Visits and Travels

We had a great time with Jeremy and Wendy. They arrived on Thursday afternoon (3/9), and I picked them up from the airport and also found a great bakery en route (got bread for dinner). Ben worked both Thursday and Friday, putting in some of the longest days he has ever done since we got here. Having company during those two evenings was great! Saturday we went to Old San Juan, looked around, had lunch, etc. See our previous posts on this part of the city if you want to see what it looks like (if you click the link, you have to scroll down to find the pictures). Sunday was rest and worship, and Monday and Tuesday we headed to Culebra – a little island off the NE corner of, and governed by, Puerto Rico. Most nights we stayed up a little too late hanging out.

The beaches on Culebra island are like those you see in pictures of or movies set in the Carribean. The sand is white and beautiful, the beaches are flatter than most and so even big waves break gently, and there are few people anywhere. Even a long way from shore the water is crystal clear, and the fish and coral in the snorkeling areas are beautiful (well, mostly. Ben and Jeremy met a barracuda). We felt like we could spend a long time there. We had a great dinner together on Monday and had some tasty eats and good conversation. The fish platter pictured above was Ben’s red snapper (pictures coming later, hopefully).

And lest this seem a little too romantic, here’s the rest of the story: the ferry ride to Culebra – though extremely cheap – made all of us (except Mariah) sea sick; the girls took few naps and were a bit of mess; we had an enormous amount of stuff with us (2 pack’n’plays, a double stroller, suitcase, backpack, diaper bag, cooler, and bucket of sand toys); and though the hotel was clean and we had a fridge, it was lacking in basic hotel supplies (box springs, washcloths, shampoo, bar soap, etc. – but we knew from prior experience to expect this).

A great time and many memories were made by all!