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Diving Debbie
Forum Expert
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Posted: Wed Oct 1st, 2008 12:06 pm |
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Okay, peeps, read all about it. We actually went to Puerto Rico and toured the main island. We really, really enjoyed it -- with Cabo Rojo and El Yunque coming in at the top of list. We didn't know if we would make it to Culebra, but we did, and unlike most vacationers, we loved that it was raining. We needed the downtime from our whirlwind trip around the main island. LOL!
http://web.me.com/debalew/Travel/Puerto_Rico_2008.html
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Doug
Charter Member
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Posted: Thu Oct 2nd, 2008 04:06 am |
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| Nice trip. I see El Yunque lived up to its reputation for you. When you lunched in Guanica, was it at the Copa Marina? I ask because that's the only place I went, there. E. Honda looks cool in the stormy mode.
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"Let him who has a free hand cast the first stone."
Dennis Miller, on the Pee Wee Herman public outcry.
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Abe Ross
Member
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Posted: Thu Oct 2nd, 2008 11:43 am |
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Debbie,
Great pictures, thanks for sharing. I can't believe that there is no picture of the Ponce firehouse (or did you leave that one out of the show  ) The pictures made me nostalgic. When I was in high school we used to spelunk what is now the Camuy Caves (back then it was called Hoyo Malo) and we used to climb over El Morro all day long. Some of my friends’ parents were in the army so we had total access to the fort - I think it was called Fort Brooke then.
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It is all too common for caterpillars to become butterflies and then to maintain that in their youth they had been little butterflies. (Vaillant, 1997)
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realesta
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| Joined: | Wed Apr 2nd, 2008 |
| Location: | Tampa, Florida USA |
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Posted: Thu Oct 2nd, 2008 04:11 pm |
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| Ahhhh! The nostalgia. Those are very nice pictures. I am a native of Puerto Rico living in Tampa. FL. now and you guys brought back some nice memories. Thanks. I am glad you enjoyed your trip.
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Hillman
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| Joined: | Sat Feb 10th, 2007 |
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Posted: Thu Oct 2nd, 2008 07:15 pm |
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DD, Thanks for the photos of the Island trip. Now that we have DSL I can enjoy your photography, excellent pics!
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admin
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Posted: Fri Oct 3rd, 2008 04:05 pm |
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Go Hillman and Mrs. Hillman!!! yippeeeee!!!! DSL.....I foresee many fun hours on the computer in Hillman's future.
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and never regret anything that made you smile!
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Diving Debbie
Forum Expert
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Posted: Sat Oct 4th, 2008 12:44 am |
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Abe,
I am sorry to say that we didn't spend as much time in Ponce as we should have. We got anxious to try to squeeze everything in, and did not explore as planned. We did go to the Plaza, but it was very crowded and we just booked on out of there. The architecture there is amazing! I wish we had stuck around a bit. Our style of traveling is to see a bit of everything and make plans to go back to see what we liked or missed, so Ponce is on the list for the future. From Ponce, we cut inland through Caguas to Ceiba, so we missed the southeastern/eastern coast, we we'll be going back for that too.
In addition to realesta, I have had quite a few Puertorican friends comment on how happy they were to see Americans enjoying/loving their island homeland. It makes me proud to be able to share.
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Diving Debbie
Forum Expert
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Posted: Sat Oct 4th, 2008 12:53 am |
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Doug,
In Guanica, we lunched at The Blue Marlin right on the bay. It was delicious, uncrowded and no one spoke English. We rather enjoy being forced to communicate in Spanish - it makes us more aware of the fact that so many non-Americans are bilingual while Americans just think everyone should speak their language. A shame indeed. . . It opens discussions between us regarding the language -- was our usage was correct, did we ask for beets or beans, etc. In one restaurant along the way, I actually had a waiter be surprised by my insisting that I wanted arroz y habichuelas. He was trying, in English, to tell me I wanted the Cuban version of rice and beans.
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Abe Ross
Member
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Posted: Sat Oct 4th, 2008 01:11 am |
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Debbie,
I was kidding about the firehouse. I thought that your leaving it out was an indication of your good taste. (and that will get me in trouble with all of the Ponceños)
Abe
____________________
It is all too common for caterpillars to become butterflies and then to maintain that in their youth they had been little butterflies. (Vaillant, 1997)
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realesta
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Posted: Sat Oct 4th, 2008 02:25 am |
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One place you missed that I forgot to mention is La Parguera in the town of Lajas (next to Guanica). It is a bit more developed now but still a good place to see. But you have to go out on a boat to appreciate its attributes. The phosphorescent bay is no longer as bright as the one in Vieques, but the mangrove "tunnels" are a sight to see as are the houseboats and the outer reefs for snorkeling.
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Island Woman MJ
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Posted: Sat Oct 4th, 2008 10:57 am |
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Great pics! I loved Guanica. There is a place called Mary Lee's by the Sea there - if you go back try to get a room there, it (along with Mary Lee) is unique in the truest meaning of the word. I wanted to move in.
You also missed the NW edge, unless you didn't take pics there? Some great beaches and bars there, one place I liked was Hatillo, this funky restaurant/bar literally ON the beach, which is very very broad, fantastic spot sort of out of real time, Amazing food, great people working there and hardly anyone around at all.
Last edited on Sat Oct 4th, 2008 10:59 am by Island Woman MJ
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Salva lo que queda! Save What's Left!
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Abe Ross
Member
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Posted: Sat Oct 4th, 2008 08:35 pm |
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We too stayed at Mary Lees for a few days and really liked it. I think we should all tell Debbie where she missed so that next time she won't miss anything. I would not include the Ponce firehouse in the list.
____________________
It is all too common for caterpillars to become butterflies and then to maintain that in their youth they had been little butterflies. (Vaillant, 1997)
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Island Woman MJ
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Posted: Sat Oct 4th, 2008 09:02 pm |
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That's funny  I went to take an island tour of PR...supposedly for three days, ended up being 9 days...oopsy! But it was just too good to leave! At one point we came out of the mountains onto a big, main road, thinking we were going to go to Ponce (yes, we'd been told, don't miss the fire station). We looked over at the city, road construction, lots of everything - and looked at each other and nodded...keep on driving! Something about coming out of the tranquility of the mountains...I guess!
The area we missed was the SW corner (Cabo Rojo, etc) because of wanting to get to Rincon (back on the three day idea...ended up STAYING in Rincon 3 days). So another trip is definitely in order one of these days. It's really beautiful up in the mountains too...would like to do more of that...
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Salva lo que queda! Save What's Left!
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Diving Debbie
Forum Expert
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Posted: Sat Oct 4th, 2008 09:55 pm |
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We will definitely be going back to hit the places we missed. Traversing the island is much more than a four day trip. I especially want to do the Cordillero route. I am probably trashing the word, but it's the road that goes from west to east through the mountain tops.
I remember passing Mary Lee's by the Sea - who can forget such a catchy name? If I remember correctly, it's right next to Copamarina that Doug was talking about. Beautiful stretch of undeveloped coastline there. I'm sure that's why we liked Guanica and Cabo Rojo so much - just like Culebra - lack of development makes it special. Hope it stays that way.
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