Photo by Nikita Castro on Unsplash
“A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike.”
John Steinbeck
More than forty years passed between my two visits to the island of Puerto Rico. Both trips were enjoyable, but they were different. The island was the same in some ways but had also changed with the times. I guess the same was true of me.
During the first trip, I was single and I traveled from New York with my sister. The details are hazier than the more recent trip, but I remember some parts. We stayed in the Condado Beach section of San Juan on the north shore of the island. Our hotel was located about a block from the sand, and we walked to the beach to enjoy sunbathing and swimming. We rented a car for a day, and one of the highlights was a drive to the picturesque, palm-fringed Luquillo Beach toward the eastern shore. It was mostly undeveloped and idyllic. We also drove through the El Yunque Rainforest, and after the sun and heat of the coast, were so delighted to see the rain that we got out of the car and took a photo of the two of us laughing in the tropical downpour. I remember walking the ramparts of El Morro and that the historic center of Old San Juan was lovely with well-kept Old-World buildings. We admired the elegant El Convento Hotel and stylish restaurants, and we browsed inside interesting shops along the cobblestoned streets. I bought a pen and ink sketch of Calle del Cristo to remember it by.
My second trip to the island was from Boston with my husband. On Monday, we picked up a rental car and drove to an apartment we had reserved online. It was in a gated community in Ocean Park on the north shore, and it was owned by a young Italian woman from the Piedmont province. A balcony off of the kitchen faced the beach, and it was a nice spot to have coffee or a glass of wine. After a short trip to Supermax for groceries, we had dinner at Kasalta, a bakery/restaurant, which had a photo commemorating a visit from President Obama in 2011.
Tuesday was a relaxing beach day on the sand near our temporary home followed by dinner at Pirilo, an Italian restaurant.
On Wednesday, I convinced my husband to drive to Luquillo Beach, which I had remembered so fondly. On the way east, we stopped at Piñones, a long, secluded beach with a boardwalk through the pines edging the sand. We walked the boardwalk one way and along the beach on the way back (a little over 2 miles). It was mellow. Afterward, we continued to Luquillo. It was a disappointment because progress had brought buildings that took away from the once-idyllic setting. We derived some consolation by drinking delicious mango/kiwi batidas. We drove further on the eastern shore to Fajardo where we bought ferry tickets for the off-shore islands for later in the week. Then we headed home and cooked dinner.
Thursday was another relaxing beach day near the apartment followed by dinner at La Cuerva del Mar, a seafood restaurant.
On Friday, we drove back to Fajardo and took a ferry to the small island of Vieques. We landed at Isabel Segunda then took a publico (shared van) to Esperanza on the other side of the island, passing lots of horses on the way. We walked the malecon (waterfront boardwalk) to Sun Bay where we spent the day on a nice crescent beach and drank pina coladas. Later, we walked back to Esperanza, and we took a publico back to Isabel Segunda where we walked around, went into an art gallery, then to a bar for a beer. After an early dinner at a restaurant called Mamasonga, we took a ferry back to the main island.
On Saturday, we drove to a parking lot at Balneario, just over the bridge from Condado Beach. From there, we walked to Old San Juan for the Fiesta de San Sebastián. So many people! It was a music-filled drinking party with impromptu parades, lots of shuttle buses, and a heavy police presence. It was hard to browse the arts and crafts vendors because of the crowds. The historic area itself seemed less elegant than I remembered. So, we had lunch at an outdoor restaurant called Toro Saloo then walked back to the car. We stopped at Supermax for groceries and headed back to relax at home.
On Sunday, we drove to El Yunque National Rainforest, and after enjoying the tropical splendor, I bought a piece of hand-painted jewelry from a local artist exhibiting at the visitor center there. In the evening, we walked from our apartment to dinner at Bahia. Afterward, my husband watched a Patriot game on TV, and I wrote.
On Monday, we drove to Fajardo again and took a ferry to the island of Culebra. After we disembarked, we took an hour's walk to Playa Flamenco. In the late afternoon, we had a meal in Dewey Harbor at Mamacitas before taking a ferry back to Fajardo and driving home.
We started Tuesday with a walk to Kasalta for cappuccino and pastry. Afterward, we drove along the northwest coast. It was, at first, industrial then more rural between larger towns. We walked a beach with wild breaking waves in Isabela, then we drove as far as Aguadilla, where we looked for a lunch place on the water without luck. On the way back, we saw mostly fast-food places. We headed for Lighthouse Bay Restaurant on the water in Arecibo which Lonely Planet recommended, but it was closed. More fast food lined the way to San Juan, so we drove to our home base then walked into Condado for dinner.
I started Wednesday morning by doing some writing then we walked the beach and swam before having lunch in the apartment. In the evening, we walked to B de Burro for dinner where we met some friendly locals, including one guy who went to Northeastern University in Boston.
Thursday was our last full day. We drove to the south shore to Playa Salinas and Playa Santa Isabel. That side of the island was quieter with banana plantations, windmills, and a mangrove-lined coast. After eating a snack in the car, we drove back home and went to our beach. In the evening, we walked to Blonda in Condado for dinner then started packing.
On Friday, we cleaned the apartment, returned the rental car, and flew home to Massachusetts. It was another lovely, relaxing, and fun trip to the island.