“Suite!” Just Retired to be a pirate at sea with Sea Dog and Polly The Pirate Semi Live Explorer Nov. 7th

[bobmacliberty]

Congrats on the negative tests.  It's all fun and relaxation from here.

 

Is the Barrachina restaurant on your list of places to visit?  Good food and supposed to be the birthplace of the Pina Colada.  We stopped there on a walking food tour and both the food and drink were very tasty.

[bobmacliberty]

One more suggestion...Senor Paleta for ice cream after dinner, or when you get hot while walking around during the day.  You can enjoy the ice cream in a little park just down the street that overlooks the bay from atop the old city wall.  

[helen haywood]

Your speeded up video of your transport from airport to hotel reminded me of a Mario Andretti driver we had in Jamaica!

 

Have a great time!

[BonTexasNY]

8 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

Looks like you are again in the air Greg.  About 2.5 hours and the relaxing part of your vacation will begin!  Can you tell that I'm almost as excited as you are?

 

Why do I feel like @Ocean Boy talking to @ckrobyn?

Yes! You can be Greg's Human GPS!

[Sea Dog]

1 hour ago, Lou33 said:

@Sea Dog  Happy retirement!  We are on Explorer Nov 14th and we are also staying at Casablanca for one night.  So we really appreciate your doing this blog for us.  Please let us know how the restaurants are in San Juan.  Will you be getting breakfast at the Casablanca?

 

1 hour ago, bobmacliberty said:

Congrats on the negative tests.  It's all fun and relaxation from here.

 

Is the Barrachina restaurant on your list of places to visit?  Good food and supposed to be the birthplace of the Pina Colada.  We stopped there on a walking food tour and both the food and drink were very tasty.

 

Plan on being at Barrachina for lunch tomorrow and yes I have to taste the legendary Pina Colada from there.

 

 

1 hour ago, bobmacliberty said:

One more suggestion...Senor Paleta for ice cream after dinner, or when you get hot while walking around during the day.  You can enjoy the ice cream in a little park just down the street that overlooks the bay from atop the old city wall.  

 

I've heard of this. I must seek it out.

 

1 minute ago, BonTexasNY said:

Yes! You can be Greg's Human GPS!

 

 

My full name is Greg Parker Steele. Hence GPS.

[Lou33]

12 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

Plan on being at Barrachina for lunch tomorrow and yes I have to taste the legendary Pina Colada from there.

Do any restaurants take reservations?    How long was your wait at Raices?  Was it worth the wait?  Reviews say that sometimes they say it's a 1 hour wait and they end up waiting 2 1/2 hours.  

[Sea Dog]

Oh boy do I love this hotel. I've always been a big fan of the film Casablanca. This hotel really does a fine job of paying homage to the movie. 

 

 

Including a wonderful little bar called "The Playroom." Check it out.

 

 

The Playroom is this eclectic bar that has the charm of a speakeasy and looks like a scene in the movie CasaBlanca. Adorned with pictures of Bogie and Bacall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I enjoyed a nice glass of Woodford Reserve to celebrate a long day of traveling and a negative COVID test.

 

 

 

[Ozark_Kid]

Thankful you and the family made it there safely.  Southwest sure makes it known, no drinking, even if you sneak it own 😂.  I noticed, at least on the flights we were on, they don’t joke around like they used to.

[Sea Dog]

It's Dinner Time!!!

 

Only about a two minute walk from the hotel is a very popular restaurant called Raices (Pronounced Rye-ee-sus) which served fantastic local Puerto Rican food.

 

 

The drinks were amazing. You have to get a Mojito. See above post. They are really good. I also had their Raices Del Cielo. WOW!

 

 

Look at this green beauty.

 

 

And then the main course. The Mofongazo. The best meal I've ever eaten in a long time. This was so amazing. I highly recommend this it was that good.

 

 

 

And what would cap off a beautiful night?  A walk back to the hotel and seeing Christmas decorations for this Christmas freak. I really am in heaven.

 

 

 

 

A final nightcap at the Playroom with another Woodford Reserve. Now off to bed where I'm sure I will have sugarplums dancing around my head. Cheers!

 

 

[Momof3gurlz]

12 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

Congrats on the negative tests.  It's all fun and relaxation from here.

 

Is the Barrachina restaurant on your list of places to visit?  Good food and supposed to be the birthplace of the Pina Colada.  We stopped there on a walking food tour and both the food and drink were very tasty.

I know there are a lot of other places to try in San Juan but we always hit Barrachina when we’re there on a port stop.  We love the courtyard   where the bar is.  It’s also where we had our first shrimp mofongo and of course a pina colada.

[bobmacliberty]

So happy that you like the hotel and are having a great time.  I'm going to save that Raices del Cielo recipe.

