Right
after breakfast today, I started driving southwest.
My first stop was Ponce. Ponce
had a fountain I wanted to see (plus, I collect Hard Rock Café pins, and this
was the only location in Puerto Rico!).
After a few minutes of trying to find parking (my biggest headache in
the cities), I finally found a parking garage just a block from the fountain.
Fuente de Los Leones (Lions Fountain) is a famous fountain located in Plaza las
Delicias, the main square in Ponce. The
square was surrounded by businesses, including restaurants, and I found a
quaint little place called Jalapeño’s with outdoor seating overlooking the
square. It was so peaceful and
relaxing. The food was good, too!
Although I didn’t go up into it due to time constraints, there is also a
structure called Cruceta del Vigía (Watchman’s Cross) with expansive views
overlooking Ponce. It’s an impressive
structure!
Cruceta del Vigia
Once I
left Ponce I headed to Yauco with its brightly painted buildings. Once I left Ponce I noticed a change in the
scenery. The landscape wasn’t as lush
and dense as the eastern portion, and I began to see more open green spaces
with small, pointy mountains, as though someone dropped green gumdrops. I
wished I could have taken pictures of them, but I was on an interstate, and
stopping wouldn’t have been safe.
My stop in
Yauco included seeing Yaucromatic, an urban art and mural initiative aimed at increasing the number of
visitors to Yauco. I can see why
they wanted to do this; the city was deserted when I was there! I expected it to be busy, but I guess it’s a
bit off the beaten path. The first thing I saw in Yaucromatic was a tree with a
crocheted cover around it. The brightly
colored buildings were really beautiful and interesting; I think I saw only two
people while I was there! It felt a bit
eerie.
After
spending a few minutes in Yauco, and traveled on to Rincon, where I hoped to
see whales. The land started flattening out, and I saw more agriculture and
wetlands. As I came into Rincón (again,
very narrow streets), I made my way to Red Flamboyan Guesthouse, where I would
be staying for the night. The Red
Flamboyan Guesthouse was a newish hotel located on the west side of Puerto Rico,
and had a restaurant serving authentic Puerto Rican food. My room was very nice and comfortable, with a
balcony that overlooked the Atlantic Ocean.
There was an outside lounge area on top of the building with expansive
views all around. I had to drive a
couple of minutes to the beach access, but wow was it worth it! I watched a very beautiful sunset while
seeing pelicans diving for food. Sadly, no whales though. At dinner that night I talked to a few people
at the bar area and they said people were seeing whales further south along the
coastline. Oh well, it’s just an excuse
to go back!
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