Puerto Rico

After arriving in San Juan, I found a nice budget hotel close to the main beach and spent the day walking the beach and then exploring Old/Viejo San Juan. Old San Juan is a small area full of pastel colored buildings, nice restaurants, narrow streets, and other aesthetically pleasing features. I made it just in time to catch the sunset over El Morro, the fort that was built to guard the city. Next, I took a flight over to Vieques for a few days before returning to San Juan for a roadtrip of epic proportions (well, as epic as you can get on a 100 mile island). I headed East, following the coast, then South along the water before turning towards the middle of the island on the "Panoramic Route," which is a series of convoluted roads that meander through the rainforests and peaks of the center of the island. After a torrential downpour along a dark, twisty one-lane road that included fallen trees and steep dropoffs, I figured it was time to find a hotel for the night in Adjuntas. Surprisingly, the hotel wasn't "easy to find," like the owner said it was. After a few laps around the town and asking a few people, I found the miniscule sign and back road that led to my hotel and the smiling owner. I was also mistaken for someone's son there, so apparently I look Puerto Rican...I've always thought so. I awoke to an amazing view of greenery and mountains surrounding the small town. I made my way around a few of the mountain roads for a few hours of driving that basically amounted to ending up in the exact same spot before deciding to head South on the main road towards the large city of Ponce. From there, I cut over to the West coast of the island, followed along, and ended up at a great hotel in Quebradillas with an incredible view of a small beach below. The next day, I went down to the hidden beach and ended up talking with a friendly (yet very dirty) old man about some less than comfortable topics with someone that you have just met. Unfazed, I continued my trek back to San Juan before boarding the plane back to Atlanta that evening.

A view of the main beach in San Juan/Carolina. Even more amazing is Speedo Man, if you can spot him. It's worth it.

The old, San Juan-esque streets of Old San Juan, along with the pastel colored homes and shops.

An elegant cemetary in the NW corner of Old San Juan, affording magnificent views of the Atlantic to the deceased.

A side view of El Morro, and a hint of the adjacent green fields full of families, kite-flyers, lovers and everyone in between.

The beach at Luquillo in the NE corner of the island is rated as one of Puerto Rico's best.

The same beach from a different angle, gloating in its own magnificence.

The awe-inspring views along the Panoramic Route provided some solace after a disappointingly bland calzone.

The center of the island boasts 4,000+ ft. mountains and lush rainforests that would make any Latin American proud.

Another picture from the side of the road. Yes, it would be annoying to be driving along behind me. Mi culpa.

Here's that fountain in the city square of Ponce. You know, the one with the lion and the spraying water. Yep, this is the one.

Crashboat Beach and its own version of pastel colors. Seriously, did you forget already? Look at the second picture in this set.

The view from the parking lot of my hotel (Parador Vistamar) in Quebradillas. It only took me three tries to figure out how to get to that beach. Turns out that the main road goes that way.

A window into the soul of Puerto Rico or something like that.