Since we were delayed in leaving Florida due to doctor
appointments, we decided to take a quick trip to Puerto Rico. Don was there back in the 1960s when he was
in the Navy but I had never been. Puerto
Rico would be a nice break from our daily routines and we could get another
stamp for our National Parks Passport.
The flight down was beautiful. The skies were mostly clear and we could see
islands scattered below us. Most of them
appeared to be uninhabited, surrounded by white beaches and clear waters. It was
easy to see the reefs and the definite change in water colors for the deeper
water.
We arrived in San Juan early Monday and left late
Thursday. We stayed in guest quarters at
the USCG Air Station in Aguadilla on the western end of the island. Back in the 1960s it was Ramey Air Force Base
and I’m sure it was much larger than it is today. We stayed in a five bedroom house; each room
had a private bath, microwave, refrigerator, and TV. The living room, dining room, and kitchen
were shared by all. We paid an extra
$5/night for a private patio but it wasn’t worth it. There wasn’t any furniture at all on the
patio so we never sat out there. There
was one other couple staying in the house but we never saw them. The quarters were clean and the bed
comfortable but that is about all. It
was very old and very sparsely furnished.
But the price, $45/night, was much less than anything else we saw.
Augadilla was only 66 miles from San Juan but it took us three
hours to make the trip. Driving was
definitely a challenge. Fortunately, we
did take our GPS with us and it was a huge help, although not perfect with the
many one-way streets. Traffic was very
heavy with a lot of road construction, thus numerous delays. All the road signs were in Spanish which made
it difficult to navigate in construction areas and detours. The city streets were very, very narrow, with
cars parked haphazardly on both sides.
Several times we encountered cars that were actually parked in the
middle of the road while the drivers ran into small stores. 
After checking in, we headed to Rincon, planning to have
dinner along the beach while watching the sunset. It was a beautiful beach and beautiful
sunset, but no beach cafes to be seen.
The west end of the island isn’t really oriented for tourists. It is best known for diving, snorkeling, and
surfing. We ended up eating sandwiches
back in our room.
The next morning we got an early start. We initially planned to visit the Camuy Caves
and Arecibo Observatory but they were both closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. So we headed to the south shore to visit
Ponce, Puerto Rico’s second largest city.
We wanted to drive through the mountains but we encountered a detour
that was poorly marked and we couldn’t read the signs which were all in
Spanish, of course. We ended up wandering
an hour or so through several very narrow and congested streets in Mayaguez,
trying to get back to the main highway.
We drove into San German, looking for the Museum of Religious
Art. After several wrong turns, we
finally found it but it was closed – open Wednesdays through Saturdays. There were several sculptures and plaques but
all in Spanish, of course. So we
continued on to Ponce.
Things were looking up by the time we got to Ponce. Miracle of miracles, we found a parking place
right on the center plaza. Hurray! In the center of the plaza was the Catedral
de Nuestra Senora de la Guadalupe (Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe). It was a beautiful church but there wasn’t
any information regarding the church history.
We were lucky we arrived when we did as noon mass was just getting over
so the church was open. We walked around
and admired the artwork and spoke briefly with a gentleman leaving the
sanctuary. He told us the original
church was destroyed by an earthquake in the late 1800s. Only the two towers remained standing and
they became the foundation for the new cathedral when it was rebuilt. The altar was over 100 years old and had been
brought over from Spain. As we exited
the church, they were turning off the lights and locking the doors behind
us. Behind the cathedral is the red
and black, century-old wooden firehouse, Parque de Bombas. This unique firehouse is open to the public,
with exhibits on the second flood. 
Leaving Ponce, we headed up into the mountains, planning to
drive along the scenic byway expecting spectacular views of valleys, rivers,
and waterfalls. Not to be! The roads were extremely narrow and winding,
and the rain clouds moved in. We did see
several waterfalls, muddy and cascading down and over the highway, as we
navigated through flooded roads – we could only hope that landslides would not
add excitement to our trip! The heavy
rains encouraged us to get out of the mountains the fastest way possible, and
we headed north towards the coast. 
On Wednesday, we headed into San Juan. First and primary stop – San Juan National
Historic Site. The site includes two forts, San Felipe del
Morro and San Cristobal, El Canuelo, and three-fourths of the city walls. It is the oldest European constructions
within the U.S. National Parks. El Morro
sits atop a high promontory overlooking the entrance to San Juan Bay. It was built over a period of more than 250
years and is the largest fortification built by the Spanish in the Caribbean. The foundation was laid in 1539 but the
six-level fortification was not completed until 1787. El Morro survived attached from the English
in 1595 and 1598, and the Dutch in 1625.
In 1898, U. S. Navy ships fired upon the fort during the Spanish-American
War. El Morro was designed to protect
San Juan from attacks by sea, whereas San Cristobal guarded from enemy
approached by land. It is a very large
complex, connected by walkways and tunnels, with walls over 30 feet high and 16
feet thick in places. It is an amazing engineering
accomplishment. One interesting construction
feature is the various rain-water collection devices, including sloping
surfaces, gutters, and drains, all leading to several huge cisterns. Animals were not allowed within the fort to
prevent contamination of the drinking waters. 
Leaving the fort, we walked through the historic “Red Gate”
to the El Morro Promenade along the outside of the city wall. This gate, built in 1635, was the formal
entrance to the old city and was a symbol of protection and relief for weary
travelers arriving from Spain. The Latin
inscription above the gate translates to “Blessed are they who come in the name
of the Lord.” After entering the city,
travelers proceeded up the street to the San Juan Cathedral to thank God for a
safe voyage. The cathedral is the final
resting place for the explorer, Ponce de Leon.
We walked along the wall and into Old San Juan. The
cobblestone streets are very narrow, while the colorful buildings are filled
with small shops and restaurants.
Impressive sculptures, fountains, and statues are sprinkled throughout
the city including a tall column in V-Century Plaza commemorating the 500 year
anniversary, 1492 to 1992.
Thursday was our last day and there was so much we had not
seen. We visited the Del Rio Camuy Caverns, home to
one of the largest river cave systems in the world. We took a tram to the bottom of a huge
sinkhole and from there, a guided tour through the one cave that is open to the
public. We wanted to visit the Bacardi
Rum Distillery, the largest in the world, but heavy rain and construction
delays made us fear we could miss our flight.
So that will have to wait until next time.
The flight home was a trip from hell! Don and I both had window seats; he was
seated behind me. Next to me were two
little boys, ages 5 and 6, and in front of me were two more small children,
ages 1 ½ and 3. I offered to trade seats
with the grandmother who was sitting across the aisle but she said she was
fine. The 3-year old wasn’t in her seat
for two minutes when she dumped her McDonald’s French fries all over me, the
two boys, the seats, and the floor! Her
mother never acknowledged it at all. Before
long, all four children were crowding into the two seats next to me, with the 1
½ year old grabbing at my book and crawling over me to look out the
window. I finally got up and spent the
next hour standing in the back of the plane chatting with the flight
attendant. I waited until the pilot put
on the “fasten seat belts” sign before returning to my seat. I was very glad to see the lights of Tampa.
Would we go back?
Yes! What would we do
differently? Go in January or February (drier and perhaps less humid) and plan
better! We would stay a few nights on
the west end of the island, taking advantage of the beautiful beaches for
snorkeling and Don could play golf. Then
we would stay a two or three nights in the San Juan area so we would be closer
to the tourist activities. We would take
a catamaran sunset cruise, visit and hike El Yunque National Rain Forest, and
take the Barcardi distillery tour.
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