Sunday, December 09, 2018

Puerto Rico - Day 6 - Secret Beaches and Shira's Retirement Plan

[Composed 11/25/2018]

A day at the beach is OK. A day at a hidden beach, with a mile hike through a forest to get there, now that's what I'm talking about! Technically, the hidden beach we were exploring wasn't so hidden. The Frommer's Guidebook explains in detail how to get there. Essentially, you walk to the end of Seven Seas Beach, where you find a trail that disappears into a forest. You take that trail and a mile or so later, you pop-out on a stretch of coastline which provides miles of secluded beach access.

Perhaps the best feature of the beach wasn't the beach itself, but the forest it's adjacent to. This provides for shady areas to rest in, just a few feet from the crystal clear waters. After an hour of walking, we found a nice spot and setup for lunch. On a whim, we picked up a can of sterno at the supermarket and brought it with us to the beach. We found 3 remains of coconuts nearby, placed them tightly around the lit sterno can. We then rested a foil packet containing hot dogs on the coconuts and waited for 15 minutes (flipping the foil packet every 5 minutes). The result: perfectly cooked beach hot dogs! With the waves lapping at the beach, the perfect scenery and the delicious hot dogs, it was just about the perfect lunch.

After lunch we walked back towards the Seven Seas beach looking for a place to splash around in the water. As we walked, we passed a number of groups that were enjoying the quiet stretch of coast as much as we were. At least two parties were truly taking advantage of the solitude, by swimming sans-bathing suits. One group was a couple, which I suppose I can appreciate (who wouldn't want to skinny dip with their significant other?). But the other was a larger group of individuals. I just can't imagine how that conversation goes down: Shira and I hitting are the beach this weekend, anyone else up for some nude swimming?. What can I say, my puritan roots are showing.

The only area the beach didn't live up to was the claim that it was an ideal for snorkeling. I tried my hand at snorkeling in a few different spots and saw nothing. Perhaps I needed to swim out further?

After our day at the beach, and a trip to the hotel hot-tub, we went out for a delicious Mediterranean dinner and then hit up the casino. I continue to be amazed at how fluidly the dealers switch from Spanish to English, especially at the blackjack table where it means switching languages depending on the player you're dealing to. What remained consistent from other casinos we've been to is vibe of the blackjack vs. craps tables. Blackjack tends to be filled with new 'kids,' every night; whereas craps was the same old guys playing night after night. If we wanted to feel old, we need only stop by the blackjack table. If we wanted to feel spry, that just took hanging out at the craps table.

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