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I decided to go to Puerto Rico for
my next big birthday, 72. Last year I went to Panama for my 71st
birthday and one year I celebrated my birthday
in Cambodia, once in
Hawaii, once in New Orleans and another
time in Washington D.C. Check out the photos of me on my 'special'
birthdays!
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A Point of
Interest: Since I am interested
in
astronomy, the one place I would love to visit is the largest radio
telescope in the world, the Arecibo telescope built into a natural
depression in the ground. Check out some facts about the
Arecibo Observatory
in Puerto Rico!
Overview of
Puerto Rico:
Populated for centuries by
aboriginal peoples, the island was claimed by the Spanish Crown in 1493
following Columbus' second voyage to the Americas.
In 1898, after 400 years of
colonial rule that saw the indigenous
population nearly exterminated and African slave labor introduced, Puerto Rico
was ceded to the US as a result of the Spanish-American War. Puerto Ricans were
granted US citizenship in 1917.
Popularly-elected governors have
served since 1948. In 1952, a constitution was enacted providing for internal
self government.
In plebiscites held in 1967, 1993,
and 1998, voters chose not to alter the existing political status.
Also
check out this link to view the overview of the
Capital - San Juan.
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Itinerary
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Fast
Deals -
R285465 Receipt
Number: 384747
Price Includes: 1 Room and 1 air tickets
Resort:
Sheraton Puerto Rico Hotel & Casino
Location: Puerto Rico/San Juan
Depart: February 2, 2012
Check In: February 2, 2012
Check Out: February 8, 2012
Adults: 1 Kids: 0
Room Description: Traditional City View
Please call
800-998-6925 to call an agent. |
Sheraton Puerto Rico Hotel & Casino - 4
Star
10 minutes from airport
Superbly situated amidst the Puerto Rico
Convention Center District facing the Bay of San Juan, the Sheraton
Puerto Rico Hotel & Casino
is a truly remarkable landmark in the district. The hotel is just 10
minutes from the international airport and five minutes from historic
Old San Juan. The Convention Center is immediately adjacent and the San
Juan Marin a is easily accessible as well.
This town has something for all ages. A must-see is the impressive
Spanish fort El Morro located on the north side of the islet. Old
San Juan itself consists of narrow streets encompassing over four
hundred years of history and tradition—and Sheraton Puerto Rico
Hotel & Casino is just five minutes from this exciting historic
section. Dine in one of the celebrated establishments on Fortaleza
Street, party in San Sebastián until dawn, or simply stroll along
the charming, storied avenues and thoroughfares. As in Europe, a
local tradition in Old San Juan is to people-watch, and there is no
better place to indulge in this activity than from one of the
several plazas that are located throughout the city.
Plan your event in paradise! The outstanding conference center offers
over 35,000 square feet of flexible meeting space for up to 1,800
meeting attendees, business colleagues, or close friends and family. A
lavish 57,000-square foot outdoor sundeck is four stories high and
adorned with tropical landscaping, charming cabanas, and complemented by
a large infinity swimming pool and an al fresco planned function area.
The new, eclectic guest rooms are designed for your comfort and
convenience. For an additional level of comfort, the exclusive Club
Lounge offers special services and amenities to please the most
discerning traveler. The Link@Sheraton experience with Microsoft will
keep you connected to what’s important and the business center will keep
you connected to the office even when you’re miles away.
With several great dining options, an exciting lobby bar and lounge, a
pulsating casino with 448 slots and 16 table games, and a first class
spa and fitness studio, there are plenty of onsite activities to keep
you busy. Fabulous shopping abounds, with name brand shops and charming
boutiques right in the complex.
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02.02.2012 |
| San Francisco, CA (SFO)
- Terminal 2 - OPQJCK
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2/2/12
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10:30am |
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2/2/12 |
3:55 |
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American |
1536 |
| Dallas TX - OPQJCK |
2/2/12
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4:45pm |
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San Juan, PR (SJU)
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2/2/12 |
11.10pm |
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American |
606 |
Sheraton Puerto Rico Hotel & Casino Caribbean - 200
Convention Boulevard |
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10:30
A.M. American Flight from San Francisco International Airport to Huston. |
I left
the house early this Thursday Morning and when I got to the BART (Subway
System), the train was just pulling in so I got on and off to the
airport! My flight was at 10:30 A.M. and we boarded the plane on
time! I settled town and after ten minutes the plane was
completely filled, over 200 people and lots of luggage. I was
almost in the last row so not too happy as there was only an hour
between flights at the Huston Airport and it was going to take time to
get off the plane. Suddenly the captain said there was
maintenance problems and we sat there and he said, it will take 15 more
minutes.
