Santa, San Juan

I said that this blog is more about life gain than weight loss.  One of the things that adds value to my life is travel.  My passion for travel was ignited by my dad who loved to whisk us off, on any given weekend, to Gettysburg for a civil war reenactment or to the Outer Banks for multi-family fun, or to New York for a Broadway show followed by an off-Broadway show and a huge chunk of Junior's cheesecake for the 5 of us to share.  

While I love to travel our beautiful United States, my love for diverse cultures draws me to more far flung locales, most recently, gorgeous Puerto Rico.  I was totally stressed out before I left for the gateway to the Caribbean, but all of that tension blew away with the first island breeze. 

Lobby at the Casa Blanca Hotel

We stayed at the Casablanca Hotel, an amazing Moroccan inspired boutique establishment in the heart of San Juan Antiguo or Old San Juan.  I am a lover of "Old Towns" and "Downtowns". Cobblestones streets, ancient narrow architecture and wrought iron balconies are the essence of history and romance to me. There is little I like better than peeking into some little alleyway or "callejon" in Spanish and finding a hidden spice shop or an artist painting the distant view of the Atlantic.  This place is not especially magical.  It's not incredibly exotic.  It just has a down home, feel-good, close to your heart allure that I never thought I needed or would miss.  But I do.  And that's why I am going to do whatever I need have to in order to get back to Puerto Rico every year.