The Scurvy Dog's Puerto Rican Blog

Fort San Juan de la Cruz on Isla de Cabras

aka, el Cañuelo- A National Forest Service, Historic Site
Fort San Juan de la Cruz, El Canuelo on San Juan Bay

I’ve had my eye on this location since before I made my 1st trip to Puerto Rico. Why? Because I suspected it would have a great view across the bay of El Morro and Old San Juan.. I was not disappointed!

This has to be one of the best, ‘must see’ spots on the North side of the island.

There is a fee per vehicle to enter the park… cars are $3 and our SUV cost $4. Cars or trucks with trailers are more still. That said, there was probably a hundred or more folks, making a day of it! Bay Side View of Fort San Juan de la Cruz, El Canuelo on San Juan Bay

New Photo Gear.. Woo Hoo!

This was my first trip out with my new camera,
a Sony Alpha NEX-7, which I’m still getting used to.

For the photographers out there, it sports a 24.3 MP imager, an all electronic eye level viewfinder and weighs a whopping 12 oz. (with battery and card). Physically, it’s on a par with my old Olympus OM-4, a small 35mm SLR.

The big draw for me was the fact that via an adapter, I can mount almost every 35mm lens ever made…10’s of 1,000’s of them. Amazon lists at least 18 different NEX-7 Lens Adapters, most are reasonably priced. [Read more…] about Fort San Juan de la Cruz on Isla de Cabras

Cataño, Gate Keeper to San Juan

This is the first of a series of Posts from the North side of the island… an area I don’t get out to very often. So here we go.

I’ve mentioned Cataño in several of my stories over the last 2 years, but never addressed it directly. Today, I will.

From a tourist’s perspective, the most outstanding thing about Cataño is that this is where the Bacardi Distillery is located. Cataño maintains the only ferry shuttle service to Old San Juan. The ferry terminal (La Lancha de Cataño) in Cataño is undergoing a major update so I expect they will be able to accommodate larger crowds soon. The current version of the service was launched in the 1950’s. It runs from 5AM to 10PM most days and runs 7 days a week. It only takes a few minutes to make the crossing from Cataño to Old San Juan.

The Bacardi tour itself is free so it is worth the cost of the ferry ride and shuttle bus fee to get there and back. The Bacardi tour is in my top 10 list of things to do in Old San Juan.

That said, there is more to Cataño than just Bacardi.

Cataño is located across the bay from Old San Juan, off Highway 165. It happens to be the smallest ‘municipio’ (municipality) in Puerto Rico… half the size of the next smallest town. About 30,000 folks live here. [Read more…] about Cataño, Gate Keeper to San Juan

Gardening in Puerto Rico- Part 1

Gardening in PR- a New Page in the Menu Bar

I’ve had the idea for this new Page and a series of posts for quite a while, but I wanted to be well into my gardening effort before I started posting about it.

That day has come!

I have so much content on the subject of ‘Gardening in Puerto Rico’, I almost turned it into it’s own Website, but for now, I’ll present what I have on me scurvy Blog.. Arrg!

Motivation

Our tropical environment begs to be explored. Being able to mess around in the garden is a great escape from the day to day stuff. Puerto Rico is a wonderful place to pursue gardening. Many folks retire here from the mainland, for that very reason. A chance to work a little garden plot of their own or grow some exotic flowers. Or both!

I’m no exception.

It was part of the criteria for my ‘ideal retirement spot’. Some place I could have a garden. Because of the tropical climate, it’s possible to have a garden year round.

Part 1 of 3- Introduction & Background

I need to make clear, I had done next to no gardening before moving to Puerto Rico. I do not have a green thumb. Get’n dirty… well that’s another matter.

So I’m in the middle of a huge learning curve.

It will take a few more years before I come close to figuring this stuff out. Though some folks come here with the ambition to farm, mine is to simply have a ‘few’ trees producing fruits and nuts for our personal enjoyment… and maybe a veggie garden.

We have no farm critters other than our 3 dogs and 2 cats. A lot of locals raise chickens.. you can hear them night and day. If the cost of chicken climbs over $2.50 a pound, I might reconsider it. Goats are also popular, but require more upkeep than I’m interested in.

But wait, there’s more- [Read more…] about Gardening in Puerto Rico- Part 1

Vaca Brava, Lunch in Old San Juan

The day we visited the HMS Bounty, we finished by going to lunch at Vaca Brava.

Here’s a link to the
HMS Bounty post.

I had heard friends rave about the Vaca Brava restaurant in Barranquitas so when they opened a second one in Old San Juan, we had to check it out.

Vaca Brava is easy to find.

It’s located on Calle Recinto Sur, directly across the street from the old U.S. Post Office. They are in the space where the Hard Rock Cafe used to be. Vaca Brava is about 3 blocks from the docks. There’s a full size fiberglass bull standing by the front door.

Please note that these first 2 shots are from the same vantage point. [Read more…] about Vaca Brava, Lunch in Old San Juan

A Tall Ship in Old San Juan- The HMS Bounty

Mutiny on the Bounty…

An epic tale of the high seas.. a true story of intrigue. The kind great movies are made of. But more about that, a little later on.

Having discovered the HMS Bounty was to ‘winter-over’ in Old San Juan again, it became a ‘must-see’ for this wannabe pirate. A post on the Caribbean Business Website stated it would be on display through the end of March. It’s open 6 days a week, but is randomly closed on one of the weekdays. That might sound a little flaky, but they do this to accommodate cruse ship schedules and the occasional rainy day. On Wednesday, the day we went, it was open from 11AM to 6PM, but hours can vary. [Read more…] about A Tall Ship in Old San Juan- The HMS Bounty