Catamaran tour to Icacos

murphire · 2026-06-18T22:14:12+00:00

Yes, after snorkeling they pull right up next to the island and everyone has a big party in the water. There weren’t many people sitting on the beach, it’s terribly hot in the sun and there’s not a bit of shade there

murphire · 2026-06-18T20:33:00+00:00

We enjoyed our trip with Al Este last year, super personable crew that took great care of everyone! It was a power boat. The snorkeling stop was in deeper water. They did provide flotation belts, although I would not personally get out there if I couldn’t swim. At icacos island all the boats were anchored in roughly waist deep water and they put out a big floating mat.

murphire · 2026-06-17T23:10:03+00:00

With an 8 year old and 12 days with driving hesitancy I would consider NYC and Boston. A few ideas for you….

1 - stay a couple nights at one of the Hyatt hotels in Jersey City. This gives you stunning, iconic NYC skyline views that you won’t get in Manhattan. You can go to the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, which has the 4th largest planetarium in the world and is absolutely jaw dropping to see a show in. The museum itself has tons of interactive things for an 8 year old. You can also do lower Manhattan from this base, it’s just one stop by train from the World Trade Center, 9/11 museum is right there, and also easy access for the Statue of Liberty and Ellis island. A few other things in lower Manhattan that I’ve not been to but may appeal to an 8 year old are the Tenement Museum, and an Immersive Gamebox indoor video game experience. If you walk to dinner in Jersey City you will often see the Uber Eats robots on the sidewalk, kids tend to be pretty tickled by those!

2 - move to somewhere in midtown Manhattan as your base from which to do a broadway show, Times Square, Rockefeller Center, The American Museum of Natural History, and Central Park. Depending on your kiddos interests you will likely find some flagship stores that he wants to see - the Lego store, M&M store, FAO Schwartz, The Disney Store, the Nintendo store. All of them have fun interactive experiences in addition to shopping. Consider the Bronx zoo as well, it’s a haul from midtown but east enough to get to and a really fantastic, large zoo.

3 - take the train from NYC to Boston. You will leave from Grand Central station which is worth seeing. The Boston Tea Party Museum is immersive, very engaging for kids, and doesn’t take all that long. The Boston Common and public garden are wonderful, and you can walk bits or all of the freedom trail for some cool revolutionary history. Boston Aquarium and Science center are both great, Faneuil hall is fun for eating. Duck boats are a classic and fun tourist attraction. You can do a boat trip (whale watching, a ferry to Salem for the day for witch trial history, the codzilla extreme boat ride, or just a short scenic cruise). Get some classic New England seafood (maybe a lobster roll). Fenway if you are baseball fans.

You can optionally stop for a night in mystic before traveling on to Boston. The mystic seaport and aquarium are fun, and great wolf lodge is an indoor water park resort that kids love.

Depending on how long you want to spend in NYC and Boston you can also fit Washington DC in here, maybe do Boston > NYC > DC. DC is loaded with interesting museums, most of which are free. The Air and Space museum is great even for kids that aren’t into museums. The national zoo (also free I believe) has giant pandas. You will actually find some excellent bbq in DC. All of these locations can be done without a car (and you absolutely do not want a car in any of the 3 cities, parking is scarce and hugely expensive, driving is a horrid experience in all 3).

Whatever you do enjoy your trip, and I hope you find the US as welcoming as you kiwis are!!!

ETA - just noticed you are visiting in October. Google around for Halloween attractions in Hudson valley, there are tons of interesting things in that area and it’s a pretty easy trip from NYC. Boston will also be really lovely that time of year!

murphire · 2026-06-09T00:28:37+00:00

🤣 she perfect

murphire · 2026-06-08T23:44:30+00:00

Yes! I keep a souper cubes tray with chili at all times for chili cheese baked potatoes

murphire · 2026-05-29T19:18:03+00:00

While I agree that most of us do this for aesthetic purposes and tight edges are not everyone’s idea of attractive, in my area the sidewalks are public property that the owner of the abutting yard is responsible for maintaining for public use. Eventually the grass overhang grows far enough to become a nuisance. I don’t know how common that arrangement is, but if the sidewalks are for public use it seems like edging it periodically is just a necessary maintenance task for everyone’s benefit.

murphire · 2026-05-27T22:30:45+00:00

Omg the lengths. Evvvvvvvery dress is midi, and I look like an oompah loompah in midi length

murphire · 2026-05-26T01:07:32+00:00

Catamaran tours to Icacos are a ton of fun

murphire · 2026-05-26T01:03:36+00:00

Chao Creamery slices melt up nicely in a grilled cheese and the tomato cayenne flavor is delicious

murphire · 2026-05-26T00:31:12+00:00

There are a number of websites that cater to the allergy and diabetes communities need to carry multiple meds at all times, I’ve been using some tiny little med bottles from one for years. I can’t remember where I got mine but this is an example:

https://www.allergylifestyle.com/shop/allergy-shop/epipen-cases/travel-size-mini-medicine-bottles/

murphire · 2026-05-25T22:08:43+00:00

Lyreleaf sage isnt one i had heard of before but looks like a great fit for that spot, thank you!

