We still haven't visited the starfish, as promised last week. But we did start off with an amazing snorkel and a visit to one of the world’s most beautiful beaches!
Playa Flamenco is ranked third among the top ten beaches of the world and did not disappoint. The waves roll in continuously, perfect for body surfing. The water temp is cool and refreshing on a beautiful sunny day. We were lucky enough to visit it with our sailing friends and usual partners in crime, Dean & Kim, Dream Catcher crew.
And unexpectedly bumped into our friends from Massachusetts who got a surprise extension to their vacation. Sky had just finished saying how much she wished Lila could be there because she would love the waves!
We, of course, continued our daily visits to Sweet & Naughty and really love bumping into familiar faces at the Dinghy Dock.
Photo credit - Simon Clavet
You’ve not truly dined until you have shared the space with quarreling roosters! Took me back to the days my dad would take me to the cock fights and I would collect feathers :)
Always exciting @ Zaco's.
We unknowingly picked the perfect window to visit the mainland. We stop checking the weather when we do not have a sail planned so we did not know it would be rainy all week in Culebra but we missed it by loading onto the ferry and heading to the mainland of Puerto Rico.
FYI - when you pick the cheapest rental car in a foreign country you may end up driving a 2006 Mitsubishi Lancer, with 170,000 miles on it, scratchy windshield wipers and no power to the DC outlet! But it did get us around fairly safely :) Thank you Rental World, Fajardo, PR.
What is the first thing you do when you’ve been away from the states for 2 months?
Visit McDonalds, of course!
We had fun seeing the countryside and the girls’ voices would reach fever pitch with every chain, fast food restaurant they recognized!
We enjoyed a perfectly sunny day exploring two of the most impressive Spanish forts we have ever heard of.
Castillo San Felipe del Morro (El Morro) is huge!
Construction on the fort began in the mid 1500s and continued with regular updates and re-fortifications until as recently as WWII.
The Spanish used the fort to protect the Bay of San Juan and successfully fended off multiple attacks by the Dutch & British. They also put up a good fight against the Americans during the Spanish/American War but we took control of it in 1898.
Unfortunately, American improvements did not honor the amazing architecture and went for more practical fortifications when they added the massive concrete bunker for spotting German submarines during WWII.
We found it pretty amazing that El Morro has protected this area for so many generations. They don't build them like that anymore!
After hours on the grounds of El Morro, we were exhausted & famished! We found a little corner cafe and rested before heading to San Cristobal.
Castillo San Cristobal is considerably smaller than El Morro and construction began 100 years later but held many similarities. Some of the differences we found interesting were the series of underground tunnels woven beneath the fortress. One area was used to hold prisoners for deportation and had drawings of ships on the wall thought to have been sketched by a captain held in the early 1700s.
After a speedy trip through Walmart and a not so speedy ferry ride, we were back in our beloved Culebra. The rainy weather helped us stay onboard long enough to unpack, re-sort the frig and figure out how our new freezer works! We splurged on a Norcold cooler style freezer that we will keep on the floor of our salon. We have a built-in freezer on Abby but it requires us running the engine 3 hours a day to charge it for it to just hover around 32 degrees. The new freezer allows us to store the ice we make and as much food as we can fit at a rock solid 15 degrees or colder if we choose!
Pair that with also pulling out the generator for the first time since we left so we could run the AC and those rainy days don't look so bad ;)
It would be very easy to get sucked into this magical little island and never want to leave but we started going through my notes on the BVIs and there is just too much still out there to see! Hopefully this is the week we get a few new stamps in our passports, if weather permits :)
Things learned aboard this week:
Sometimes not being aboard is a really nice break! A few nights in a hotel felt like the spoiling of a lifetime :) Abby is super comfy and we all have just enough space to not drive each other crazy. But what a treat to have unlimited air conditioning, dry non-humid sheets, continental breakfast served w/out effort on my part, wifi at our fingertips, and cable! Sometimes it's the small things in life...
Fascinating, as usual!
ReplyDeleteLove!!!
ReplyDeleteWow - you went first class, staying in a hotel on PR! Great history lessons, too.
ReplyDeleteLove you all!