[h20skibum]

10 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

Oh boy do I love this hotel. I've always been a big fan of the film Casablanca

I love that.  Casablanca is one of my all time favorite movies.  I have watched it so many times, I think I can quote all the dialogue.  Plus, As Time Goes By is Susan and my song.

[Sea Dog]

Good Morning San Juan

So we sleep in because everyone was exhausted from getting up at 2am for a travel day. Funny I woke up at 1:30am and saw the lighted glow just outside my room. I looked at my watch and it said 1:30 and thought oh my I over slept and it's the afternoon. I got up and realized it was just the light from the bathroom. Good now back to bed.

 

So I am a little surprised that nobody asked who Polly the Pirate is in my title? Well here she is.

 

 

My son bought this for me knowing we would be going on this cruise and he knows my love and interest in pirates. So Polly is joining us on this voyage. She would be showing up from time to time in scenic locals just to squawk or look after us. She is Arrrrguably very pretty don't you think?

 

Getting a slow start. Not sure how much we will explore today. The troops are run down and we do want to save some energy for the ship.

Edited November 6, 2021 by Sea Dog

[Husky1987]

LOVE Raices.  The Kan Kan Pork Chop is probably one of the five best things I've eaten in my entire life.

 

So sorry about your puppy....my wife and I were right there a year ago with our sweet Husky.  Someone much wiser than me once said "Grief is the price of love."

[Sea Dog]

7 minutes ago, Husky1987 said:

LOVE Raices.  The Kan Kan Pork Chop is probably one of the five best things I've eaten in my entire life.

 

So sorry about your puppy....my wife and I were right there a year ago with our sweet Husky.  Someone much wiser than me once said "Grief is the price of love."

 

We actually had that as an appetizer. It was outstanding. Sorry I did not get a pic of it. We were so hungry that it was gone very quickly.

 

Pro tip note: If you go Raices and there is a long wait. They said ours would be an hour and a half. Ask to go to the bar order drinks and appetizers than eat outside while you wait for your table. Our wait only ended up being about 45 minutes.

Edited November 6, 2021 by Sea Dog

[Lionesss]

Greg

 

You are really doing an excellent job on your cruise thread.

 

I look forward to every post, and am enjoying your pictures/videos.

 

Safe travels.

[Sea Dog]

12 hours ago, Lou33 said:

Do any restaurants take reservations?    How long was your wait at Raices?  Was it worth the wait?  Reviews say that sometimes they say it's a 1 hour wait and they end up waiting 2 1/2 hours.  

I did not see where Raices takes reservations. They said it would be an hour and a half. But it was more like 45 minutes. Highly recommend this restaurant no matter how long you wait. Check out my pro tip post.

[Sea Dog]

15 hours ago, Lou33 said:

Will you be getting breakfast at the Casablanca?

Eating there now. Sorry no pics. Breakfast sandwich is incredible. Bread was soft and had some powdered sugar on top. Jonathan had smoked salmon and a bagel. Really good he said. I just had a regular cream cheese bagel. But the bread was really good. Soft not a hard bagel.

 

And in  the true sign that hell has frozen over.

My lovely wife Linda who hates seafood. Tasted some of Jonathan’s smoked salmon said it was very good. See miracle do happen.

Edited November 6, 2021 by Sea Dog

[John&LaLa]

On 11/5/2021 at 5:57 AM, Sea Dog said:

Thank you Mark. I did have success in clearing browser data from Google. We will see how long I have success for.

 

Incognito works fairly well 😉

[John&LaLa]

On 11/5/2021 at 10:37 AM, Sea Dog said:

Yes Crystal I’m so used to posting from computers, this phone thing is different. Need to figure out how to write something then insert pic, write more insert pic. I may have to improvise. 
 

sorry if this is sloppy. This is not my true nature.

 

90% of what I do is on phone

[Luckynana]

I wonder if La Concha is still there??  I've stayed there twice;  second time was the first part of our Honeymoon...

[Ozark_Kid]

54 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

90% of what I do is on phone

Wow, and I thought my kids were on the phone a lot!  😂 

[StanleyandGus]

7 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

So I am a little surprised that nobody asked who Polly the Pirate is in my title?

Whoops, I had assumed that was your wife! Polly is a very pretty pirate!

[bobmacliberty]

1 hour ago, Luckynana said:

I wonder if La Concha is still there??  I've stayed there twice;  second time was the first part of our Honeymoon...

 

We stayed there a couple of years ago.  Great place.

[jagsfan]

2 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

90% of what I do is on phone

Me, too. Actually, 100%. I tried to log in on the desk top after a year and couldn’t do it. Finally said forgot password,  even though I know it’s right. 
It asked a security question, which was “What is your favorite security question?”

That’s just nuts!