Puerto Rico
This travel post might be a bit of an emotional roller coaster for me. Our friends Lauren and Omar got engaged long before we got pregnant and had planned for their wedding to be in Puerto Rico all along. We committed long before we realized how tough it would be to leave our little E. Their wedding was 8 weeks after we had Elliott and we made the brave decision to leave our sweet baby to head to the beautiful island of Puerto Rico. If you have never been I HIGHLY suggest going. I had no idea what we were getting ourselves into or what to expect. Puerto Rico has a little of it of everything whether it be the beach, mountains, hiking, outdoor activities, culture, history, nightlife, yummy food and more. We were only going to be there for four days with a day booked with an excursion with the bride and groom on a party bus also known as a Chinchorreo.
We flew from St. Louis on the 6 am flight connected in Atlanta and down to Puerto Rico. The night before our flight we had to drop little E off with my parents. Don’t worry we cried the entire drive to St. Louis and basically were both a hot mess the entire drive and about cancelled our trip ten times. I was obviously nursing still at this point and would have to pump the entire trip 7-8 times per day. I basically became an expert on pumping on this trip.
So a little bit of my pumping schedule at 8 weeks and while on a travel day. I woke up at 3:15. I pumped for thirty minutes and I am lucky enough to stay at my moms house in St. Louis so I froze that milk I pumped that morning. We planned to land in Atlanta around 8:30 basically the longest I had ever gone without pumping. Luckily as we exited the plan there was a mamava pod located right there at our gate. For those who do not know what a mamava pod is it is basically a private/locked area for women needing to nurse or pump. The code is located on their app and they tell you the locations of the pods on the app. I downloaded the app prior to traveling so I could plan my day. I also ensured I brought my battery pack, wall plug in and car plug in for my medela pump. Check out my breastfeeding/pumping necessities post to see what all I recommend traveling with. My third pump of this travel day came on the airplane. I communicated with the flight attendant that I would need about 20 minutes to pump and I pumped int the bathroom on the plane utilizing my battery pack. I have heard of some moms pumping at their seat but I did not feel comfortable doing that. I did have my medela cooler and ice pack.
In the Mamava Pod Pumping in Atlanta! Please Ignore the fact that I am still 30 pounds overweight and emotionally unstable from leaving E!
Crying while facetiming Elliott! (He was not in a moving vehicle I am aware of carseat safety!
On our first day in Puerto Rico we rented our Jeep once we arrived to the airport. Best decision EVER! Then we went to the Airbnb we rented for a group of 10 of us. If you are traveling with a large group I highly suggest staying here. Across the street is a grocery store and we stocked up on lots of snacks, food, coffee, booze and anything else we might need. The space could probably sleep 15-20 people. Right next door to this building is a food truck park made up of air streams called Lot 23. One of the stands served fresh poke bowls and they were my favorite thing in the world. We actually went back two more times to get snacks the food was so amazing. We met up with everyone we were staying with here for dinner. It was INCREDIBLE. So much fun and the vibe was awesome. From here we went to La Placita which was walking distance from our Airbnb but you can easily uber as well. The nightlife scene was incredible. The top photo was from this area. It was so fun, with loud music, fun drinks and all of the people from the wedding party and guests were there. The atmosphere was very authentic and not something many tourists would typically find.
Day Two in Puerto Rico was our adventure day! We started out early and headed to the National Park to hike and swim. We rented two jeeps and 8 of us packed coolers to enjoy the beautiful sites of Puerto Rico. We went to El Yunque National Park. It is the only U.S. National Park outside of the United States. It is also the only rain forest that is a National Park. Most national parks require payment to go in but this one does not. Also when we went it was about a year after the massive hurricane that went through there were still several trails closed due to damage
From the rain forest we stopped at a little gas station and picked up beer and snacks and headed to the beach. We went to Luqillo beach which was about a 20 minute drive from the visitor center of the national park. This was a public beach where you could rent chairs and the locals were hanging out at. The ocean was amazing and had incredible views. There are stray dogs on the beach but you can get massive pineapple drinks as shown in the photos below.
After the beach we embraced the Jeep and took the beautiful drive back to San Juan area where we were staying. That evening we made reservations at a restaurant called Asere which was so much fun and AMAZING! This restaurant was also in the La Placita area. It had nightclubs, loud music and loads of dancing in the area as well.
The second full day there was the day of the wedding we would be attending. That day we spent exploring old San Juan. We found a tap house and drank local beer, ate yummy food and explored the tiny streets of old San Juan with our friends. The colorful umbrellas are in front of the governors mansion. This is a very popular Instagram spot! The wedding was at the Antiguo Casino de Puerto Rico! It was the most beautiful wedding I have ever been to! SERIOUSLY this building is amazing and I highly suggest peeping in to look at it!
Day three was the day we went on the party bus or what the Puerto Ricans call a Chinchorreo. The bride and groom graciously planned this amazing day following their wedding day. The bus took us south into the mountains and we went to three different bars and really got to experience the culture. If you can somehow manage a drive into the mountains to experience what we were able to experience I HIGHLY SUGGEST DOING THIS!. Heck we even ended up at a German bar!
Our first stop on the party bus was a bar called La Playita in the Morovis area. This place was HOPPIN’! Like so much fun! Yummy food and drinks. This place is not touristy AT ALL! Because it was busy the bathroom line was kind of long but so worth it. Our second stop was called Casa Bavaria. Another mostly outdoor bar with AMAZING views like these are views you pay big money for and they were unreal! This place had a massive roof top patio that you could see the ocean from when outside. Another spot I highly suggest! Our third stop was called Vagoneando. It was mostly outdoors as well and we were able to dance and obviously since it was our last stop we may have been a little too intoxicated! The last two stops were located in the area called Orocovis. I felt like we were introduced to true Puerto Rican culture by hitting up these local spots and getting away from touristy areas.
Day four was when we all started going our separate ways. My husband and I spent the day exploring old San Juan. We started our morning by eating breakfast at Caficultura right near at the corner of Plaza Colon in old San Juan. After breakfast we moved to the Castillo San Felipe del Morro. We actually walked road the followed the water and it was beautiful. This basically “military base”/fort has been there since the early 1700’s and was modified with the change in technology and was eventually used during WWII. The views are amazing and the fort is filled with tons of history. I highly suggest visiting. When we finished touring this fort we moved back to the Castillo de San Cristóbal which was also used during WWII with more amazing views. You learn the history of Puerto Rico and their place during war time. We thoroughly enjoyed the views and walking old San Juan. We flew back late Monday evening!
Puerto Rico blew us away! I think we left a piece of our hearts. We can not say enough amazing things about this country and how much there is to do. We easily could have spent another 4-5 days there just exploring, eating and adventuring. We barely spent time on the beach but we left Puerto Rico feeling so fulfilled. If you ever have the chance to go to Puerto Rico—GOOOOO!
LOT 23-food trucks
