by Chris Conner

Created on: November 05, 2008

If you want to experience the thrill of the Caribbean without the need for a passport, Puerto Rico is a great place to go. Turquoise tropical water, lush green rainforests, mammoth forts and great food are all within a few hours' flight from the east coast.

To explore a large island like Puerto Rico it is good to get a rental car. I do not recommend this for the faint of heart. To me, driving here is like navigating the roads in New York or Mexico where lanes are optional, motorists seem to be crazy, and cat like reflexes are helpful.

What made me decide to do this was the fact I bought a Garmin GPS a few months ago and discovered beforehand that Puerto Rico was in the database. In less than two days I was driving like a native while a soothing female British voice told me things like, "In point nine miles, turn left." My wife nicknamed her "Carmin" and acknowledged that she is a worthy mistress.

This wasn't one of those rare magical trips where everything is perfect; although the good points outweighed the bad. The first not so good part was the hotel. Recently I went to Tucson and stayed at a Marriott resort. I was blown away with the subdued luxury and great service. In Puerto Rico I found the Marriott to be lackluster and "average." The hotel was nice, but a little dingy and I was upset when I found out that, in addition to the rate for the room, I had to pay $16 a day to park. I was pleased with the pool, which was very nice. The beach was a few steps from the pool and the soft sand stretched out far enough to where it was pleasant to enjoy a nice long walk and get one's toes wet as the surf broke onto shore.

Food here leans toward American/Mexican with a bit of Caribbean mixed in for flavor. The first night I tried Chorizo (sausage) and Mofongo con camarones. Mofongo is a plantain that's mashed up and cooked. This particular recipe had the Mofongo shaped into a bowl with shrimp, onions, peppers and more rising out of the middle. I wasn't impressed with the entre, but the Chorizo and the dessert, Tres Leches cake, made up the difference.

On our first full day we slept in for a while to get over the travel lag from the previous day. It was overcast and rainy so we bought some rain coats and went to Old San Juan to walk around that afternoon. Our first stop was the Castillo San Cristobal. We meandered up to the ramparts of the fort that overlooked the city. From there we watched a cruise ship come into port (the only one we saw the five days we were in PR).

My

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