San Juan, Puerto Rico

Posted on September 30, 2010 by

I just returned from visiting San Juan, Puerto Rico with my husband.  As always it was absolutely fabulous:)  If you visit, you must take 3-5 hours and walk around Old San Juan.  Be sure to eat either breakfast or lunch at Cafeteria Mollorca (300 San Francisco St), you will experience a great old style diner… 

If you like boutique style hotels, try the San Juan Water & Beach Club  (http://www.waterbeachclubhotel.com/).  Unfortunately, they were doing a renovation on the rooftop bar and pool when we were there so we couldn’t stay there this time.  It is definitely a quaint little hotel that can be enjoyed by all!

While in San Juan things like bottled water can get very expensive in the hotels.  There is usually a Walgreens or a supermarket within walking distance of hotels and it is worth the visit to save a little.  I enjoy drinking wine, so I will usually pick up a few bottles at the supermarket vs. always paying $9 or $10 for a glass. 

If you travel to San Juan in the fall which is off-season, be sure to check out dinner and/or happy hour specials at the restaurants.  Ruth’s Chris had great deals in September.  If you enjoy Italian food, the restaurant La Piccola Fontana at the El San Juan Hotel and Casino is excellent and the ambiance is very good!  They also had some great specials in September.  Sushi anyone? The sushi restaurant in the Intercontinental was very good and the prices were great!

Lastly, visiting The Castillo de San Cristóbal is definitely worth the trip in to Old San Juan. It was built by Spain to protect against land based attacks on the city of San Juan. If you taxi in to Old San Juan, you will be very close to it when the taxi drops you off.  Plan on spending a couple of hours there and then you have the remainder of the day to enjoy the city!

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Key West, FL – Where to go to watch the sunset

Posted on September 10, 2010 by

The sunset in Key West is always a beautiful, vibrant site!  Where to watch it from is the question. There are several places along the water to enjoy the sunset from and then…  there is the rooftop of the Crowne Plaza LaConcha Hotel!  You can enter through the Starbucks coffee shop on Duval St. (between Eaton and Fleming), go through the double doors and then take the elevator to the top floor!  You will exit to the inside bar and can ( but don’ have to) grab something to drink before going outside to enjoy the sunset.  You will see bright oranges and purples as the sun sets against a gorgeous landscape of palm trees and blue water!

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Cruise Discounts

Posted on September 7, 2010 by

Cruising is fun and can be extremely inexpensive. 

If you are able to travel during the months of October, November and early December, you can save a tremendous amount of money.  Additionally, if you have the luxury of being able to plan your cruise 90 days or less from your departure date you can get discounted rates. 

I have a couple of favorite websites that I use when searching for a cruise…  www.vacationstogo.com gives you a quick look at the discounted rates for several cruise lines on their “90 Day Ticker” page (you can sign-up at the site for free and can save hundreds of dollars), the other website – www.cruisecompete.com allows you to enter the information pertaining to the cruise you would like to take and you receive emails back quoting prices for the cruise (if you do this, read the email carefully to ensure there are no extra charges in addition to the price quoted). Typically you will receive a quote back that can save you money (the amount of savings varies) and even $15 or $20 per person is good – that could be 1 or 2 days worth of gratuities aboard the ship!

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Bicycling in Washington D.C.

Posted on September 7, 2010 by

Have you ever wondered if bicylcing to see the sites in the nation’s capitol is feasible?  Well… it is, even for those that don’t bicycle frequently!  Of course, you would want to do this during “fair” weather months! 

During our recent visit to D.C. we parked our vehicle in Georgetown where we stayed and did not move it again until we left 4 days later.  From where we stayed in Georgetown, we were able to bike about 1 mile to the Rock Creek bike path and then approximately 1.7 miles to the Lincoln Memorial.  The Lincoln Memorial is a great starting point to see the sights!  From the Lincoln Memorial you can bicycle all the way to the U.S. Capitol which is only 1.9 miles.  Spending at least 3 days in this area is easy to do as there are several monuments and memorials between the two locations.  The majority of the must see museums are also along the way on “The Mall”, such as the National Air and Space Museum. 

Bicycling to the National Arlington Cemetery is a must do!  The Arlington Memorial Bridge extends from the Lincoln Memorial to the National Arlington Cemetery and is a very short, easy bike ride.  You can easily spend 3 hours at the cemetery, especially if you would like to see the Changing of the Guards.

The Tidal Basin is another area to include on your itinerary and yes, you can also bicycle to it!  There you can see the Thomas Jefferson Memorial and the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial which is awesome!

Our Nation’s Capitol is definitely “bicycle” friendly!

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