#teerico

I just need to fangirl with y’all for a minute. Sooo I’ve been obsessed with Hamilton and In The Heights (and by proxy Lin Manuel Miranda) for a hot second now and ordered some stuff from his website- TeeRico. It came today and it’s made me very happy!!!

Some notes- it was shipped from “Your Obedient Servant” in New Jersey and part of the official address is “everything is legal” (in New Jersey) GET IT!! 😂 (Hamilton joke)Then on the packing slip it said “thank you for supporting Lin and his mom and pop shop!”- (In the Heights reference/joke!!). Also there was a hand dawn heart on the shipping label and that made me very happy too 😩❤️.

Lin Manuel Miranda stopped by our booth at SDCC to tell us how his first con was going, launch a brand new Pin Mates set, and talk about what’s next for his career!

Last update of Puerto Rico! Angel and I were both ready for an easy-going day so we had a leisurely wake up before using our free hotel voucher for a meal at Alto Grande, a cafe in a shopping complex right by the hotel, and heading over to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hometown of Vega Alta. It is an Uber-able location from San Juan but since we rented a car it was just a short 30 minute drive away. If you’re looking for the giant hub of Miranda-goodness just google “La Placita.” It basically looks like a small outdoor market square with several restaurants and a giant mural in honor of Lin’s grandfather (who I believe owned a credit union in the town) and of course Lin.

One of the 2 murals on site. If you spot this at the outer corner you’re in the right place.

The main mural that everyone has to stop for

The plaza has some outdoor seating, a small bakery, a restaurant, a smoothie bar, and of course the Teerico booth! 

If you’re coming to Vega Alta you gotta support the Teerico fam!

There’s also a small Miranda museum at the corner set up by a sweet woman named Abigail who lives in town. The museum showcases some of Lin’s various accomplishments and is a nice quick walk through. There’s also a ton of seats in the room so you can grab food and eat indoors. It literally feels like a community rec center and since the entire plaza is about legacy, especially ones where you pay it forward in your community, the close-knit hometown vibe was very appropriate. And to make the whole trip better, Angel and I ran into a Papa Miranda!

He just wandered in like any regular person (though still proudly sporting his Hamilton VIP pass), and was having a chill time with what seemed like some hometown friends. So thankful he’s so enthusiastic about photos. 

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We decided to get some lunch in the plaza and even though I was still full from breakfast I had to get a sampling from each spot so I ended up with a non-alcoholic piña colada, an octopus arepa, a crab arepa, and a piece of bizcocho de queso w/ guava sauce. There’s not too many large to do items in town though if you go down the street you can visit their plaza and take a look at their local cathedral. Across the street from that is a large alley of sorts with really nicely painted wall murals featuring in-town artists.

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After lunch I decided to unwind and pack a bit before going to dinner at our final main meal in Puerto Rico: Verde Mesa. While I wanted to leave with a big Puerto Rican bang, I had hit my limit of fried foods and plantains so we opted for a farm to table spot in San Juan that had some lighter fare. The interior is adorable. Almost like a ferry cavern and every waiter was dressed so fabulously. Our meal was also so fresh and delicious. We started with the Swordfish ceviche w/ Malanga chips. I got the pumpkin barley risotto w/ roasted eggplant, kale, mushroom escabeche, and herb sauce while Angel went w/ the house special Arroz Verde dish. We ended with the Purple Dream which was essentially whipped cream folded with berries and meringue and topped with lavender.

Delicious and light meal. The ingredients really spoke for themselves.

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After a day of essentially nothing but eating, it was time to make it a night of nothing but drinking. Just kidding I’m too old for that… I had one mojito but we did enjoy the nightlife version of the San Sebastian Street Festival. The main streets are definitely far more packed at night. With random clusters of people singing and dancing, bar employees advertising their boxes of $1 jello shots, and just an air of good vibes. 

The entire vibe of this whole city is just so good.

We enjoyed 2-3 stages of performances before deciding to turn in around 11pm and walking back. The main festivities wind down around then though it seems like the bars stay open to continue the drunken partying. It was such a perfect way to end my final night in San Juan. I’m sad to be leaving for the cold weather and all my normal life problems back in the states but my week and a half here has been absolutely magical.