Summer travels: Puerto Rico

Before I go on another trip, I figure I would write about the last trip I did with my family and Errol to Puerto Rico. We flew Spirit Airlines (Warning: NEVER FLY THIS!), which was quite a debacle trying to make weight with our luggage. But we made it into San Juan and met up with Dad's students. Every other summer, he teachers a coral reef ecology course, and this was his third one. 

San Juan is a beautiful, history city. It still has the cobble stone streets and colorful colonial buildings. We stayed there overnight, and Errol and I joined the students with a night on the town in San Juan. 

After San Juan, it was off to La Parguera where we would spend the majority of the trip. La Parguera is the town where Dad's course is, where my parents had their first start as a married couple, and where I was conceived. It's a small town where everywhere is walkable, making it very convenient. The university is on a small island that you take a boat to, and the place has tons of iguanas! 

We stayed at Villa Parguera, which had very basic rooms but had amazing views from the pool area. My sister and I went to the pool pretty much every day.

View of the ocean from our hotel. 

It was perfect timing when we joined my Dad in Puerto Rico, because the next day was Father's Day! We had delicious seafood at La Casita.

Errol was able to go scuba diving with Dad's class at "The Wall". It's a 100-foot dive with a wall of coral. I describe it as if I did it, but I can only live vicariously through the amazing pictures and videos that Errol took.

Errol got to dive, but my sister and I were able to go snorkeling a few times! A couple of Dad's students took us around and were finding things for us like starfish and sea pearls.

The one thing I would recommend everyone to do while in Puerto Rico is swimming in the Bio Bay. It's a bay that has phosphorescent diatoms, and when you flick the water they illuminate. It's an amazing experience, like swimming in space and touch stardust. We weren't allowed to take pictures on the boat, but you can just imagine it. Again, the timing was perfect because we were able to do this during a new moon!

We also joined Dad's students to an island to spend the day snorkeling again.  Some of his students went spear fishing, and even Errol got to try! We saw sea slugs, star fish, sea cucumbers, baby fish, and even some barracuda!

Another excursion was a trip to Cabo Rojo to show Errol and once again see the majestic cliffs over the ocean. The beach is a cape that makes you feel like it's your own personal paradise.

On the final day, we went to Aguadilla, a town near the airport that Dad's students flew in/out of. One of his students' house is there, and it is truly paradise. It's on a cliff overlooking the ocean, and has beautiful landscape in the front yard as well. We were treated to a delicious last breakfast. 

Puerto Rico is a wonderful place to visit. I would allocate a minimum of a week to explore all it has to offer. The island has mountains, plains, oceans, rain forests, caves, and so much more! AND you don't even need a passport because it is a US territory. I can't wait to visit again; Errol and I are thinking of going again next summer to stay with one of Dad's old students who are getting their PhD's at the university. They live in Rincon, which is one of the places we didn't get to explore. But apparently there are turtles off the beach! Definitely on my bucket list for next time! 

Cook-venture: Pan-Seared Shrimp with Garlic-Lemon Butter

Errol and I made this dish back in June, and it has to be our favorite dish so far in The New Best Recipe. I recommend anyone and everyone to make this!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds extra-large shrimp (21-25 per pound), peeled and deveined

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon sugar

3 tablespoons softened butter

1 medium garlic clove, minced

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley 

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Beat the softened butter with a fork until light and fluffy. 

Stir in the garlic, lemon juice, parsley, and salt until combined. 

Toss the shrimp in the salt, pepper, and sugar. 

Add half the shrimp onto a heated 12-inch skillet over high heat with oil. 

Cook until spotty brown and the edges turn pink (about 1 minute). 

With tongs, flip each shrimp and let stand for
30 seconds with the skillet off the heat. 

Repeat with remaining shrimp. 

(The timing sounds very specific, but Errol used a timer when cooking and it seemed to work... this cookbook is very particular, and it always works out!) 

Add butter to the skillet when you add the first batch of shrimp back to the skillet. 

Cover the skillet and let the shrimp and sauce stand until cooked (1-2 minutes). 

Serve immediately... trust me, you won't want to wait. 

Errol and I served the shrimp over a bed of linguine. The shrimp had such a robust flavor of lemon and garlic (a delicious combination) that I would have been happy without the added carbohydrates in the pasta. This meal was definitely special, and one I hope to repeat again when we are together.

The garlic-lemon butter sauce was actually one of the "Variations" in the book. Other variations include "with Ginger-Hoisin Glaze" and "with Chipotle Lime Glaze". I can't wait to try those!

Catch-Up: Spring Break in Cancun

Spring semester was so busy that I never got to post about my first big spring break trip! So now that I have some time to relax, it's time to catch up!

Errol's family has a time share in Cancun, Mexico, and ever since we met we talked about the possibility of going there someday for spring break. Only took us 4 years, but we finally did it! And it was definitely worth the wait! 

We had been on numerous trips together around the country, but this was our first international flight (our first international vacation was the cruise to the Bahamas in 2010). It was still relatively chilly in March up here in Chapel Hill, and the stores don't have a pool section to buy snorkeling gear. But I managed to find a new bathingsuit at Target and some other beach-y outfits.

It took a few breaths to get used to the heat and humidity as we exited the Cancun airport. But alas, my skin was happily absorbing the Vitamin D and my melanocytes began to awaken from their hibernation. After a few speed bumps, we made it via shuttle to the timeshare: Club Regina!

The time share was great, with a private entrance to the beach, awesome pool bar, and a delicious restaurant.

Sites of Club Regina beach and pool

Inside, there is a master bedroom, kitchen, living room, and patio fully equipped with a jacuzzi and a hammock. Our suite faced the absolutely beautiful Cancun sunsets, which we watched with margaritas and Coronas almost every night.

Sunset view from the patio

During one of our walking excursions, we went to La Parrilla, a Mexican grill with traditional dishes. We even got complimentary margaritas! Also, Senor Frogs style, we got tall drinks.

Errol's parents suggested that we go to Xel-Ha, an all-inclusive day in paradise. It's a natural park where we had the day to snorkel, eat all you want, drink all you want, bike, zip-line, lay out on the hammock, and more. Of all the excursions we did, I would definitely go here again! 

Views from Xel-Ha 

Another excursion we did was a trip to Chichen-Itza, which was the main cultural part of the trip. This was one of my bucket list items to see in my lifetime! It was a couple of hours away, so we went with a tour on a bus. On the way, the tour guide took us to see locals making obsidian figures and hammocks. Obsidian is a very important stone for the Mayans, and we learned all about the meaning. On the top left corner of the image, you can see that without light, obsidian is black, but when the light hits it right, it shines gold!

The tour guide told us all about Chichen Itza and the vast city that was once there. My favorite fact about this monument is that each side has 91 steps, with one more step to the top. That makes the total number of steps 365, the number of days in our calendar year!

The day we went was a special one, with a full moon. So our tour included a second trip to Chichen Itza after dinner where we got to witness a light show under the moonlight.

Full moon over Chichen Itza

Our third excursion was a day spent snorkeling in the ocean with a group. I haven't gotten the camera developed yet (much to Errol's dismay), but it was my first open ocean snorkeling. It was exciting! We even met some guys who had just graduated from University of Central Florida and hung out with them! Must have been a sign of things to come for Errol, who is starting medical school there next month.

Errol and my first international vacation was definitely an amazing one. Cancun, despite it's rampant tourism, has a lot of culture and a unique vibe that makes it a wonderful vacation hotspot.

Hopefully the next international vacation will be in Europe!