Free day to check out Old San Juan

Today our focus was finding good coffee, then dialing in our rental bikes with the gear we brought, and finally exploring as much of Old San Juan as time allowed. In total we covered about 10 miles and rewarded ourselves with interesting sites, wonderful beverages, fun experiences and delicious foods.

Tim chatting up this statuesque woman. 

The colorful houses are all over Viejo San Juan. 

For me, the best part of visiting the San Juan National Historic Site- Castillo San Felipe del Morro was watching a group of students on a field trip roll down the hill in a race upon the teachers countdown. 

Feral cats have inhabited Old San Juan for centuries.  It is said that a mayor of San Juan in the mid 1500s brought them in to kill rats. “Save a Gato”  is now a nonprofit organization that has trapped, neuter and spayed cats of Old San Juan for near 20 years.

Cathedral Basílica Menor de San Juan Bautista

Our lunch was on this tiny  balcony overlooking a popular gathering spot for tourists/cruise ship groups. A great people watching location. 

There are plenty of chicken fending for themselves. 

We found the perfect place to give our feet a rest…. Cerveceria Callejon. This local brewery provided a flight of their 5 brews. 

Dinner included sangria, grouper ceviche and yuca mofongo stuffed with seafood. 

The perfect end to a full day was a scoop of gelato.  We knew it would be great based on the online popularity and the long line to place our order. 

Arrival in San Juan, Puerto Rico

It was a smooth but very long journey to Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. Walking out of the somewhat chilly airport, we were hugged by 85 degrees with humidity. 

After checking into our hotel, we met up with Robert owner of San Juan Bike Rentals. He made this tour possible by supplying us with  bikes that were meticulously maintained to make sure we were set for our 10 day self supported clockwise journey around the island of Puerto Rico.  It was fun finally meeting Robert after Tim had first contacted him nine months ago. He is of Puerto Rican descent from NYC and met his Puerto Rican wife while on vacation here.  Robert - like you, we are also glad you’re here and appreciate all your efforts to get us off to a great start. 

Upon recommendation from Our Uber driver, our first stop in old San Juan was Lupulo, a fun establishment with 50 taps and tasty apps. We enjoyed local beers and Puerto Rico‘s version of deep fried cheese curds. 

A random stroll around gave us a glimpse of the fun and colorful atmosphere of historic San Juan. The only prerequisite we had for the afternoon was finding a dining spot that included the drink that originated in Puerto Rico - the very tasty Pina colada! 

It just so happens that servers were trying to make room for an incoming large party. We offered to change tables to make things easier for them. For that reason we enjoyed a second piña colada with a cinnamon spice twist compliments of the staff. 

Since it was officially Fat Tuesday, we thought we would check out FAT TUESDAY bar on the way back to our hotel.  We were shocked that this establishment had very few people within.   It was time for us to turn in, so we also did not partake.

This crocheted masterpiece was suspended above a walkway. Very creative, colorful and impressive. 

Heading to Puerto Rico with a big smile 😁

Over the last two days we’ve been getting to know Abby, our Trusted House Sitter from Missouri. She was eager to be introduced to our pet family… including the bees, hen,  Lucy and our backyard friends. 

Abby ready to feed the hive with sugar water plus. 

Donkey and the herd welcoming Abby. 

Checking out the nature trail in Greenhorn Creek. 

Lucy has a new friend. See you again in 2 weeks!

Getting ready for a February 2026 cycling adventure circumnavigating Puerto Rico

We are planning our route, booking our stays and checking out the "must sees" of the coastal area of Puerto Rico. The planning stages are always exciting and a bit nerve wracking too.

Our greatest concern currently is how open our pooch Lucy will take to the house guest that will be caring for her and our home. Lucy is not one that willing nor quickly adapts to new people.

5/22/23 Free day in Portland, Maine

Of course our internal clocks still got us up and going by 6:00, but it felt very different knowing we had the flexibility to just lounge a little.  A list of “to do’s” to complete before exploring the town… with the priority being to pack up the bikes. 

It almost feels surreal that we started this journey on April 5th, peddled our bikes through 15 states, was blessed everyday with rideable weather conditions and saw so much along the way. We had 5 different home stays, only one being with someone we knew before the ride - Tim’s HS buddy that now lives in NY, one night  was Tim’s coworker’s sister in Miami and three were friends/ relatives of our Angels Camp friend - Bud.  Thanks Bud! 

