Travel In Sandals: Day 10

With such a big Friday night, we planned for Saturday to be a lazy, recuperation day at the beach.

The popular Condado beach is a long stretch of sand lined with hotels, resorts and restaurants and it's about a 10 minute stroll from our hotel. On the walk we stopped for a quick bite at PINKY’S, a breakfast place we stumbled upon that apparently is popular with the locals, just our type of joint. With our bellies full, we made our way to the beach.

Once we settled in we jumped in the water, tossed back pina coladas, took a few naps and lounged in the sun…a perfect San Juan beach day.

Walking to Condado Beach

Lauren played Words with Friends all day with her imaginary pal

Mo and Garrett bronzing

Lauren finally believed there were no sharks and made it out past the waves

Garrett doing a little body surfing

Matt catching up on some reading

In the late afternoon we made our way back to the hotel. On the walk, Mo, Garrett and Matt stopped at a bar next to the hotel called PLAN B for a bite, some beers and to catch up on college football.

Plan B offered us a plan A of food, beer and football

Mo's bowl-o-cheese - top to bottom mozzarella

Our plan for the evening was to incorporate the USC v. Arizona State football game, which kicked off at 10:15pm local time, but first we needed to find a place to eat dinner. Along Ashford Ave., one of San Juan’s most popular entertainment and dining streets, we came upon a teppanyaki restaurant called CHERRY BLOSSOM. Greg and Lauren lit up like a Christmas tree. You would have thought they won the lottery. Apparently, these types of joints are at the top of their list of dining establishments. You knew they were in their element when they began calling out the food tricks the chef does like, “Make the volcano with the onions” or “Here comes the choo-choo, here comes the choo-choo,” as the chef prepared to push the onion tower with smoke billowing out of it around the stove like a steam-engine train.

Kampai!

"We're the two best friends that anyone can have, we're the two best friends that anyone can have"

Matt displayed his culinary skills by tossing an egg in the air and cracking it with his spatula

After we scarfed down our grub, we walked to EL BARRIL for some drinks and USC football. It was doomed from the get-go. USC trailed early and never recovered. As the game continued to go south, we continued to order drinks in effort to drown our sorrows.

We were all smiles before kick off

Still holding out hope the Trojans will pull it out

At halftime concern really began to set in

By the end of the game, we were doing shots

After the game, Lauren and Garrett headed back to the hotel while Mo, Greg and Matt continued their evening at the La Concha Hotel & Casino.

We made a few friends at the lively lobby bar and then made our way to the tables. We’ve all heard of free drinks while you gamble but San Juan takes it to another level – free food. With our late-night eating habits, this was a fantastic revelation. We had the waitress bringing out grilled cheese sandwiches, turkey and cheese sandwiches and ham and cheese sandwiches by the handfuls. Once our bellies were full and our pockets were even more full, we called it quits and headed home.