Ponce, Puerto Rico - Part 1

Ponce, Puerto Rico (April 17–May 1, 2013)

Once docked at the Ponce Yacht & Fishing Club, we rented a car and were off to visit Old San Juan, a beautiful walled city protected by several forts.  Even with a car, there is a lot of walking up and down hills, many of which are cobblestone streets.  And, of course, we were all wearing flip flops.

The streets of Old San Juan

Beautifully restored buildings along Calle de Norzagaray

We headed downhill to the north wall to take in the view of the Atlantic Ocean on our walk to the el Morro Fort.  On our way, we passed the Santa María Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery, so peaceful and beautiful overlooking the ocean.  It is quite stunning!

Santa María Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery

A closer look

The esplanade between el Morro and town is a popular place for kite flying as well as a great place to have a picnic lunch.

Esplanade between el Morro and town

Castillo San Felipe del Morro

Arriving at the Fort, we were informed it was History Week and all tours were free for the entire week.  As cruisers, we love "freebies!"

The Lighthouse at Castillo de San Felipe del Morro (El Morro)
flying the United States, Puerto Rico and the Burgundy Cross Flags

Remnant of the Dutch attack of 1625

Sitting atop the Brass Monkey

Entrance to San Juan Bay
 

4th Level at el Morro

Sentry boxes known as a Garitas were used by
Spanish Conquistadors to watch for approaching ships

We took a quick look at Castillo San Cristobal before heading off to the Bacardi Rum Factory.

Entrance to Castillo San Cristobal

 

San Cristobal Main Plaza

Across town, we arrived at the Bacardi Rum Factory just in time to join the tour and enjoy some shopping and a few drinks.

Bacardi Rum Factory

 

The Bacardi Bat

A well stocked bar with a great bartender

Bacardi of our choice

 

Add The 3 Muskateers, no entry fee and 2 free drinks each, we are off on a great tour of the Factory.

Jim

Les

Sherry

We never did find out who this little guy is, but he was doing a professional photo shoot on the lawn and even had his own human entourage.  He has lots of attitude and carries a great stage presence; however, he was not signing autographs this day.

"Lizard, Lizard!"

 Could be hissing or preparing for a speech

Another well stocked bar

 

 Something new for Jim's Man Cave

Jim holding his liquor

Complete with friendly and knowledgeable tour guides, if you drink Rum, this is an outstanding tour, one not to miss!!!  With each person getting 2 free drinks with the Rum of their choice and a very long line at the checkout, we were quite impressed with the great marketing strategy here.

We didn't come out empty handed... 3 bottles of Rum and 1 Rum Cake
(and a couple more freebies)

We arrived just in time for Justas de Atletismo y Festival Deportivo, known as Las Justas, an annual intercollegiate sports event held in Ponce.  Since we were already in downtown San Juan and had front row parking (what I refer to as "the Jimmy Shrove way"), we decided to stay and celebrate Las Justas with the crowds at the Smirnoff Midnight Circus at Fox Delicias, Justas 2013.  Police lined the streets, literally shoulder to shoulder, hundreds maybe thousands of them.  It was an incredible sight!  We are pretty sure we were amongst the oldest ones there, but you wouldn't know it by looking at our arms.  Yes, it was painful removing these, we both had waxed arms, but what a great time with some fun music.

Followed by a 2-1/2 hour drive back to Ponce, we were exhausted!  Another  great day!