Puerto Rico: Day 9, Bacardi Rum Distillery Tour
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85% of Bacardi energy comes from these 2 wind turbines and saves the company $75,000 per annum! |
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The fruit bat was selected as the company mascot due to the first production facility had to be cleared of nesting bats, seen as a symbol of prosperity. |

I started this blog series referencing a great movie to watch when
starting an adventure. I am adding another must see when traveling to Puerto
Rico and the TV just happened to have a “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie marathon
running. Granted, I didn’t hang around to watch all, just enough to let Johnny
and Orlando set the mood for lots of rum consumption. Argghh!
With a vibrant piratical history, no PR trip is complete without the Bacardi Rum Distillery Tour aka Casa Bacardi. It’s not so much a factory tour as much as a reception room and museum. There is a history of the Bacardi Family, their trials and tribulations with US Prohibition, the seizing of assets by the Communists Cuban leaders and the modern use of wind-turbine power. What you think is the San Juan power plant is actually the campus of Bacardi. Proof that booze and politics go hand-in-hand.
With a vibrant piratical history, no PR trip is complete without the Bacardi Rum Distillery Tour aka Casa Bacardi. It’s not so much a factory tour as much as a reception room and museum. There is a history of the Bacardi Family, their trials and tribulations with US Prohibition, the seizing of assets by the Communists Cuban leaders and the modern use of wind-turbine power. What you think is the San Juan power plant is actually the campus of Bacardi. Proof that booze and politics go hand-in-hand.
All in all we had a wonderful trip. And talking with co-vacationers
on airport vans can teach one a lot. Unbeknownst to us, (or perhaps Providence)
the area of our island tour was not the tourist side. The northeast coast is
apparently THE place to be, as we were on the southwest side. Sounds like they had a
wonderful time banging sea kayaks together with a full bay of other sea-kayaks
during their bioluminescent trip to Puerto Mosquito Bay/Laguna Grande. They were not allowed to snorkel, which is what really made our experience memorable, and as a general rule, I tend to avoid anything named after those evil little blood-suckers. Also, I heard that it rained almost daily on them. With this in mind, I have three travel suggestions for wherever
you tour: 1) don’t plan too hard, 2) get two tour books, one conventional and one off-the-beaten path (reference the second one more often) and 3) have a reason to need a map.

Cheers until next time!
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Bacardi Rum was the first to trademark mixed drinks. e.g. If the drink is call Bacardi and Coke then, by law, Bacardi must be used. |


Puerto Rico has been on our list for years - every since a Denver Post Travel article was written back when we were still living in Littleton. Ryan really wants to explore the forts. Sounds like you had a wonderful trip. We make it a point to be on the "non tourist side" of where ever we happen to be visiting, which sometimes means we can't find a taxi and end up hiking miles, but it makes a good story later. :-)
ReplyDeleteI take that as a huge compliment coming from such an accomplished travel-blogger! Thanks for taking the time to read my stuff! <3
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