March 30 – Viejo San Juan.

Sunday, March 30.

We headed out to visit Old San Juan this morning.  Caught a bus right outside our hotel.  The old town is a beautiful place to see.  Here are some of the sights….

A guard turret in the old wall — called a garita.

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A view looking out at the sea from one of the garitas. 20140330-125342.jpg

The colorful building facades:

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A view of the stunning Castillo de San Felipe del Morro, built in the early 16th century.

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We went back to the hotel in the afternoon to meet up with Susanne and Laura.   Then we all went back to Old San Juan.    We ate dinner at a restaurant Irene recommended – El Jibarito, and I recommend it, too!  Great home cooked Puerto Rican dishes.  They also make a yummy sangria.

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March 29 – Road trip!

We’re on our way to the Caribbean for a sailing vacay!  Our flight itinerary takes us there via Puerto Rico.   We’ve decided to stay 2 nights in San Juan, since we never visited there before.  We won’t have (and don’t want!) internet connectivity while we’re away, so I’m drafting these blog entries as I go along, and am posting them in order, after I get back.

Saturday, March 29.

We are leaving on a beautiful day in Austin.  Here’s a great shot from the plane showing Lady Bird Lake, Zilker Park, the booming downtown skyline, the 40 acres, Longhorn stadium, UT tower, Erwin Center, the Capitol, Disch-Falk field, … What else can you spot?

20140329-115220.jpgAfter arriving in San Juan and checking into the hotel, we took a walk around the neighborhood.  We stopped into a pub nearby and I found one of my favorite brewskis from my misspent awesome youth!

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Our crew, Susanne and Laura, arrive in San Juan tomorrow!

Oh, hail.

A thunderstorm blew by us to the north this afternoon. The wind whipped up and dropped a bunch of leaves from the live oaks in the yard. All we got was small hail. While I’d love an endless downpour, I’m glad we didn’t get skylight-breaking hail (again ).

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Thirsty Thursday.

Cheers!

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And, some daiquiri humor:

One doctor always stopped at a local bar after work for a hazelnut daiquiri – a special drink the bartender created just for him. One day, the bartender ran out of hazelnut flavor so he substituted hickory nuts instead.
The doctor took one sip of the drink and exclaimed, ‘This isn’t a hazelnut daiquiri!’
‘No, I’m sorry’, replied the bartender, ‘it’s a hickory daiquiri, doc.’

A chair with a view.

Ahhhhhhhhhh. I treated myself to an overdue pedicure today after work.
Niiiice.

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Yep. Tulips.

From a week or so ago, but I didn’t get a chance to post.

Tulips. AND they’re orange. Sweet.

Is it spring yet?

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St. Paddy’s Day selfie.

🙂
May your week be a short one.
May your weekend come soon.
May your friends and your loved ones help you carry the tune!

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Bonnets of blue.

The wildflower patch out back didn’t yield much last year.   This year we have a few patches of bluebonnets.   They’ve started to show their beautiful colors.IMG_3027

Oh, and Happy St. Patrick’s day!

Birthday!

We enjoyed a nice night on the boat last night, and spent a leisurely morning at anchor.   We were back home in time for me to bake a cake for the birthday boy.    And, taking liberties with being the big kids that we are, that’s what we had for dinner!  #notgonnagrowup

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Last winter Saturday sunset.

It’s been a long time since my last post here. Too long.
Today we headed to the lake with Julie and Zach. We sailed up river and after a while headed backdown to Arky. We even saw blue skies. We watched the full moon rise through clearing skies. We played rummikub and grilled up some delicious steaks and then played iPod wars till the night wore on.
Summer soon come!

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Polar vortex strikes again.

While we were driving home last night from Louisiana we watched the temperature drop from the 70s to the 40s in a matter of minutes. By the time we got home it was freezing in our neighborhood. Spring is only 17 days away, but it’s a tad chilly here!

Tonight I joined Doray, Laura, Irene and Ann for dinner to celebrate Lori’s birthday. Back home in time to wait for the rain and sleet to come in from the west. I hope it lingers over the lake.

An interesting chandelier from Justine’s tonight:

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The road home.

What a party!   John and Debbie were awesome hosts for the ball last night.   Dancing and merry making ensued til the wee hours.    Today we’re headed for home.   But first we drove around town one more time.

This is a shot of the lovely cathedral downtown: IMG_2927

One of the trees along the parade route, be-decked with beads:

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We met Asha & Shekhar, Maxia & Ralph, and Patrick and Rita for brunch at Blue Dog Cafe.   The food was absolutely DElicious.  If you are anywhere near Lafayette you should stop in for a bite.   The place is lined with artwork from George Rodrigue, a native of these parts, and who also co-owned the cafe until he passed away last year.   I took a shot of one of his many works in the cafe:

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We made it back home tonight, and were greeted by temperatures in the 20s!  Brrrrr.

On the drive home today I saw that the bluebonnets are already in bloom along Highway 71 (!)   Early, but hopefully a good year for them.

More later!

We’re having a ball.

We had a gruelling Saturday: breakfast at Poupart’s bakery, driving around seeing the sights and (for me) reminiscing; poboys for lunch at Old Tyme Grocery – the world’s best poboys by the way; another parade (and more beads) this afternoon; then off to get showered/shampooed/shined so that we can get dressed up to attend the Krewe of Triton Mardi Gras Ball!

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Road trip.

We’re goin’ to see the Mardi Gras!

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Got my swamp-fix.

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Yummmm, mudbugs for dinner!

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I love a parade!

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Our bead-haul from tonight’s parade.

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