Back to Arecibo and Points West…

Because I’m running short of time, weather issues and having to deal with car repairs, I’ve had to zip around the West and South West parts of the island. Yes, my front brake pads have to be replaced so I’m loosing more time. I will have to put off my side trips for later… there WILL be a later. In the past, I’ve had good luck with used cars, but not this time around.

Seems my Karma has finally caught up with me.

So here’s what I got..

On my way back through San Juan, I was able to stop at the grounds of the original Caparra Fort in what eventually became Guaynabo. It would be the oldest Spanish fort on the island, but it was abandoned in favor of what is now, Old San Juan because the Spaniards could not hold off the local natives from there, so they retreated to a defensible position. The grounds were open, but not the museum. So it goes.

BTW, my Mio GPS unit worked great at helping me avoid the small side streets in San Juan. It’s easy to get lost there. You have to keep in mind, 2 million people live their and they all got cars!  Well, almost all.

The Arecibo Lighthouse was beautiful. However, it has been turned into a “tourist trap” of sorts with formally staged exhibits like a native hut area, fake Spanish ships to climb on, a large snack area AND a Pirates Haunted Cave “like” structure which included a saltwater aquarium exhibit.. Slightly strange.

These were really aimed at children, but the gate price was ridiculous.. $10 for adults, $5 for children and $3 to park. The display at the light house was the most authentic from a historical perspective, but it featured the same replica Italian black powder gun I used in my staged pirate shots. No kidding! I did a double-take when I saw it on display like it was a collectable. And they used 2 more of them in the “Pirate Cave” theme. All in all, I enjoyed this side trip, but I have no wish to go back. If you have kids or grandkids, then I suppose this would be a “must see”.

I also got a few nice shots of the local beach, down below the lighthouse.

This is when the weather and my Isuzu’s brakes went bad on me. The thunder, lightning and driving rain seemed to go on and on. I ducked into a Kmart to score some ice in Arecibo.

I drove through most of the other towns only stopping in Aguadilla about 5:30PM (as my light was starting to fade) to shoot the crash boat beach area.

From there, I drove on to Mayaguez, skipping much of my planned itinerary. I spent the night at the Holiday Inn Tropical Casino. Again, I had to take what I could find. It was very nice, but at $140 for the night it was too high.

I did go down to the lobby and drop $5 bucks on nickel slots. Whoopee! The casino was very busy. The next morning, the parking lot looked deserted. After my big play at the casino, I stopped in at Holly’s Cafe (in the hotel) and ordered a hamburger, medium. It was more than I could eat. The bun was over size and the patty was even bigger… I guess around 2/3’s pound. It came with fried, potato wedges ($15 with tip including a coke). The room did not come with breakfast so I ordered French toast with bacon ($10 with tip including coffee). They did a good job with that too. I had wanted to shoot a few interior shots of the casino, but that was a big corporate no no. The manager was not going to budge on that one. A nice place. I would stay there again if the price was cheaper. The staff was very nice and friendly.

Mostly because of price, otherwise it would have rated 4 skulls, Arrg…

After all of that, I drove through Ponce straight on to Coamo so I could get my brakes fixed. I know people there.. Thank God

Scurvy Dog Update- The Beach shots are not of Crashboat Beach.  I still need to shoot it.  These are from the local beach of Aguadilla.