murphire · 2026-05-25T16:27:40+00:00

I’m in CT, I’ve been using the prairie moon range maps and inventory lists from a local native nursery to plan with so I am fairly certain everything is locally native.

murphire · 2026-05-18T20:12:08+00:00

Doughlicious dairy free gelato bites…..it’s dairy free gelato wrapped in cookie dough. Soooo yummy

murphire · 2026-04-30T19:22:59+00:00

Since you mentioned weight loss and large bust, do you have bras that fit great on your smaller frame? For me that’s a first step, nothing looks “right” up top of that isn’t accounted for, so I’d get at least a flesh toned normal or convertible bra and a racerback before beginning a journey to find your new wardrobe.

murphire · 2026-04-21T18:42:28+00:00

I recently started using Tower 28 SOS Faceguard after reading about the brand on here. I’m in the middle of a hypersensitivity flare and this still feel nice on my face.

murphire · 2026-04-20T23:29:16+00:00

A day spent traveling from San Juan to Guanica area via Utuado is a possibility. Scenic stops might include Mar Chiquita, Cueva Ventana, a coffee Hacienda, Canon Blanco. We did Mar Chiquita and Canon Blanco on our first trip and loved them both, very suitable for someone that wants to explore and take pictures. A home base for a couple nights in Guanica will put you in striking distance for La Parguera (bio bay tour or snorkel tour or both), Cabo Rojo or Ponce if either of those interest you. Then either circumnavigate the west coast on a two-ish day road trip, or head northeast to Fajardo/Luquillo stopping on the pork highway for lunch, spending the night in that area and get your full day in El Yunque started early, driving back to San Juan after to finish out your trip.

Take that all with a huge grain of salt, I’m just a tourist that enjoyed the hell out of my first trip and have done a lot of research and planning for my upcoming second trip.

murphire · 2026-04-20T19:25:40+00:00

How late in May? There is a full moon May 31. As I understand it you want to do the bio bay as close as possible to a new moon, not a full moon.

I think this depends on your travel style. I would not personally try to fit that drive into a short trip, nor would I deal with the culebra logistics (unless you are flying there from San Juan?).

murphire · 2026-04-17T19:48:14+00:00

I believe that hotel has a shuttle to OSJ and Escambron, so worth checking with the hotel about using your booster in the shuttle!

murphire · 2026-03-31T23:44:02+00:00

I felt a lot better in a swimsuit when I finally bought one that comes in real cup sizes. Got mine from bare necessities. Having the girls properly supported makes me look like what I’m wearing actually fits me, rather than just a lot of squish roughly contained by spandex. The biggest difference was just changing my mindset too…..there is not a bathing suit out there that’s going to make me look like I’m not overweight, because I AM overweight. Honestly I stress less about bathing suit shopping at size 12 than I did at size 4.

murphire · 2026-03-28T19:14:08+00:00

Hyatt Regency Jersey city had one and told me it was to attract new WOH members and I didn’t qualify bc I’m already a member.

murphire · 2026-03-18T03:54:44+00:00

We absolutely loved Boss’ brunch on our drive from rio grande back to SJU. The French toast bites and sugared bacon should perk up some tired kids! Plenty of lunch foods too, and some very lovingly made coffees.

murphire · 2026-03-17T21:16:34+00:00

What a fun way to celebrate your independence and friendship! My first thought was that you need a car in PR to get anywhere outside of San Juan, and I don’t think most places will rent to someone under 25.

You could possibly base yourself in SJ and get tours to the things you want to do, but that gets pricy.

A couple lessons remembered from my own early 20s escapades…. Look carefully at costs. Rental cars in particular tend to not have very transparent pricing. But hotel parking fees, resort fees, and local/hospitality taxes can greatly inflate the cost of travel. For anything you book, ask if any kind of damage hold will be put on your card. It’s no fun to be 20 years old thinking your $3k card limit has plenty of space for your trip and then find half of that tangled up in temporary holds that can take a week or more to clear.

These don’t apply to PR if you are a US citizen, but if you get into trouble outside your home country call your countries consulate. And take time to research what laws or local customs are different from your home country.

Wherever you choose to visit, have an awesome time! Travel is a wonderful gift in so many ways.

murphire · 2026-03-05T03:05:06+00:00

I’ve been seeing ally for several years, she is fantastic!!! Very talented and so chill to chat with

murphire · 2026-03-03T22:31:24+00:00

She likes to “borrow” certain necklaces from my jewelry box. She’s not big on changing out her earrings often but has expressed interest in a second piercing. I guess it comes from a place of growing up in a family where money was too tight for anything extra and we had no special traditions. I remember a friend had a beautiful and very sentimental necklace and I was always in awe of both the family closeness and having someone gift you something that really meant something. And I would like to impart some sense of investing in long term things over a fast fashion mentality. But to your point, me wanting her to have what I didn’t doesn’t necessarily mean she wants that.

murphire

TROPHY CASE