"Wow, do you know what this goes for on the mainland?" Chase said looking at me, smiling, with a bottle of Bacardi 151 in one hand and a bottle of 12-year-old private stock in the other.  "One for here, and one for home."

My brother's friends in the Coast Guard were stationed in Puerto Rico, so it was only typical of him to buy a plane ticket for me to go when he made his plans to see the beautiful island.

Two things ran through my head when I was packing.  Pack lots of bikinis, and leave room in the suitcase to bring back Bacardi.

The 17,000 square feet of the Casa Bacardi compound is nestled away in the hills right outside of San Juan.  It was our plan to go there first thing in the morning the day after we arrived. The factory was one of the main highlights of the trip.  

First thing in the morning didn't happen until one o'clock in the afternoon after nursing the hangover for the night before, but when we finally made it to Casa Bacardi, we were relieved to find out that curing the hangover would be easier than we thought as they handed over drink coupons to us.

Mint mojitos and classic Bacardi and Coke were offered to us. We took pictures in front of the distillery and gift shop while sipping on our concoctions and waited for the tour to begin.

The 45-minute guided tour took us through the process of Bacardi, from who the Bacardi family is, how it's made and why they use a bat as the symbol.  While walking through, we used all of our senses while we sniffed flavored rum barrels, tasted different mixtures, and saw an "antique" bar scene with a bartender who lighted Bacardi on fire and told jokes to us.  Then, at the end of the tour we sent digital e-postcards home to the family and were able to see all the Bacardi advertisements from over the years.

The tour ended at the gift shop, where Bacardi offers deals on rum and trinkets, as well as some bottles that can only be found at Casa Bacardi.  Since anything over 150 proof is flammable and cannot be taken on a plane, the bottle of Bacardi 151 lasted us the rest of the week before we had to fly home.

**Casa Bacardi can be found right outside of San Juan for about a $5 taxi trip

This Puerto Rico travelogue was brought to you by Kristen Grimes.