Puerto Rico -- Day 1 and 2.
We arrived in Puerto Rico after 11 hours on an airplane. 11 LONG, very turbulent hours on an airplane where people were very obnoxious, had no respect for each other and pretty much felt like they were out for blood.  It was VERY hot and VERY VERY humid when we arrived. Needless to say, the weather man in Puerto Rico is just about as accurate as he is here.  They had told us that it would likely be rainy and cloudy the whole time we were there.  Yup.  Definitely looked that way.  LOL.  The sun was out... there was no rain to be seen and the weather to looked to be gorgeous.  We quickly found our way to the luggage claim and thanks to the help of the wonderful staff at the airport, we found the shuttle to the car rental counter. 
A few things you need to know about Puerto Rico, EVERYONE speaks english, or at least they think they do.  They claim they do and they all try to but it doesn't always come out that way.  Luckily, I studied 6 formal years of spanish and most of it stuck with me.  We made it to the car rental place and managed to get our GPS system installed and our car rental paperwork ( in english ).  Second, the country is obviously spanish speaking, so any smart person would realize that all of their road signs are probably not going to be in english.  At that moment in time, I was not one of those smart people.  However, I chose to realize this AFTER getting behind the wheel of the car.  LOL!  I then promptly decided to let Jason drive.  We got the GPS working, in English, and got on our way.  We learned the hard way that most of the roads on San Juan, Puerto Rico are one way and not marked, this is just something you are supposed to know.  We were politely notified of this by people on the street.  Luckily, everyone is really nice in Puerto Rico.  That is the other thing I wanted to share with everyone.  People in PR are super helpful and really nice and not necessarily because they want something from you.  They really truly are sincere and nice. 
So, we finally made it the 7 miles to the hotel, go parked and got checked in to the hotel. It was amazing.  We found out that our room wasn't ready yet and so we decided to go find lunch.  We decided to head to Old San Juan, the next city over. This is where we would spend the next two days. It was the best city.

We spent the bulk of day one here touring San Critobal, one of the oldest castles in Old San Juan. It is absolutely beautiful. It is considered a landmark now and is protected by the US government. We spent hours walking the grounds and taking a million pictures. The history there was incredible. The castle is spacious and the views are incredible. 

After the castle, we went to this local italian restaurant for lunch, Sophia's was a quaint little restaurant that offered great homemade recipes and wonderful bar options.  The best part was as we got seated, I excused myself to the ladies room to wash up.  However, the restrooms were so old that as I locked the single bathroom door behind me, the lock actually broke.  I actually managed to lock myself in to the bathroom.  I couldn't get out.  Now, I mentioned before that the country is very hot and very humid.  Did I mention that there is very little air conditioning.  Add to that a mild sense of panic from being locked in the back bathroom of a restaurant you don't know with staff that barely speak english and things get really warm really fast.  And leave it to me to come up with the craziest thing to keep calm.  I start looking around for a way to get out.  And what do I discover, not a way to get out, but the fact that oh... they make their own salt scrub.  So, while I was waiting for someone to realize I was locked in, I stood at the sink and use the homemade salt scrub.  LMAO!!  Eventually, the waitress realized what was going on and they unscrewed the handle on the door and let me out with a mild apology. Nothing is a big deal in PR.  And Jason and I had lunch and went on with a our day as if nothing happened.  And I still love the soap scrub!  Oh and I ordered water and they brought it to me in a liter bottle and served it to me in a chilled wine glass.  Made me giggle.  I had to take a picture.

That first night, after returning to the hotel, we discovered that the hotel was in fact a full resort spa and so we decided to investigate.  We took the first of what would be hourly showers trying to stay fresh in the humidity and took off for more adventures.  Oh, our hotel room..... WOW!  Becuase of the inconvenience we supposedly suffered for waiting we were upgraded to a junior suite on the top floor of the newly renovated building of the hotel.  We had an ocean view room.  NO COMPLAINTS HERE!  The room was huge!! 

We made reservations at the steakhouse in the hotel and we swung by the pool bar to see the local drink menu.  We chatted with the concierge about the local fare and we found out about how to drop off our rental car the next day.  We swung by the local shops and did some browsing (when we found out the price of things, browsing was all we could afford to do) and then we went down to the beach for a walk along the sand and oceanline.  It was truly a beautiful afternoon.
We spent the evening in the five star steakhouse and then we spent the rest of the night winning money in the local casino.  Puerto Ricans are very serious about their gambling.  I hit a three-of-a-kind on the three card poker table which my fellow gamblers know pays out at 30-1 which is about a $400 hand.  I was very excited.  The American dealer immediately warned me not to get excited.  It is not customary nor appreciated to get over excited in their casinos, so I kept my wits about me, tipped the dealer well and pocketed my winnings promptly.  However, when my pina colada arrived, both the pit promotions boss and the waiter hung around close and waited eagerly for my response to the beverage.  Apparently, Puerto Ricans take their liquor VERY serious!  LOL!  Every new beverage is something to celebrate!  LOL!!  Needless to say.  Puerto Rico was exciting. 
However, the highling of PR came the next day.  We awoke the next day and decided to find a lunch place that seved traditional fare that would provide us a true PR experience before catching the boat.  The concierge recommended the Cafe Puerto Rico just up the street.  So we headed right over.  Good thing.  It filled up right after we arrived.  We even waited ten minutes for them to open.  The food was amazing and their beverages were cheap and amazingly good.  Jason and I wished we had found them the minute we arrived.  Their "dish to die for" is called Mofongos and is the customary dish in PR.  It is made of baked Plantains stuffed with creole seasoned chicken and served with a couple of sides.  It was fantastic and so filling.  We craved it the rest of the trip and still continue to crave it even as I type this!  I need to find a PR restaurant here in SLC!!

After lunch, we dropped off our rental car, thanked the concierge for the lunch recommendation and made our way to the ship.  We began our cruise that afternoon.  IT was a wonderful two day stay in San Juan and we could defnitely go back again. 
A few things we will remember for next time -- DON'T GET A RENTAL CAR.  Cabs are cheap, drivers are crazy, walking is easy, parking is expensive and there is no need to rent one.  SHOPPING IS EXPENSIVE.  Don't do it while in PR.  Minimize souvenirs and don't plan to shop in PR.  THEY WILL TAKE ADVANTAGE OF TOURISTS.  Puerto Ricans are super nice, but they love to take advantage of tourist season.  They will charge an arm and a leg for everything!