Brothers Cruise - Part 1: Puerto Rico

Foosball, Food Tours, and Five-Star Rum

After a long day of travel, and by long, I mean arctic-level cold flights where I briefly wondered if frostbite was included with my ticket, we finally made it to Puerto Rico. Shawn’s brother, Troy, and his wife, Kathy, joined us for this adventure. They checked into their fancy hotel suite, complete with perks and amenities. We, meanwhile, checked into our humble-but-charming Airbnb studio next door. Let’s just say their room came with its own foosball table … ours came with the world’s slowest elevator.

The next morning, I didn’t care at all about the elevator when we woke up to this view from our deck:

Day One - Food Tour!

After the brothers finished an intense morning foosball match in the aforementioned fancy suite (it’s important to warm up for a day of eating), we set out on a food tour of local restaurants and cafés.

We kicked things off at a coffee roaster where we tasted what might actually be the smoothest cup of coffee on the planet. Puerto Rican coffee has this magical quality where it contains zero bitterness - like it’s been to therapy or something. We followed it with incredibly fresh ceviche, and then a stewed chicken and mofongo: fried plantains that we got to smash together with garlic, pork cracklings, and salt. Deliciousness in carb form.

It was hot! But we were mostly walking in the shade of the buildings, and did get to stop for a passionfruit popsicle break.

The tour ended at a Cortes chocolate shop, famous for slipping Spanish-language children’s books into their hot chocolate bars back when English was being pushed as the primary language in schools. Nothing like a little chocolate-fueled rebellion.

After the tour, we wandered through Old San Juan, popping into local bars for cocktails because hydration is important - just not always with water. We wrapped up the evening with a relaxing beach stroll before dinner.

Day Two – Ron del Barrilito Rum Distillery

This was the surprise highlight of our Puerto Rico stay: a fantastic tour and tasting at Ron del Barrilito, the smaller of the two major rum distilleries - the other being the big (touristy) Bacardi.

We tasted five different rums, including the very fancy, very smooth 5-star bottle. By the end, we were basically rum sommeliers in our own minds. Troy even bought himself a special bottle as a souvenir.

By the end of our Puerto Rico stay, we’d eaten our weight in carbs, survived the tropical heat, become accidental rum experts, and fully settled into vacation mode. It was the perfect warm-up for the cruise ahead - good food, good drinks, and even better company.