Hooray!
A family visit! What could be more exciting than reuniting with the ones you love after you haven’t seen them for seven months? Dave and I were over the moon when we found out my family had booked flights to visit us in Puerto Rico. You see, we had been trying to get them to make plans to see us since we left New Jersey in October. The Bahamas, USVI and BVI were all potential options, but things never seemed to line up. Schedules, work, outrageous costs for flights and mainly our unpredictable timeline all put a damper on my family cementing plans to visit.
Then, we arrived in Puerto Rico. We fell in love with the island and even had tentative plans before we got there to stay long term. I told my mom about our ideas to stay for a while and she took action to finally book accommodations and flights. Puerto Rico is affordable to fly to, doesn’t require passports for US citizens and it’s warm and tropical. Seemed like a no brainer.
My mom, dad and brother Eugene had never been to PR before so we were excited for them to experience this island for the first time. One of my biggest hopes during this trip was that my family would be able to visit us at some point so I was pretty pumped when the plan was in action!
From the left: Mom, Dave, Me, Dad and Geno.
Accommodations
We spent a wonderful four days with them at the Caribe Hilton in San Juan where Dave and I felt like royalty. Apparently this is where the pina colada was born. How cool is that? Of course we indulged in a few of those to check their authenticity. They were pretty spot on!
The hotel was GLORIOUS. Our room was a sanctuary. Air conditioning, a king sized bed, clean sheets and an endless supply of running water. Oh, and there was a Starbucks downstairs, too. We were in heaven. Aside from spending time with my loving family, all I wanted to do was lounge in our giant, clean, hotel room and marvel at the spaciousness. “There’s so much room for activities!” Oh, and let’s not forget all the delicious food and drink we indulged in as well. My family completely spoiled us during their entire stay and we can’t thank them enough for it. It was sooooo amazing! 🙂
A view of the grounds.
Mom testing out one of the many hammocks on the beach.
Our agenda
We did a little bit of everything – trekked through the El Yunque Rainforest, explored the streets of Old San Juan, relaxed on the beach and even spent some time on Alli Oop. Now let me overwhelm you with tons of photos from their stay. 🙂
El Yunque
La Mina Falls
A bucket of beers on the patio!
Picking up or dropping off? Dinghy dock at San Juan Bay Marina.
Preparing to board Alli Oop at our anchorage in San Juan Harbor.
Love this crew!
Tasting local beers at La Taberna Lupulo.
At the top of Yokahu Observation Tower in El Yunque.
Looking out from the tower.
I’m always trying to sneak into interesting spots.
Walking the streets.
Looking down from our patio.
Roof top dinner in Old San Juan.
Cocktails at the Caribe.
We wished we could’ve had more time with them, but we’re so glad the Cooney’s were able to make it to Puerto Rico! Thanks again for visiting, guys. We hope you enjoyed your visit as much as we did! We love you and we’ll see you soon! 🙂 xoxo!
