highlighted by the colorful pier perfect for diving off of or snorkeling beside.
Bring the family and enjoy the gentle surf and the pincho (kebab) and smoothie kiosks.
It’s supposed to have bathrooms but we couldn’t find any.
Feel free to enjoy our video about snorkeling Crash Boat – the undersea world is astonishing. It’s at https://youtu.be/HOsYt4y6pYY
Info: https://www.discoverpuertorico.com/profile/crash-boat-beach/8911