This Gaia map shows each daily ride in a different color. (There are a couple spots the app didn’t work properly) 

After a nice, complementary hotel breakfast, we began the process of packing up… namely, locating our bike boxes and breaking down our bikes to box up. We were super lucky to use the hotel conference room for the task. Unfortunately, on both of our bikes the pedals were on so tight that our travel tools weren’t enough leverage to remove them. We jump on our bikes and road to the nearest open bike shop. 

At 11:11 we were finishing up the process. 

Once the boxes were taped up with appropriate shipping labels and our shuttle to the airport tomorrow morning at 4:15 AM was arranged,  we were ready to explore Portland by foot. 

We arrived at Austin Street Brewery where they had a farm to table food truck. We shared the special of the day.. and 2 small beers. 

Next we walked across the parking lot to Rising Tide Brewing Company. 

We saw a lot of diversity in the small section of Portland we explored. Seems there were homeless areas steps away from the Whole Foods market. 

We headed to Shipyard Brewery. By micro brewery standards. It’s an old one… established in 1994, almost 30 years ago! 

While there we also learned that Whoopie pies originated in Maine… so we had to try one! 

After wandering some more, in and out of shops and checking out the harbor we decided to have some New England seafood “chowdah”. To accompany the  delicious chowder bowl we also shared a short rib  poutine … very filling!  At that point… water was the perfect drink! 

6.8 miles of wandering and full bellies… it was time to call it a day.  Tomorrow’s alarm is set for 3:45 AM!  We’re excited to be homeward bound. 

 

5/21/23 Portsmouth, NH to Portland Maine

Our last day of cycling; cycling day #44.  It was exciting packing up and heading out today knowing it was our last time for the trip.  To sweeten the day, beautiful weather was in the forecast and we spent much of the day on quiet country roads and on bike trails. 

This photo is less than 2 miles from the hotel; the final state crossing. 

It was a day we decided to really enjoy and savor; smell the lilac and listen to the birds.  Tim has an app that identifies bird calls in real time.  

Maine is really beautiful, clean and friendly. For the most part, the yards are taken care of; annuals and perennials are blooming, large lawns/fields are mowed and we saw some vegetables gardens being planted. We had breakfast 20 miles into Maine at the Omelette Factory in Ogunquit. It is always fun eating at the bar and watching the nonstop action. 

In addition to country road we also enjoyed the designated bike routes: US1, Eastern Trail and the East Coast Greenway.

We have a running total of miles since Key West; prior to starting today our mileage was 2427. Today was supposedly to be 65 miles, leaving us 8 miles short of 2500. 🤫We decided to visit a couple breweries listed on Google Maps that were not far off the route. The first one was not a brewery, it just served Lone Pine Brews and it was along the shoreline with all the crazy tourist attractions/traps.  We decided to keep going. 

The second one may be place they brew beer, but it most definitely was not public establishment. For about 2 miles we were riding on a well used dirt multi purpose trail made on a former railway track. Tim proposed we find an alternate route so we wouldn’t have to ride through muddy areas (after yesterday’s downpour).  It was not pleasant on the busy roads, and we had to stop to navigate multiple times, climb additional hills…Long story short… we ended up returning to the designated bike path further down the line and found our way to Foul Mouthed Brewing in South Portland across the Casco Bay Bridge from our hotel.  Again we sat at the bar, chatted with locals and got a flight of their brews while munching on brisket nachos. The bartend provided the flight “on him” as a congratulations to us on the end of a successful journey. 

It almost sounds made up, but when we arrived at our hotel our daily miles was 72.66 miles… rounded to 73…. Making our entire journey 2500 miles! 

Thrilled to be done! We cleaned up and set out to explore the cool touristy area near our hotel. 

Visited Stars and Stripes Brewery, where we shared a flight and got recommendations for sites and tastes of Portland Maine. 

One recommendation was also the place with live  music and patio seating. Portland Lobster Company was a great spot for a Lobster Roll and a crab salad.

It was a wonderful day. Today’s stats: 73 miles, 2666’ feet of climbing, final state crossing, 2 breweries and  one happy couple excited to be done.