Today is it. Today is the last day Summer and I have at the house to ourselves for almost 3 months. I know, crazy right? We have Conner and his family flying in tonight (Conner is here until Feb 3rd), Mike, Carry and Matt at the end of January, Christian and his chick coming in February, My Dad and his family at the end of February and then Drew and his girlfriend the beginning of March.
It seems like a lot of visitors, and it is, but I love it when friends come down to visit. It gives us excuses to do touristy things in Rincon and forces me to leave the beach and head to other tourist destinations around Puerto Rico that we have just never gotten around to doing on our own. It’s also great to be at the house with old friends and cook meals together and drink coffee on the front porch and talk about old times while we create new stories to tell in the years to come.
I would like to put a list together of great things to do while visiting Rincon. Here is my partial list, do you guys have anything else I can ad to it?
Things To Do While Visiting Rincon
- Hang Out at the Beach All Day
- Surf (I already have this one covered)
- Snorkel
- Skin Dive for Lobster and Fish
- Walk Domes Trail
- Walk to the River Mouth
- Go to the Waterfalls
- Go to La Parguera (bioluminescent bay)
- Arecibo Observatory
- Watch the Sunset from the Goat House
- Try Mavi Frio
- Try Ron Cana (Puerto Rican Moonshine)
- Try an Empanadilla at Kaplash
- Mofongo for a meal (I like the shrimp, cause they don’t fry them ahead of time)
- Skate the bowl in Aguadilla
- Golf at the Aguadilla Golf Course
- ParaSail
- Scuba Dive
- Fishing Charter
- Horse Back Riding
- Local Photographers Surf Slide Shows
- Visit Local Art Galleries
You got a long list of things to do!! You can go to the mountains too, don’t you think? There’s a lake in Adjuntas were you can go kayaking. It’s name is Lago Las Garzas. You can also go to Lago Dos Bocas in Utuado, there’s a restaurant were you have to take a boat to get there (I don’t know the name). You can also go kayaking in the bioluminicent bay of Fajardo. I know it’s veeery far from Rincon, but is prettier than the one in La Parguera because you can only access with a kayak, so the boats can’t damage it. Remember not to go with full moon because you are not going to see anything because of the light.
WOW!! Looks like u will be busy! Thats awesome. I just want to tell you La Parguera is not a very nice bioluminescent bay. Its a cool place to go because its like a carnaval, street fair type of atmosphere, but the bay is not very bright & you go on a big electric boat so you cant touch the water. If you are up for the drive than I suggest going to Las Croabas Lagoon (La Laguna Grande) in Fajardo. You can take a kayak (like Carol said) & the glow is much nicer. Vieques has the best bay, but than you must take a ferry or charter boat.. so Fajardo is a close second. But like I said La Parguera is still cool.
Otherwise have fun!!
Cris I think that we are the only people that doesn’t have anything else to do but read and comment here, jaja…
You may already know about this, but I would suggest you keep in mind the Coffee Harvest Festival in Maricao. Its been a while for me, but I remember that there is also an old coffee hacienda–called Parador Hacienda Juanita–that had been renovated and they have rooms for you to stay (a Parador is like a bed and breakfast). Who can turn down good cup of coffee, right? Here is the info I have for this year’s schedule.
Start Time: Friday, February 13, 2009 at 12:00pm
End Time: Sunday, February 15, 2009 at 2:00am
Location: Estacionamiento Estadio Municipal Johnny Arbona- en direccion hacia el Parador Hacienda Juanita
Street: Carretera #120
City/Town: Maricao, Puerto Rico
Also here is a description about the festival background, sorry its in Spanish.
Festival del Acabe del Cafe- 31 años de tradicion!!!
Maricao, pueblo de rica vegetación, rodeado de montañas y tierras fértiles, prolífico en leyendas indígenas y refugio de nuestros indios, celebra los días 13, 14 y 15 de febrero, los 31 años de su tradicional fiesta Acabe del Café.
Identificado con el buen grano y cosecha del rico café, consta en el archivo municipal de este pueblo, que el fruto que se llevaba a las Cortes españolas a fines del siglo pasado, era altamente apreciado y premiado con medalla de oro cuando se celebraban certámenes de expositores de café en Barcelona.
Desde antes de principio del siglo pasado, cada año, al finalizar la recolección de tan preciado grano, los dueños de algunas haciendas grandes preparaban unos festines en los glacis, que duraban tres días. Con este evento singular, querían agradecer a Dios por las cosechas y a los recogedores por su esfuerzo y buena labor de no dejar que esta cosecha se perdiera.
Durante esos tres días, se bailaba a son de música típica con cuatro y guitarra, comían de los mejores manjares y tomaban el mejor ron que hubiera. La Fiesta del Acabe del Café se fue convirtiendo en costumbre, hasta llegar a ser una tradición en esa zona cafetalera.
Dede hace 31 años, como iniciativa de la Administración Municipal del fallecido alcalde Vicente “Chente” Bayrón, esa fiesta tan añorada se revive cada año con más intensidad y con el compromiso de ofrecer un espectáculo mejor y de más calidad. Esta actividad no es un festival más. En este evento se imparte vida a la celebración.
Los integrantes del Centro de Evejecientes del pueblo, dramatizan estampas de la fiesta en la tarima principal y los niños de las diferentes escuelas, ataviados a la usanza de esos años presentan las imágenes del cafetal. Como detalle especial y de gran devoción, el domingo en la mañana se celebra la Misa Jíbara, con música típica y connotaciones folklóricas, que abarrota de gente a la iglesia y a todos sus alrededores.
Los mejores artesanos de Puerto Rico, adscritos al Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, ocupan con sus trabajos casi todas las calles del centro, al igual que los kioskos de comida típica y el flujo enorme de público, destacándose el movimiento de turismo interno y del exterior.
U are right Carol!! You see we both even came back a 2nd time. LOL!!
Oh God!! We are sick!!! This is addictive!!! Ok, enough. Let’s leave something for tomorrow, jaja…
Since I’ve only been in the island por a month and a half there is not much that I can add to the list, however, Iam using yours for the friends/family that are coming down to visit…LOL This past weekend we were invited to go on a tour of the Cabo Rojo Lighthouse and it was truly beautiful, Playa Sucia is amazing and we had lunch/drinks at Bahia Salinas which is a PuertoRican Inn and it was pretty outstanding. Hope this helps a little….. Have fun!
Chris and Carol - Thanks so much for the recommendation. I would much rather go to the bioluminicent bay of Fajardo from what you said, so I think that is where we will be taking our guests! We’ll just have to figure out a better way to secure our kayaks for the longer drive :).
Carol - Lago Dos Bocas in Utuado sounds like fun! I’ve never even thought of going to a lake in PR (I guess I’m distracted by the ocean), but that sounds like it would be a nice change. Have you eaten at the restaurant there?
Ham - The coffee festival sounds bueno! We will definately be sure to make it out for that.
I will be in Rincon April 5-11 and will be driving to Fajardo on Wed, the 8th. How long is the drive time, and when should I leave to be at the ferry early enough to get a ticket?
Im going to rincon the same week, and most likly going to go there too, but im gunna try and plan it out by the night sky.
Wheres the goat house located?
check out http://www.biobay.com/ for the calendar on the moon. Doesnt look like wed they run trips to see it bc its close to a full moon