El Morro Fort

One of my favorite places in Puerto Rico is Old San Juan. It might be one of my favorite places I've ever been. I think it's the familiarity I feel with the European roots of this old city. On the northwestern-most point of Old San Juan is the Fort San Felipe del Morro, or El Morro to locals, named in honor of King Philip II of Spain. It was designed in the 16th century to guard the entrance to the San Juan Bay and defend Old San Juan from seaborne enemies. I have been here many times and each time I learn something new and then take a bunch of pictures to make the memory last forever.

My favorite thing about El Morro is the vast green esplanade in front of the fort. There are always people enjoying the esplanade with picnics, kites, tours, field trips, or most recently karate classes. Our goal for this trip was to fly the Buzz Lightyear kite that we bought for Cash. The parking that day was especially busy, so Cash and I jumped out of the car to get started while Casey and Guy found a parking spot. I couldn’t take a picture without letting go of the kite and risking Cash letting go of the strings, so I don’t have pictures of our first kite flying adventure. It’s just as well because Cash lasted about 10 minutes before he got bored and wanted to go inside the “tassle” (castle). Cash and I explored the whole fort while waiting for Casey and Guy to find parking. Cash loved the cannons, cannon balls, and the waves crashing up against the outer fort wall.

Once Casey and Guy joined us, Cash was cranky and hot, but that didn't slow us down. I was on a mission to get some pictures whether he wanted to cooperate or not. As always, Guy was a happy camper and just along for the ride.

I really wanted to get a family picture but I was not in the mood to ask anyone to take one for us, so we attempted to get our own. Not very successful, but definitely memorable.

A commercial was being filmed while we were there, so we couldn't get great shots of the whole fort. You know what that means? We get to visit El Morro again and take more pictures. Heaven for me. Torture for Cash and Casey. It's all for the memories boys.