Fuerte San Felipe del Morro

We were up early this morning so that we could get to one of the forts in Old San Juan (Fuerte San Felipe del Morro) before it got too hot outside.  We started walking, then got on a bus, then found a Starbucks because Owyn was tired and thirsty and Zoee was hungry. 

We had been gone from the hotel for less than 30-minutes. 

The nice people at Starbucks had a map for us, in addition to the food and drink, and told us to catch the trolley to "El Morro".   We finally made it...

 

 El Morro is a 6-story fort with 140 foot walls that date back to 1539.  It is believed to be the oldest Spanish fort in the New World.  Although now run by the National Park Service, this fort and two others nearby were used to defend San Juan from invaders from the Atlantic.  It was also used by the United States during World War II to watch for and track German ships.



Several old canons can be found throughout the fort.

Stray cats are common in San Juan.  Jack and the kids
named this guy "el gato del Morro".

Catching a good breeze in the soldier living quarters.

Owyn loved exploring the long viewing tunnels with
tiny windows looking out at the water.

An iguana was waiting to greet us at El Morro.  Of course.
He's sunning himself behind Owyn.

 

Cannon Balls

Another tunnel that Owyn just had to crawl through.

We are looking forward to visiting the other fort here in San Juan, "Fuerte San Cristobal", later this week.  We heard San Cristobal has a dungeon that the kids are excited to see!