Then
he said 15 minutes more and then 15 minutes more and then an hour had
gone by. Then he said it would take 15 minutes to get the paper
work in order. Just great!
So we
were flying into Houston and the captain said many of us probably missed
our flights. I was not amused. One good thing, a cabin
personnel came around with an I-Pad and told me to get off the plane,
rush over a block turning left to the escalators up to the air tram that
ran around the airport and get off at D21, Houston is very large, spread
out all over. She said the plane coming in was late and I had 25
minutes to get there. Well we landed and it took forever to get
off the plane, people screwed around forever. I finally yelled out
in my very nice voice, Move It! Well it didn't work and everyone
laughed.
So off
the plane and ran to the Air Tram. Can you believe it.
It stopped at A-22 to 39, then B-22 to 39, then to B-01 to 21 and on to
C and D, it took seven stops to get there. I dragged my bag down
the escalator and was the last one on the plane. Phew!
I was happy.
We sat
there for ten minutes and can you believe it, the captain said they had
maintenance problems and were sorry about the delay. I was happy
as I made it to the flight.
The
man next to me said he worked for a company in San Juan, reusing old
tires. Ground them up for road paving, fixed up for play ground
swings and so on. Someone heard him and laughed as the captain
said they were having problems with the tires. He suggested the
man next to me get out and kick the tires
We
took off after an hour and only got in about an hour late so I got to
the Sheraton San Juan and Casino Hotel around 1:00 A.M. Time
to check in and get my suitcase opened and then get in bed for a first
full day on Friday.
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02.03.2012 |
Setup my tours to the caves and the Arecibo Observatory
and the Rain Forest tour at nine a.m. the first morning I was there.
Then I caught a bus and down
to Old San Juan and met two couples and we had lunch at a local
restaurant and then I toured the first fort. We took the free
shuttle around the peninsula and couldn't find the restaurant.
It was on San Francisco Boulevard and we finally got off the shuttle and
asked a local. We were about four blocks away but had an enjoyable
walk up a steep street to the restaurant. There we had pork
sandwiches, French Fries and coffee, about $11.00.
Then I decided to go tour the first fort and found out
of all things, Queen Elizabeth the First sent Drake to Puerto Rico to
try and steal it from the Spanish. He failed and ended up getting
sick and died on the ship after it left Puerto Rico. The Dutch
also tried to take Puerto Rico from the Spanish but that failed also. |
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A tour around the town.
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Condos
starting at $300,000.00. |
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Beautiful Hotels on the Private Beaches |
Restaurants on almost every street. |
Beautiful Streets and Plants |
Apartment along the Ocean Drive. |
Steepcobble stone streets down to the shore - a cruise ship in the distance. |
Beautiful buildings - Art |
Greek style buildings |
Very loud Puerto Rican music on the public square. |
Horse and Carriage rides around Old San Juan. |
A Famous Restaurant ~ Bombonera
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We
finally found the San Francisco Boulevard. |
A
famous local restaurant. |
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Enjoying the local coffee and a pork sandwich! |
As you
can see, lots of local patrons. |
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Touring Caves and the Observatory - Birthday Dinner
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02.04.2012 |
Today I toured the caves and observatory with three
others. Two men from Florida, partners, and a young man from northern Mexico,
working for a pharmaceutical company.
We had a great time and had a lot of laughs and spent the day touring
the western part of Puerto Rico for about five hours.
That evening the hotel gave me a bottle
of red wine in my room to celebrate my birthday. I had dinner in the
restaurant with wine and desert. A great way to spend the day. |
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Parque Las Cavernas Del Rio Camuy
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Our
colorful tram to the caves. |
Chuck
and two new friends, one from Mexico and one from Florida! |
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Entering the cave. |
This
tree is growing upside down! |
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Roots
dropping down over 40 feet from a roof cave in! |
Mineral waters creating the formations. |
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When
this river floods the entire caves are flooded and sections carved out. |
Chuck
at one of the collapsed sections of the ceiling. |
| Space. |
The Arecibo Radop Telescope Observatory
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Arecibo Observatory |
This
screen is one of the 38,778 aluminum panels in the dish! |
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Massive equipment floating over the dish, the equipment inside can be
rotated to access radio waves from differing locations. |
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The
cone holds two dishes and a multitude of electrical equipment to analyze
the radio waves bounced off of objects. |
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Chuck
after seeing the Mars Meteorite in the observatory museum. |
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30
story towers to hold up the instruments over the dish! |
Florida friends and in the back a Northern Mexico friend and me! |
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02.05.2012 |
Today was the rain forest, a five hour tour. The
best thing I saw was the smallest orchid in the world. The
size of your little finger nail!
