You can plan all you want, but nobody can control what is required to make a perfect day. A perfect day emerges. It reveals itself. You need a lot of help from fate and Mother Nature. And I got it. Last Saturday’s trip to Colonia del Sacramento was a trip I had been planning since I first visited the Barrio Histórico with Pablo and Kaitlyn in July of 2023. Walking the streets with them, I wondered how much Rocky might enjoy the sights, sounds, and smells. I video-chatted with her from several locations on that day. A couple, in particular, stood out. They were both seating areas outside small restaurants.

The first was in a location just off what I now know as the Plaza Mayor. I didn’t know that when I booked a room for us at the Posada Plaza Mayor. I just wanted a hotel in the Bario Historico that would allow us to walk this UNESCO World Heritage site easily. I had no idea it was right at the spot I had called her from. The hotel is built on the foundations of a Portuguese ranch from 1700 and a house from 1860. We stayed in one of the rooms featured on the website. I didn’t ask for it. It just happened.

The second spot was outside of the Basílica del Santísimo Sacramento. A restaurant called Que Tupe. There was just something about the place that spoke to me. I didn’t eat anything there on my previous trip. I only knew I wanted to sit at a table and soak up the atmosphere of the place. So we did. And it was perfect.

Afterward, we went back to the room, and I got “my real camera,” but decided I’d rather have Rocky use it instead of me. I didn’t plan that. It just felt right in the moment. It’s hard to describe the joy I felt watching her take in this place through a different lens. I’m going to show some of the photos she took in a different post. But I know this: my day was better watching her with it, and I think her day was better using it.

I occasionally took the camera back to grab images of her. This next one was taken as we sat drinking a glass of wine, listening to a man play the most outstanding Spanish guitar. I couldn’t possibly have planned a moment like this. It was perfect in its serendipity.

Near the end of our walk about the town, we headed down to the bank of the Uruguay River. Rocky, of course, did what she does when she is near water. She stacks rocks. In Ventura, she often draws a crowd to her finished rock sculptures. She is very good at it, often drawing a crowd to the process and the finished work. One day, a man from Pasadena who owned an art gallery offered to bring rocks to his gallery and have her do a live art performance. He said he was mesmerized. The stones were not perfect at the river, but the moment was.

We then went back to the hotel to dress for dinner. I had eaten at Bohemia Bistro on my previous trip to Colonia del Sacramento. It’s right on the river, looking across to Buenos Aires. I timed our reservation for sunset, hoping we might get a good one. We walked there in the glow of the golden hour and watched the full sunset explode from our table. As you can see, I couldn’t have asked for more. The meal was fabulous, the setting was fantastic, and the service was exceptional. And we drank just a bit too much wine. It was perfect.

After, we walked back to the Plaza Mayor, sat on a bench, and continued listening to the Spanish guitar player. A percussionist had joined him. It was magical. Perfect.

And that was just the time in Colonia del Sacramento! The day began with an unexpected early rise and a chance to see a sunrise in Buenos Aires. And the weather for our ferry from Buenos Aires across the river to Uruguay was so beautiful. We got a great view of the city as we left, and our ferry arrived at just the right time to walk to our hotel and check-in without waiting.

I know “a perfect day” is a strong statement. But for this one day, it fits. It was a perfect day. Here’s to more perfect days.

Jeff Turner

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