{"id":3071,"date":"2014-02-07T22:24:26","date_gmt":"2014-02-08T02:24:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tusentakk2.com\/wordpress\/?p=3071"},"modified":"2014-02-07T22:24:26","modified_gmt":"2014-02-08T02:24:26","slug":"chucks-mom-sis-visit-us-in-puerto-rico-jan-28-feb-3-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/tusentakk2.com\/wordpress\/2014\/02\/chucks-mom-sis-visit-us-in-puerto-rico-jan-28-feb-3-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"Chuck’s Mom & Sis Visit Us in Puerto Rico — Jan. 28 – Feb. 3, 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chuck\u2019s 94 year-old mother Evelyn and (censored)-year old sister Zona came to see us in Puerto Rico recently.\u00a0 We had a great time taking in some of the sights and sounds of this friendly island.\u00a0 We visited El Yunque National Forest, Old San Juan (including El Morro), drove along the northern coast and down to the <\/span>Parque de las Cavernas del Rio Camuy<\/em>, visited the <\/span>Observatorio de Arecibo<\/em>, visited the city of Ponce, and partook of some famous roasted pig near the town of Guavate.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mom suffers from severe macular degeneration, but despite this handicap, is a keen\u00a0 player of progressive rummy.\u00a0 In many of the pictures that follow, it appears as if she is infirm.\u00a0 Not so, she is as sharp as a tack and game to go anywhere and doesn\u2019t want to be left behind.\u00a0 But because of her poor vision, we are careful to make sure that she doesn\u2019t stumble.<\/span><\/p>\n

We used the first full day of their stay to visit El Yunque, spending a fair amount of time at the El Yunque Portal display\/museum and also walking a short path near the Portal, returning to our boat at <\/span>Palmas del Mar<\/em> that night.\u00a0 Next day we drove to San Juan, where we visited El Morro and did some trolley-touring of Old San Juan.\u00a0\u00a0 We stayed at Hotel Casablanca, an elegant hotel in the heart of the old city, whose only downside was a lack of elevators.\u00a0\u00a0 Mom and Zona were only one story up \u2013 Barb and I had a little higher to climb.\u00a0 We had lunch at the Siglo XX Restaurant, the same restaurant we had used in Feb. 2012 with Norwegian friends Lars Helge and Tove \u2013 and had the same delicious paella. \u00a0And later we had drinks at the Parrot Club, where Mom and Zona had mojitos and I had a delicious \u201cParrot Passion\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0 After breakfast at the hotel we proceeded west along the coast to Arecibo, where we turned south and visited the spectacular cave in the <\/span>Parque de las Cavernas del Rio Camuy<\/em>, subsequently declared by Mom to be her favorite of their visit.\u00a0 We over-nighted at Casa Grande Mountain Retreat, near Utuado.\u00a0 Next day, instead of driving back up to Arecibo, as we should have done, emboldened by the map on Barb\u2019s iPad, we chose to get to the <\/span>Observatorio de Arecibo<\/em> by taking a shortcut westerly on some very minor roads.\u00a0\u00a0 As the driver, I can say that was a bad mistake.\u00a0\u00a0 The \u201croad\u201d soon became a paved path just barely wider than one vehicle; a path that twisted up and down and back and forth on continual switch-backs.\u00a0 A \u201croad\u201d that caused many interesting contortions when we met opposing vehicles and caused many interesting interjections from the driver.\u00a0\u00a0 Finally, after taking hours to travel just a few crow-miles, we broke out onto the highway south out of Arecibo \u2013 the highway we should have used in the first instance.\u00a0 The observatory is the largest radar-radio telescope in the world and was featured in the movie \u201cContact\u201d.\u00a0 The concave \u201cdome\u201d sits in a 563-feet natural sinkhole formed in the karst landscape characterized by jagged peaks and deep valleys formed by limestone erosion.\u00a0\u00a0 I found the karst landscape almost as interesting as the observatory itself.\u00a0 When we left the observatory to go to the southern city of Ponce, at my insistence we returned first to the northern city of Arecibo, from which we had beautiful wide scenic highways upon which to travel southward.\u00a0\u00a0 \ud83d\ude42<\/span><\/p>\n