If you have toured the rain forests in Costa Rica and
Vietnam and so on, and especially the Amazon River at flood stage in
western Brazil and eastern Peru, you have seen the jungle. |
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About
an hour or so from San Juan. |
Chuck
with the heavy mist over the mountains. |
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Great
views to the ocean. |
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Lots
of fern trees and other plants, bananas, ginger and so on. |
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The
worlds smallest orchid, looks like a leaf! |
Water
flow depends on the amount of rain on the mountain tops. |
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Touring the Forts and Dinner and More Wine from the Hotel!
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02.06.2012 |
Today I toured the fort at the end of the peninsula.
Just as I was finishing the rain came down in buckets for half an hour
but then the sun came out and it was great. Walked round the
streets and shots and found a great coffee shop by the cruise ship
terminals.
Tonight I had dinner with the man from Mexico, he
works for a pharmaceutical company located in Puerto Rico and is flying
back and forth a few times a year on business. The server heard it
was my birthday so I got a nice piece of cheese cake to celebrate.
And later a hotel employee came to my room and I had
to laugh, another bottle of red wine. He said it was for my
birthday again but I said could I have Chardonnay instead of red wine.
He said of course you can! So I ended up with two bottles of wine! |
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Touring the Forts
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Old
San Juan and the ocean in the distance. |
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Steep
Walls protecting the citadel. |
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Steep
Steps to the top of the Fort |
Views
of the Fort. |
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Living
and Storage Rooms |
View
to the tip of the Pennisula. |
Celebrating my Birthday Dinner at Eight!
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Sheraton San Juan & Casino |
Nice
rooms and views. |
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Chardonnay compliments of the Sheraton! |
First
day a bottle of red, second day a bottle of white! |
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Cocktail Lounge by the lobby! |
Second
dinner on the Sheraton with Cheese Cake for my birthday! |
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Touring the Bacardi Factory & the MS Bounty
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02.07.2012 |
Today went to the Bacardi Factory for a
tour. I met a couple at Terminal 2 for the ferry to the other side
of the bay. The cost of the ferry was 50 cents!
We had a great guide and found out they pay 245
million dollars in taxes a year. They started out in Cuba but were
kicked out in the 1960s and move to Puerto Rico. The bat is their
emblem. When Bacardi first started his business they rented a
warehouse and he and his wife went in and bats flew out. Bats are
a good omen and his wife suggested they use the bat as their emblem.
In the afternoon I went to view the HMS Bounty, built
in 1962 for the movie Mutiny on the Bounty starring Marlon Brando.
The ship was sailed to Tahiti and then back to Puerto Rico. It is
1/3 larger than the original. So the ship was actually very
small. |
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Bacardi Factory Tour
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50
Cents! The Catano Ferry from Terminal 2, Old San Juan |
Beautiful grounds - A banyan tree! |
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Entrance to the factory. |
One
of the many buildings to manufacture the rum. |
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The
bat represents the Bacardi Rum emblem. |
Used
Whiskey barrels are used to ferment the rum. |
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Nice
out door location for lunch and TWO Free Rum drinks! |
Coconut Rum! |
HMS Bounty Tour
This
replica of the HMS Bounty was built in 1962 and sailed to Tahiti for the
film Mutiny on the Bounty starring Marlon
Brando. It is 1/3 larger than the original so one can see how
really small the original ship was and how dangerous it was to sail
across the oceans.
On the main deck. |
Ready to Sail! |
It was easy to compare the sizes of the two ships. This is the Holland American Line - the Eurodam. |
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Coffee Shop on the last Morning!
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02.08.2012 |
Today I shopped and went to the Post Office to mail 24
post cards. I ended up
walking all over Old San Juan and went to my favorite coffee shop on the shore.
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A
great coffee shop by Terminal 2, next to the HMS |
Chuck
and his latte! |
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Huge
cruise ships docked next to the coffee shop. |
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Flying Back to San Francisco
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I finally got back to the hotel around
two p.m. and off to the airport for a 5:30 p.m. take off and then home.
Everything was fine until I got to San Francisco around
11:30 p.m. and some of us ran to BART but it left three minutes early so
I had to take a cab home. I got home around 1:00 a.m. and took out the
contents of the suitcase and finally went to bed around 2:00 a.m.
Tired but a great trip where I saw everything I wanted and also met so
many nice people.
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San Juan PR (SJU) |
2/8/12 5:30 pm - Miami FL (MIA) |
2/8/12 7:30 pm - American 2202 |
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Miami FL (MIA) |
2/8/12 8:25 pm - San Francisco CA (SFO) |
2/8/12 11:35 pm - American 2202 |
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Created on: 2012.01.15
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Updated on: 2020.09.07 |
