Pop-Culture Catch Up: Rum Diary, Enough Said, and Frozen

I'm not going to lie. Having two kids is often more difficult than having one. By the end of so many days, I can barely keep my eyes open long enough to read one magazine article, let alone devour something of pop-culture value and then report its worth back to you, my fine and faithful readers.

That said, it's time to catch up with a few artifacts I've explored over the past weeks. And, I'll try to start blogging more regularly again after a pretty unimpressive summer collection of quantity and quality.

The Rum Diary is the first Hunter S. Thompson I've read since Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas back in college. The "long lost novel" was apparently written in the 1960s and not published until 1998. It is basically the tale of Hunter himself (under the name Paul) going from New York to live and work at a newspaper in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

He carouses with the lowlifes who work at the paper and risks life daily drinking and fighting and romancing in a foreign land. It's the epitome of gonzo journalistic writing and serves as an underrated highlight of Thompson's prodigious career. Johnny Depp found the manuscript and had it published, then starred in the movie, which I should now go see for the first time.

**** out of ***** stars

Enough Said is a small rom-com that gains weight by the very fact that it was about the last thing James Gandolfini filmed before his death. Julia Louis-Dreyfus seems a little less great than usual in the film, despite very positive reviews.

The couple wins me over by the end as they suffer a series of setbacks while firing up an unlikely romance, but I still was a little disappointed and not that impressed with the overall story, general awkwardness, and pacing of this film.

*** out of ***** stars

Frozen is of course all the rage with the youngsters, but I was bored silly, wishing I could rematch The Lego Movie, The Jungle Book, Snow White, or any other kid movie.

Tip of the hat to Disney for making it about the importance of family instead of the usual fare of the importance of the prince. But if I have to hear someone else humming or singing "Let It Go" again, who knows what I'll do. Bad music in a hack of a story. It doesn't help that I don't particularly like any of the actors behind the voices.

Way overrated and hopefully will lose some of its runaway-hit momentum as soon as some better Disney films are released.

** out of ***** stars

Puerto Rico Day 3 - Ham, Cheese, Powdered Sugar, and Beauty in Old San Juan

Aaaaand. Getting back to the recap of our April Puerto Rico trip.

When last I left you, you were hearing about Day 1 and Day 2 of our family's travels.

After breakfast on Day 3, we jumped onto the bus near our hotel in Isla Verde to head over about six miles west to walk around Old San Juan all day. 

Beautiful colorful architecture and cobblestone streets greeted us. Jackson loved the walk from the bus stop to the famed fort El Morro, which is a can't-miss major attraction, with dramatic high walls, views of a crashing surf below, and dozens of rooms to keep exploring and adventuring kids excited to see what's in each next room (a chapel, jail cells, doctors offices, kitchens, and much more). 

We walked about 5 miles in the old part of the city (which totals an impressive 1.1 million inhabitants along its 25-mile coastline, by the way). Jackson was a real trouper, not complaining once, and Zoey slept on Rachel's back much of the time. 

We ended the trek at Cafeteria Mallorca, which served us the famous Mallorca sandwiches with ham and cheese and powdered sugar on top. 

Craving vegetables in a country that doesn't seem to focus much on them, we found a delicious place back near our hotel called Bajuice Juice Bar and got smoothies and salad for dinner. Jackson and I ended the day with a swim in the Embassy Suites colorful nighttime pool. 

It's off to the rainforest in the morning.

Puerto Rico Day 2: Sometimes You Just Need a Lazy Day

We woke up pretty tired and decided to make Day 2 in Puerto Rico our lazy day. 

We ate free breakfast at the hotel then headed for the pool. Being the early-family types, we had no problem getting chairs and stayed poolside till the early afternoon. 

We then walked down the main avenue of Isla Verde and stopped at Pizza World, which had good people-watching and a stiff breeze (that blew napkins everywhere and even knocked Zoey back while she stood on top of our table). The pizza, rice and beans, and Medella beer hit the spot. 

Note to remember in Puerto Rico (as in almost any place): Don't eat at any resorts or hotels. Go where the locals are eating. The food, atmosphere, and price will be at least twice as good. I don't understand how so many people go on vacation and never leave their resort. Might as well stay at a hotel down the street from their own houses.

For the late afternoon, we headed for the ocean, where Jackson enjoyed jumping over the incoming waves again. We skipped dinner and headed back to the hotel to rest up for our trip into Old San Juan on Day 3.

Puerto Rico Day 1 - From Cold DC to Pina Coladas in Hours

The family has just returned from our spring-break trip to Puerto Rico. And I'll recap it here over the next several days.

If you have little kids, I can't really think of a better Caribbean vacation spot than this island to the east of Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. It was cheap to get to (free actually, for us, since we had Southwest Frequent Flyer Miles), fast (a direct flight from Baltimore of three-and-a-half hours), we didn't need passports (it's a U.S. territory), and features absolutely beautiful beaches and an adventure-lover's rainforest.

On Day 1, we arrived at Embassy Suites Hotel not far from the airport (chosen because we would have two rooms to put Zoey to sleep and be able to stay up in the other room). We threw our bags in the room, overlooking a great pool area, and went straight to Isla Verde's famed El Alambique Beach two blocks away. This was a beautiful two-mile-plus stretch of parties, people playing sports, nice surfable waves, windsurfers, and jet skiers.

We grabbed burgers and piña coladas at a beachside joint then went out to work on Jackson's body surfing for a couple of hours. His promise at the sport earned him the coconut drink you see pictured. We headed back in time for Embassy's nightly happy hour and Jackson got in the pool in his full clothes. 

For our first dinner in PR, I ordered sushi but walked in a downpour to the wrong place, where they told me I was a 30-minute walk from where I initially ordered. I called and cancelled the other order and got replacement sushi from this place. Felt bad. By the time I got back with the food, Jackson and Zoey had passed out.

Tomorrow will hopefully be a little better planned, at least in the food department.