SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — On a recent whirlwind visit to Puerto Rico, Lin-Manuel Miranda snuck away for a moment to walk the block where his grandparents once lived.

Visiting takes the “Hamilton” creator back to childhood summers he spent in Vega Alta, a municipality about a 30-minute drive west of San Juan, idling the muggy days alone while his grandparents worked.

He passed the time writing songs and poems on his grandmother's roof or watching movies in his grandfather's video store. The family sometimes visited the theater to see his great-uncle, an actor, perform.

Those summers made Puerto Rican culture “inseparable to me from my own journey as an artist,” Miranda, 45, told The Associated Press. “I still feel so connected to this place as a writer and as an artist.”

When Hurricane Ma

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