We stayed at Hotel Meli\u00e0 in Ponce, right across the street from the <\/span>Parque de Bombas<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0 Another lovely old hotel (which even had an elevator) whose only downside was its upside:\u00a0 the central location.\u00a0\u00a0 Super convenient, but at the mercy of motorcycle, boombox, glasspack muffler, drunken party, and other assorted noises out in the street for most of the (Saturday) night.\u00a0 Next morning we were the only passengers on the tour bus parked right outside the <\/span>Bombas<\/em> \u2013 the old red-and-black firehouse that has been converted into a museum.\u00a0\u00a0 The hour-long tour cost only one dollar per person \u2013 half price to old folks such as we.\u00a0 It was an interesting tour, but the highlight for me was skirting past<\/span> <\/em>the <\/span>25 de Enero Street<\/em> district, a residential area in which all of the homes are painted red and black, just like the <\/span>Bombas<\/em> museum.\u00a0 Our guide explained that in 1899 firefighters saved the village and the mayor rewarded the entire crew with homes.\u00a0\u00a0 To this day they are kept freshly painted in red and black, and although the current firefighters almost certainly live elsewhere, the homes are occupied by the descendants of the long-ago heros.\u00a0\u00a0 Here is what Wikipedia says:<\/span><\/p>\n

On January 25, 1899, a large fire (later dubbed “El Polvorin”) threatened the lives of Ponce\u00f1os, as well as the economy of Puerto Rico as a whole, given Ponce’s <\/span>de facto<\/em> role as Puerto Rico’s banking and agricultural capital. A painting inside Parque de Bombas commemorates the heroic acts of seven valiant “bomberos” and a civilian who fought bravely against the voracious fire that threatened the region. Disobeying orders from the American troops that had recently taken control of Puerto Rico, the group was able to appease flames that had started inside the U.S. Army\u2019s gunpowder reserves. Due to their courageous efforts, disaster was narrowly averted. For their success, the group was honored many times both in Ponce and the rest of Puerto Rico. A few yards from Parque de Bombas, on Plaza Federico Degatau,<\/span>\u00a0sits an obelisk<\/span>\u00a0to their memory, and at the Cementerio Civil de Ponce<\/span>\u00a0(Ponce Civil Cemetery) a mausoleum<\/span>\u00a0was erected in 1911 to their memory where all seven heroes were eventually interred. Later on, the Parque de Bombas building was painted in Ponce’s traditional city colors, red and black. A series of homes built a few years later for the firefighters and their families on 25 de Enero Street\u00a0<\/span>were painted in these colors also.<\/span><\/p>\n

After our tour we packed up and drove back northward.\u00a0\u00a0 Our destination was the famous area near Guavate where roasted pig (<\/span>lechon<\/em>) is served at a number of roadside restaurants.\u00a0 Our specific goal was the <\/span>Lechonera las Pinas<\/em>, one of the most popular, and one we had discovered in 2012 with our Norwegian friends.\u00a0 Then, as this time, we were there on a Sunday afternoon, and the area was packed with locals and tourists.\u00a0\u00a0 Then, as this time, we were fortunate enough to grab one of the last open places in the crowded parking lot.\u00a0 Then, as this time, the band played old-style music in a corner of the noisy open-air dining area.\u00a0 Great fun and great food.<\/span><\/p>\n

When we had completely over-stuffed our swollen bodies, we returned to our neglected boat and played one last game of Progressive Rummy.<\/span><\/p>\n

On Feb. 3 we drove back toward San Juan, stopping at the Plaza las Americas Mall for lunch at the cavernous Cheesecake Factory before dropping Mom and Sis off at the airport.\u00a0 Then, a quick stop at West Marine for some nautical supplies before heading home to our boat through bumper-to-bumper traffic.\u00a0 The wind still howling offshore, we stayed at the dock for a number of additional days while waiting for better cruising conditions.\u00a0 But to learn of our activities after the departure of our guests, tune in to the next episode of Chuck and Barb Go Cruising.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\t\t