Saturday, May 05, 2007
Me Gustan Los Chicos
Yes, Puerto Rico was fun. But was there ever any question it would be?
We flew down on Friday aboard Spirit Airlines, thanks to a tip from Ethan. Since I am a cheap bastard, I am all about the low cost carriers. Pity they don't fly to NYC. Or Singapore. Or Barcelona. But hey, they do go all over the Caribbean, and that's nice.
Anyway, we got down there around 2pm and it was gorgeous. A few little clouds, a light breeze, and it was basically like that the whole time we were there until we were headed to the airport and it started raining. There was a little drizzling during our 3 days but that and the breeze kept things from getting too hot, so really, it was just about perfect.
Our suite wasn't ready until 4 so we had a quick bite at the pool bar. It turns out our hotel is where the pina colada was invented, so I had to have one with lunch, and a few more during the weekend, you know, just because it's the polite thing to do. Once we got checked in we ran downstairs to the pool where I greased myself up with 45 SPF sunscreen, which was to be my friend during the weekend (Adrian adds to his naturally dark skin nicely, but I go right from "extraordinarily white boy" to "pre-cancerous lobster red" without stopping at "tan," so I need a little extra protection). The swim up pool bar was a nice touch for our trip.
We'd gotten up before 5am to catch our flight, so we took a little power nap, then got a little something to eat, then took a somewhat longer power nap, then...well, then we realized we don't have to prove anything to anyone by going out clubbing on Friday night, so instead we rolled over and got a really good night's sleep. Saturday was spent by the pool and on the beach, then we went into Old San Juan for a great dinner. The restaurant was known for its ceviches so we got their "sampler," which was a collection of their 6 versions, along with some fresh oyesters, and of course, a couple mojitos, since if all you drink is pina coladas they might lose their appeal after a while (truthfulness disclaimer: Adrian quit drinking a few months ago, but I managed to convince him to have a mojito and a pina colada during the weekend -- I'm such an enabler).
Later we went out to a club and learned a bit about San Juan's gay culture. For instance, we learned that people don't really go out dancing until after 12:30 or so, even though we were there before 11:30. Silly people. It also seemed that most men don't come out of the closet until they're at least 35...there were some young'uns, yes, but the crowd was a little older than we see in Dc (of course, there's another big club n town, maybe the younger men were there?). Lastly, when they have a stripper show, they go all out. The theme was "Super Heroes" and the dancers came out in thongs, capes...and body paint. Yes, Superman, batman, and Wonder (Wo)man, with the costumes all done in paint. And they looked GOOD. The costimes, that is, more so than the strippers. Superman was porn-star/model hot, and we agreed we would do him if the opportunity arose. It didn't, but later when he was dancing on the bar and I went to give him a dollar he DID bounce his balls on my forehead. Nice. And then he gave me a kiss and caressed my cheek, after which Adrian reported I had blue paint on my face. Dammit.
Sunday was another day of pool and beach. Early evening we went to another bar, this one an outdoor place on the beach in the lobby of a gay hotel where we almost stayed until we read online reviews (shudder). Seemed nice enough, but as with the club the night before, no one talked to us, so after a while we went off for another great dinner and headed back to the hotel.
I should mention that it's OK we didn't stay at the gay hotel because ours was gay enough. There was one group of 5 guys in their 20s, not sure if they were gay but if not, they should be. There were some other couples and small groups of friends, all older than us. One guy seemed particularly taken with Adrian, and I'll never forget waiting for an elevator and him saying, "mmmm, I smell something I want to eat." We were near a restaurant, so MAYBE that's what he meant, but I don't know...
Adrian also had a 3-year old walk by and smack him on the ass. Not sure what that was all about.
Monday I floated around the lagoon and figured out that when it comes to my job, it's time to not gve a damn anymore. That's helpful. Thank goodness for the wisdom of the ocean and lagoons and stuff. We laid around, then cleaned up, then headed for the airport where the flight was late coming in and getting out, so we missed the flight to DC and had the airport put us up in a nice hotel in Fort Lauderdale. And despite my initial frustration, I really didn't mind missing another day at the office. Plus we had a cool waitress for dinner.
