Puerto Rico for a night

Our first layover was 23 hours in Puerto Rico. After David did some flight research he found the *shortest* layover was 7 hours in either Miami or Puerto Rico. We opted for the longest layover in PR. Once off the plane we had to collect our luggage and an extra empty (read:full) bag that Dona asked us to fly down for her. We thought we would be able to check the bags, but it turns out that is not the case. The bags can not be checked until the same day of the flight. No worries. We grabbed our stuff and got a cab. The driver asked where to and we said "we don't know." He found us a nice hotel for a low price. The Hotel Las Americas was renovating so it cost a whopping $65 USD for the night. We thanked the taxi man, Rafael, and made our way to our room.

The hotel was all old style with paintings of Colombus on the walls, beautiful stained glass windows , fancy chandeliers and some things like the "peeping toms." The ceilings were painted along with banners over the balconies. The room was smallish and bare, but it was practical. We only needed a place for our bags and to sleep and this room was perfect for our needs. We dropped off our bags and headed to the local restaurant for some mofongo. Mofongo is the popular local dish made of fried plantains that are mashed and sometimes stuffed with chicken, shrimp, pork or other meats. I had the chicken variety and it was both filling and delicious. After such a big meal we had to lay down and let it settle if we wanted to be active later.

Later that night we found a nice place for a drink and appetizer before going to see a movie. We saw Milk which I thought was phenominal. We had to return to the hotel semi early so we wouldn't miss our flight the following morning. Not that staying in PR would be bad, but Eupsychia beckoned us.

We had a last chance to get some Puerto Rican grub before we were flying to Dallas and then home to PV. All went well and after flying all day we were glad to drag our weary bodies to our floating home. The cat was very happy to see us and she expressed that love with licks and copious amounts of fuzz all over everything she could reach. Vacation was great, but its is nice to be home.