Simply Rice and Beans: Trip to Puerto Rico

Last September my sister Gracie was having a birthday. Since I had been to her Island of Dominican Republic the prior year, I told her why not celebrate her birthday in my Island of Puerto Rico. Our other friend Sonja and her husband decided they wanted to go too, and so the planning for the trip began.

I wanted this trip to be the best trip ever, and so I started to do my research on what to do and where to go. I had lived in Puerto Rico when I was a little girl, and I've been to the island a few times, but had never visited the historical places. First, we booked the flights two months ahead. Then we started searching for a great hotel at a reasonable price. Since my husband and I had stayed at El Conquistador, I mentioned it to my sister and she fell in love with it. El Conquistador is located on a cliff overlooking the ocean in Fajardo.

This hotel has so many thing to do..you really don't have to leave. Our rooms were villas overlooking the ocean but we really didn't spent much time in the rooms. We had dinner at a couple of the restaurants at the hotel and did some shopping too. We hung out at the bar a couple of times at night and made some new friends. The employees there were great, they made us feel at home.

Since they don't have a beach on the property, they take you to "Palomino Island". Palomino Island is a private island off the coast of Puerto Rico. The island is very beautiful, and the beach is so serene.

I had always wanted to visit the El Yunque-The Rainforest, the Bacardi Factory and try some of the best restaurants and bakeries around. We decided to visit a different place everyday and travel around to see the island.

For my friends birthday we decided to head out to Old San Juan. We had dinner at "Barrachina". Barrachina is the birthplace of the Pina Colada. They have really good food and drinks.

Here is a picture of the famous Pina Colada. It was really good and strong. For dinner my friends and I enjoyed the Arroz Con Gandules (Pigeon Peas Rice) Tostones and Pork Roast.

My husband and his brother enjoyed the fish with Arroz con Gandulez (Pigeon Peas Rice) and Tostones.

Brazas, a BBQ place was another restaurant we went to in San Juan. Here we had Steak, Grilled Chicken, Fried Chicken, Sausages, Arroz con Gandules, Tostones and French Fries.

Everything was delicious.

While leaving El Yunque (Rainforest) we wanted to have lunch, and as we were leaving we noticed this restaurant. At this restuarant we had Ground Beef Empanadas, Pork Roast Stuffed Mofongo, Fried Chicken and tostones and someone ordered a BURGER!!!!!! and some drinks too.

This place was great, the food and the drinks were amazing. Can't remember the name but the place is right down the street from El Yunque.

After we all had our lunch, I still had a little space in my stomach for a piece of Flan. The flan was creamy and delicious. This place was a hit!

This is Espana Bakery located in Carolina. This place had a huge assortment of pastries. Donuts, Guava Pastries, Cheesecake, Bread Pudding, just to name a few. They also had fresh bread, right out of the oven.

We had such a great time around the island..some of the other places we visited were Guavate (Pork Roast Heaven). Bacardi Factory and we partied all night long at NYRican Club. There was a live salsa band that was unbelievable.

These pictures are of different kinds of fruits we saw while visiting Puerto Rico

Starfruit