Bottom line: go visit Puerto Rico, it's nice.
We flew down on Friday aboard Spirit Airlines, thanks to a tip from Ethan. Since I am a cheap bastard, I am all about the low cost carriers. Pity they don't fly to NYC. Or Singapore. Or Barcelona. But hey, they do go all over the Caribbean, and that's nice.
Anyway, we got down there around 2pm and it was gorgeous. A few little clouds, a light breeze, and it was basically like that the whole time we were there until we were headed to the airport and it started raining. There was a little drizzling during our 3 days but that and the breeze kept things from getting too hot, so really, it was just about perfect.
Our suite wasn't ready until 4 so we had a quick bite at the pool bar. It turns out our hotel is where the pina colada was invented, so I had to have one with lunch, and a few more during the weekend, you know, just because it's the polite thing to do. Once we got checked in we ran downstairs to the pool where I greased myself up with 45 SPF sunscreen, which was to be my friend during the weekend (Adrian adds to his naturally dark skin nicely, but I go right from "extraordinarily white boy" to "pre-cancerous lobster red" without stopping at "tan," so I need a little extra protection). The swim up pool bar was a nice touch for our trip.
We'd gotten up before 5am to catch our flight, so we took a little power nap, then got a little something to eat, then took a somewhat longer power nap, then...well, then we realized we don't have to prove anything to anyone by going out clubbing on Friday night, so instead we rolled over and got a really good night's sleep. Saturday was spent by the pool and on the beach, then we went into Old San Juan for a great dinner. The restaurant was known for its ceviches so we got their "sampler," which was a collection of their 6 versions, along with some fresh oyesters, and of course, a couple mojitos, since if all you drink is pina coladas they might lose their appeal after a while (truthfulness disclaimer: Adrian quit drinking a few months ago, but I managed to convince him to have a mojito and a pina colada during the weekend -- I'm such an enabler).
Later we went out to a club and learned a bit about San Juan's gay culture. For instance, we learned that people don't really go out dancing until after 12:30 or so, even though we were there before 11:30. Silly people. It also seemed that most men don't come out of the closet until they're at least 35...there were some young'uns, yes, but the crowd was a little older than we see in Dc (of course, there's another big club n town, maybe the younger men were there?). Lastly, when they have a stripper show, they go all out. The theme was "Super Heroes" and the dancers came out in thongs, capes...and body paint. Yes, Superman, batman, and Wonder (Wo)man, with the costumes all done in paint. And they looked GOOD. The costimes, that is, more so than the strippers. Superman was porn-star/model hot, and we agreed we would do him if the opportunity arose. It didn't, but later when he was dancing on the bar and I went to give him a dollar he DID bounce his balls on my forehead. Nice. And then he gave me a kiss and caressed my cheek, after which Adrian reported I had blue paint on my face. Dammit.
Sunday was another day of pool and beach. Early evening we went to another bar, this one an outdoor place on the beach in the lobby of a gay hotel where we almost stayed until we read online reviews (shudder). Seemed nice enough, but as with the club the night before, no one talked to us, so after a while we went off for another great dinner and headed back to the hotel.
I should mention that it's OK we didn't stay at the gay hotel because ours was gay enough. There was one group of 5 guys in their 20s, not sure if they were gay but if not, they should be. There were some other couples and small groups of friends, all older than us. One guy seemed particularly taken with Adrian, and I'll never forget waiting for an elevator and him saying, "mmmm, I smell something I want to eat." We were near a restaurant, so MAYBE that's what he meant, but I don't know...
Adrian also had a 3-year old walk by and smack him on the ass. Not sure what that was all about.
Monday I floated around the lagoon and figured out that when it comes to my job, it's time to not gve a damn anymore. That's helpful. Thank goodness for the wisdom of the ocean and lagoons and stuff. We laid around, then cleaned up, then headed for the airport where the flight was late coming in and getting out, so we missed the flight to DC and had the airport put us up in a nice hotel in Fort Lauderdale. And despite my initial frustration, I really didn't mind missing another day at the office. Plus we had a cool waitress for dinner.
Bottom line: go visit Puerto Rico, it's nice.
Labels: Travel
