It has definitely been a while, but here I am! Back and ready to regurgitate several months worth of excursions, visits, and adventures.

My mom came down to visit San Juan at the end of February for somewhat of a trip re-do after a stressful visit over Thanksgiving (eye infection via Sahara Dust). Fortunately, this time around there were no watery eyes or sand allergies in the way of our good time.

Mom arrived around noon on a Saturday and after lunch at my hotel in San Juan, we went on our way down to the El Yunque rain forest for a one-night getaway in the jungle.

Thanksgiving this past year ended up being a reunion between the Bilski family (that’s me) and the Morton family (Middle Bass neighbors that we’ve known for all of eternity). It’s been several years since all of us were together and really one of the few times we were all together off island (moving from a smaller island to a bigger one, I suppose). So, to spend the holiday with old friends was really spectacular. While we were all catching up over an over-the-top charcuterie that my mom had thrown together (seriously, these things are insane), Logan and Rachel mentioned some of the travelling they had done around the island on their own. West, south, up high, down low, they had essentially touched all corners of the island. But one place that they mentioned really stood out. This dreamy little getaway on the southern side of El Yunque called Casa Flamboyant. Mom and I were totally infatuated with the place after seeing Rachel’s pictures and ended up booking a night at Flamboyant almost immediately (thanks Rachel!).

So, on we went to Naguabo to our home for the night.

Casa Flamboyant has a fabulous history. I can’t remember all of the intricacies necessary to really do the whole story justice, but basically it was built in the 60s by a fantastic wealthy man who wanted a secluded getaway in the jungle. Friends of this wealthy man included Andy Warhol, Salvador Dali, and many other eccentrics who would come to visit and party (and do a lot of drugs) in this little piece of paradise. I can only imagine what these walls have seen.

The property itself sits on the edge of a mountainside, surrounded by lush, green foliage and close to zero human neighbors. After driving along a twisty, 1 1/2-lane road up into the mountains, we arrived at Casa Flamboyant. Encapsulated by a cement wall, we weren’t sure if we had made it to the right place. But almost if on cue, our welcoming committee popped through the dark, wooden front door to greet us. Ricky, one of the owners of Flamboyant, and Obie, the resident dog in charge, gave us a quick tour of the grounds and amenities, which included a stunning flower and herb garden, a sprawling terrace with a spring-fed infinity pool, and an unreal view of the hills and valleys of the rain forest meeting with the east coast of the island.

Mom and I arrived a little later than planned, so right away we ended up getting cozy on our private terrace (!!!) with an ad-hock charcuterie (so, I know I say ad-hock, but compared to Kate Richardson Bilski’s other creations, this was just beautiful and not fantastically breathtakingly beautiful like the others are) and a couple bottles of wine. I think we were in bed before 10 pm that night, drifting off to sleep with a chorus of hundreds of thousands of coquis singing all around us.

The next morning, Mom woke up and did a quick yoga session out on the terrace and then we headed up to the main house for breakfast. Fresh, local fruits and Monte Cristo sandwiches were on today’s menu and I was lucky enough to score a vegetarian version of this absurd sandwich (thanks Ricky and Florian!).

After we finished up our breakfast, we decided to hike Flamboyant’s private trail down to the river at the bottom of the valley. 100% humidity and a few sporadic rain showers left us a little damp, a little muddy, and a lot sweaty, but the trail itself and the river at the end made all of our scrambling worthwhile.

We packed ourselves up after finishing our first hike of the day and decided to keep the ball rolling on the north side of El Yunque. After saying goodbye to our fantastic hosts, Ricky, Florian, and Obie, we started winding our way through the back roads again.

The weather turned sour as we were driving north, so our afternoon hiking aspirations were cut short. To pass some time and feed ourselves, we decided to stop at the restaurant just outside of the park entrance - Treehouse Cafe or something like that. It was bad, so I definitely don’t recommend including it in your El Yunque plans (we should have gone to the Luquillo kiosks - sorry Ma!).

I had to work for the rest of the week, so the remainder of the visit consisted of the two of us leading our separate lives until I got back from the office around 6 pm. Fortunately, I was able keep my energy up after work on a few nights so we could go to some of my favorite restaurants in Santurce and Old San Juan. One of the nights when we were feeling especially drained we ordered pizza in and that was great.

Rain ended up being a pretty constant threat throughout the visit, but we got lucky on our zip lining day and we stayed dry for the entire excursion. Toro Verde is probably one of the most famous zip line parks on the island, and having been there once before I knew we’d have a good time. The park has some pretty intimidating route names like “The Beast” and “The Monster” (you have to wear a parachute and a full-body speed suit on The Monster in case you like, you know, fall off??) but it’s safe and in a really interesting, mountainous part of the island. We ended up going with the 10-line package, which consisted of several routes that gradually got longer as we moved through the park. Now, I certainly didn’t want to leave Toro Verde without accomplishing something that sounded impressive, so we took a ride on The Beast to finish it all up. It was rad.

Mom’s last night in town came faster than expected, so we ended the trip in a very savory way - by eating our weight in Mexican food and then finishing the night with a few drinks in Condado.

There’s nothing like having a little piece of home come to you when you’re far away. So Mom, you better come back!