2024 Epic Florida Trip, Part 12: San Juan, Puerto Rico

On June 5th, we arrived in San Juan, Puerto Rico. We got breakfast

and said hi to the Carnival Pool Towel Mascot (And Jenny snapped this contraband photo), 

and we all headed out to explore this old city. 

Someone was kind enough to take our group picture by this sign with our ship in the background. 

And Michael posed with me for a selfie. 

As did Gabe. 

We quickly realized that our fair skinned daughter needed a hat, so we bought one from one of the vendors. 

Here's a statue of Christopher Columbus. 

The city was so beautiful with cobblestone streets and brightly painted houses. Here's Rachel again wtih Jenny and Tyler(?) with some of the houses. 

Our destination? The old forts on the Island. 

We hiked up the hill to the first fort, Castillo San Cristóbal, which was built by the Spanish between 1634 and 1765. It was built to help fortify the island and the Spanish holdings in the Caribbean and Central and South America. This fort covers 27 acres and is the largest fort built by the Spaniards in the New World. Fort San Cristóbal, along with the other fort, Castillo San Felipe del Morro, or El Morro, were designated as UNESCO World Heritage sites in 1983, and is run by the U.S. National Parks Department. 

It was fun watching these two history/war enthusiasts pretend to fire the canons. 

We enjoyed watching a short film about the history of the two forts in San Juan, especially the air conditioned theater. 

Inside one of the cells in the fort, there were drawings on the walls that prisoners had sketched, and they were beautiful. Now they are preserved behind glass. 

There were a few reenactors at the fort who gave Gabe a shave. 

Looks like they missed a spot wiping the shaving cream off. 

The old architecture was a treat to see for me. I loved these tile floors--they were so beautiful! 

We also loved seeing the views from the top of the fort. 

At one point, I got separated from Brian, and when I called him, he said, "Look up!" And then he took this picture of me. 

Jenny took this picture of our family from the top of the fort, overlooking San Juan. 

After seeing all we wanted to see at Castillo San Cristóbal, we started to make our way to the other fort on the island, Castillo San Felipe del Morro. I loved seeing these beautiful architectural details along our way. 

And we loved seeing the ocean as we walked. Ben loved it so much that he may have frolicked a little. 

We were grateful that it was overcast since it gave us a little relief from the heat. 

There is a vast city wall that runs between the forts, and it was cool to see. 

We just missed being able to enter the cemetery by maybe 15 minutes. It was a really really cool cemetery. 

Look at this! 

Finally, we made it to Castillo San Felipe del Morro, which was built by the Spanish from 1539 to 1790. When the U.S. took control of Puerto Rico in 1898 following the Spanish-American way, El Morro was designated as part of Fort Brooke and actively used as U.S. Military base until after World War II. In 1961, the fort was retired and passed over to the National Parks service.  Here we are at the entrance. 

Look at this pediment and the triglyphs on the frieze! So awesome!

We checked out the little chapel in the fort. 

And explored all the look-out points. 

We found more old carvings in the stone. 

And more views from the top of the protective walls. 

But the most exciting thing? These really sweet lizards that were hanging out up on the walls. 

This fort had this funky lighthouse tower that didn't match the rest of the place, but it was still pretty cool. 

Here's a replica of what it looked like in it's glory days. 

Not sure what is happening here, but yay for cousin time?

Hot, tired, and getting hungry, we began to make our way back to the ship. 

But not before taking a photo of the fort in the distance. 

The architecture was a feast for me on the way back. 

The bluish cobbled streets were so gorgeous! 

I started to get super light headed and struggled to see straight halfway back to the ship. Brian took my arm and helped me keep going. Ben really wanted to try some local cuisine while we were in port, and Brian really did too, so Michael helped me the rest of the way back to the ship, and Jenny helped lead Rachel and Gabe back as well. I went to the room and rested while the kids entertained themselves, most likely with some supervision by Jenny (or maybe they all went to Camp Ocean.) I'm not really sure since I was a bit out of commission. 

Here's some photos from Ben, Brian, and Tyler at lunch (dinner?): 

I think Brian had some regrets about what he picked, but he loved having all this time with Ben. I don't think we all went to dinner at the ship restaurant together that night, or maybe we all did end up arriving, but in a very staggered way. 

When I asked the kids what their favorite port of the trip was, after the whole cruise was over, Michael surprised me by saying Puerto Rico. It really is a beautiful city.