Since our next Oldest Taverns odyssey isn’t on tap for a few more months, we headed off to Puerto Rico in January for a little warmth and r&r. Accompanied by our friends, Barb and Vern, we spent a long weekend visiting Yolie’s family; checking out the annual San Sebastián Festival; and revisiting some of our favorite spots on the Isle of Enchantment. Fully covering what we got into over the Wednesday to Monday visit would take way too many words for this blog. For brevity sake, I’ll just stick to sharing some highlights to hopefully help guide your next visit there.
The San Sebastián Festival, held this year in Old San Juan (16-19 January), was a blast. Puerto Rico’s biggest festival attracts hundreds of thousands of attendees with its live music performances, artists and artisans, and dancing, drinking, and eating in the colorful streets. Before going to the festival we went to the western part of the island to spend some quality time with Yolie’s family in San German. It’s always a good time in the quaint town. It’s rumored that the women of San German have Puerto Rico’s prettiest legs…mainly due to the town’s abundance of steep hills. It is also the home of Porta Coeli, Puerto Rico’s oldest church and one of the earliest Spanish churches built in the Americas. Another favorite San German “landmark” of ours is La Chucha Del Flaco Sports Bar. We were there the day the bar opened its door in 2015, and we make a pilgrimage there every time we are on the island. We’re so pleased to see how Jonathan has grown and evolved the bar over the years. If you’re in the area you must stop in for a cold Medalla beer, or a coke with Don Q rum (Caution - if you ask for Bacardi Jonathan may not have it, as seen in the photo below, and he’ll surely know you’re a tourist :-)
After San German we met up with Barb and Vern to check out the Festival along with Puerto Rico’s attractions, and of course, watering holes. We made three separate trips to Pinones, a picturesque ocean drive just a few minutes from the San Juan airport. The drive is lined with snack shacks and bars called chinchorros. There, we caught up with our friends from Maryland, Pete and Cheryl, the day we arrived. A couple days later we also met up with our good friend, Brian, who qualifies as a local. Last but not least, we had to check out the Pinones vibe at night with Barb and Vern. We had a blast with them all while sampling the local cuisine: octopus, tostones, empanadas, carnitas, pinchos, bacaladitos, and much much more! And rest assured, the great company, snappy conversation, and delicious food naturally was accompanied by loads of ice cold beverages.
During the long weekend we paid a visit to El Yunque, the only tropical rainforest in the United States Forest Service. I haven’t figured out how, but our friend Dave, who really is an island native, found us walking an El Yunque hiking trail and delivered a bag of local yummies. After finishing our hike we caught up with Dave over some grub and brewskis. Besides the rainforest, we also went to Ponce’s main square, my favorite spot in Puerto Rico. The square is a great place to hear a concert, see antique autos, eat some amazing pinchos, visit the old firehouse museum, go to church or the casino., or just watch the world go by. Unfortunately, the only low point of the trip happened in Ponce’s casino where we witnessed my beloved Ravens come up short against the Bills :-(
We had lots of great times socializing in the island’s many bars, taverns, and dives. All the locals were welcoming and the bar tenders were excellent. We just wanted to give a special shout out to Gleniarys and Edith from the Papa Rupre Brewing Company in Ponce. They were so sweet and hospitable that they stood out from all the other bar keeps. We only wished to have had more time to spend with them. That’s all for now, we hope you get to spend some quality time, too, enjoying the Isle of Enchantment in the future.
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