Since my work schedule prevented me from getting out and enjoying National Parks Week, here’s a post about my first two Passport cancellations:
San Juan NHS in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, consists of 2 sites, the fortresses of El Morro, located on a point above San Juan Bay, and Castillo San Cristobal, located on the Eastern side of Old San Juan. As San Juan was a strategic position in the Caribbean, the initial structures were first laid by the Spanish in the 16th and 17th centuries, and the sites were utilized by the U.S. even through WWII. I thought it was cool to be standing in a modern city in structures with origins dating back to the earliest days of European settlement in the Americas, predating the Jamestown colony. The fact that you can still see shrapnel in the walls from the Spanish-American War drives home the importance of this port in the region’s history.
In addition to getting your history fix, El Morro and its large grassy bluff appeared to be a popular spot for picnicking and flying kites. Paseo del Morro, which can be accessed from gates within the city, is a nice walk (and stray cat repository, apparently) that passes along the water at bottom of the structure. San Juan deftly caters to tourism while maintaining the charm of the old city and a vibrant culture, so the city is well worth a visit. We stayed at Hotel El Convento, a charming hotel that used to be a convent, and ate a lot of good food, in spite of one major stomachache for this vegetarian after a seemingly innocuous (and admittedly delicious) breakfast mallorca (a sweet bun that is apparently chock full of lard).
Two cancellations are available, one at each of the San Juan sites. When I was there in 2011, the Passport 25th anniversary cancellation was also available.
