The Photoshoot

After a good night’s rest following a long day of traveling, we woke up to get ready for a photoshoot that my wife arranged prior to our trip. It was a good treat for photos to be taken of her, considering that she’s always taking photos of us and others.

Unfortunately, our photoshoot was delayed due to a sudden downpour. Also, traffic was affected in the area of El Convento because of what turned out to be an ongoing strike by power line workers due to unsafe working conditions. Not too far, there was a tent with people underneath and surrounded by wooden crosses with names written on them. There was some police presence but nothing that made me nervous.

We met our photographer, Kahlil Ali (Instagram), in El Convento’s lobby, which is where some of our first photos were taken. After taking some shots around the hotel, we moved on to a few other locations. One of the reasons that my wife picked him is so that he would show us around Old San Juan (Viejo San Juan), which could give us ideas of places to go and things to do.

As we walked from the hotel, we came close to where the striking line workers were. Near the tent, I could see a big black SUV parked and a man with an earpiece exited it. As I quietly observed, I saw an arm holding a discarded banana peel reach out. As a gray haired gentleman exited the vehicle and started walking, my wife approached him. I thought nothing of it because, back home, my wife knows a lot of people. It’s not unusual for me that she’ll run into someone, while we’re out. I didn’t pay too much attention, as I was focusing on guiding our son to the next location. From where we were, the gentleman and the bodyguard ducked into one of the nearby businesses.

As we walked, I asked my wife, “So who was that that you were talking to?”

She answered me, “Lin-Manuel’s dad.” Ding, ding, ding. The bells started ringing and I recognized him. In case that you know who Lin-Manuel is, I’m referring to Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creator of Hamilton. I became a fan years ago, when an earlier musical, In The Heights, came through Detroit and I had the opportunity to interview some of the actors. I saw him guest-star in a few episodes of House. Afterwards, I became familiar with his other work, primarily Hamilton and writing music for Moana.

My wife asked Lin-Manuel’s dad if he was in town. He was but was not with his father. I remember hearing about the Mirandas’ Puerto Rican roots. In interviews, I remember him mentioning visiting family and he did a lot of fundraising following Hurricane Maria. Also, I remember my wife telling me about a series of videos that Lin-Manuel did for Discover Puerto Rico showcasing some of his favorite locations.

From here, we made our way southwards and pausing to stop to take photos. We went to Parque Las Palomas, a cobblestone plaza that had a park dedicated to pigeons. Unfortunately, the entrance was closed, but we stopped to take a few photos.

In all, our photoshoot took about two hours, where Kahlil took some great photos that were provided later that night. If you’re able to book him in San Juan, I would highly recommend him.

Something interesting that I noticed, while we making our way through the photoshoot was the remaining graffiti from the unrest prior to the resignation of the former Puerto Rican governor, Ricardo Antonio Rosselló. On buildings or on the street, I saw messages along the lines of “Ricky reununcia” (Resign Ricky). I walked by a building and saw someone applying what seemed like white primer to an exterior wall. From seeing the numerous graffiti, I couldn’t even imagine what it would have been like when the protests were actually going on.

Gift Boxed Paleta

Before this trip, we did some research on places in San Juan to check out. One of them that we discovered, I think on YouTube was Señor Paleta. When I saw it, I was reminded of the paleterias that I visited with my family in Mexico. For those of you not in the know, paletas are popsicles but made out of the actual ingredients and not juice or flavoring. When eating a strawberry paleta, there are chunks of strawberry. If eating a coconut one, you can taste the cream and feel the shreds of coconuts. The ingredients and the resulting quality results in a savory, rich flavor.

When the great employees gave my son and I our paletas, I noticed that each one had what I would describe as a box tray underneath. When I saw this, I thought that it was genius, particularly when dealing with 5 year old eating a paleta in moist, tropical heat. Compared with the mess that I would, typically, expect from a popsicle, the box trays really minimized the mess on my son’s hands.

Mallorcas

After having the paletas, we ate breakfast at a location from our first trip, Cafeteria Mallorca. Per Lonely Planet, their specialty, mallorcas, originate from the island of Mallorca. The breakfast pastry that is dusted with powdered sugar can be sweet or a ham-and-cheese combination sandwich. I had a ham, cheese and bacon mallorca, while my wife had one that I think was just ham and cheese. I loved that mallorcas didn’t have too much bread because I detest eating a sandwich and having to get through a ton of bread to hit the main ingredients. Their café con leche was amazingly on point: the milk had a creamy flavor and the coffee itself had a smooth flavor.

If You Like Piña Coladas

When we plan our trips, my wife and I ask each other where we want to go and what we want to do. One of the places at the top of my wife’s list was Barrachina Restaurant. This is place is credited as the birthplace of the piña coladas by Don Ramon Portas Mingot in 1963. Barrachina came to our attention, when we watched an old episode of Anthony Bourdain’s first TV show, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, when he went to Puerto Rico.

The drinks didn’t disappoint. When my wife’s piña colada came, it met all of her expectations, as I heard not one negative comment. I’m not a huge fan of fruity drinks, so I ended up ordering a cuba libre (rum and coke), which was very well balanced and not excessively strong.

Conclusion

All in all, this day had us on quite the adventure from having eating flavorful paletas and hardy mallorcas to indulging in some satisfying tropical drinks at the birthplace of the piña colada. Lastly worth mentioning taking in the sites, while going on a family photoshoot. This definitely made for a full first day in Viejo San Juan.