“We wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment.” – Hilaire Belloc
I’m truly getting old.
The winter of 2011 about did me in.
If it hadn’t been for my Winter in Manhattan Odyssey
I think I may have really gone a bit crazier than I already am. I have developed a fear, bordering on
irrational, of falling on ice and really hurting myself. As much as the thought of being laid up for
awhile, having to read all those great American, and other novels, and
continue on my own quest of writing, it is an economical unreality.
Never
had I felt the need for sun and sand as much as did last year. A couple of years ago during the last tough
winter we had I did escape our winter for a couple of long weekends, and I now
realize that made all the difference.
So, one of my dreams has always been to just go the airport, and get on
a plane, anywhere…Well, now that I’m a bit more set in my ways, but really
working hard to let go of the control issue, I modified a bit. I put myself on the standby list for flights
to Puerto Rico (thanks again JetBlue!), and started researching places to stay. That is one of the absolute best parts of the
internet. It is so easy to explore,
dream, and plan travel. I use so many
different places in my exploration, but my first go-tos are www.frommers.com (when I buy travel books I head to them first
and I had subscribed to their Budget Travel magazine for years), so I
also go to www.budgettravel.com, and www.tripadvisor.com.
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| Andalucia Guest House |
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| The Courtyard @ Andalucia |
I found
my way to Andalucia Guest House. I
didn’t want to spend a lot of money, and I like the smaller inns and guest
houses in most areas. It got great
reviews on TripAdvisor, and the area sounded good. It was a great choice. I flew down on the red-eye after work on a
Thursday. After an extraordinarily long day, I easily got
a cab as not many people were around at 5 in the morning. I finally arrived @ Andalucia Guest House and
found my room (Emeo had left the keys in a mailbox for me), my room had the air
conditioning set to a comfortable level, and a soft light on. Wonderfully welcoming!
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| Kasalta |
I woke the next morning at around 10 feeling drugged. Made my way out to the front where Emeo was
waiting with a smile. He gave me a great
detailed map of the area that he and Estaban, his Partner, have put together of
the neighborhood, including recommendations on restaurants, etc, and then directed
me down the street to a diner, Kasalta, that has been in the neighborhood for
over 30 years. He kindly understood I
needed some coffee and food before I could be coherent. When I came back after a lovely cup of coffee
(albeit a small one), and a piece of guava pastille, I was ready to be
communicative. I finished the check-in
process, and we chatted a bit.
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| Ocean Park Beach |
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| Ocean Park Beach |
Emeo
gave me the lay of the land, showed me where things were including beach
towels, chairs, Boogie boards, and sand toys included. I then lathered on sunscreen, packed up my
beach bag, and walked the two blocks, through a suburban type neighborhood in
one of the busiest cities in the Caribbean.
The beach was lovely, almost deserted, with the gorgeous aquamarine
water and gentle waves rolling into shore that only the Caribbean can
deliver. I sat myself under a palm tree,
day dreamed, read, and was blissful.
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