Ponce cathedral

Our next stop along the Puerto Rico coast was Ponce. The harbor behind the jetty is small, but it’s off-season so there was plenty of room for us. The main dinghy docks have not been rebuilt since the storms, but the fishermans’ coop is kind enough to let cruisers use their dinghy dock. Note of caution – be back before they lock the gates after dark! We had to scale the fence one night (luckily no one even noticed or was concerned) to get back to our dinghy to get back out to the boat.

fountain

 

Downtown Ponce is absolutely beautiful in its architecture and clearly has gone out of their way to maintain a sense of history of the island. I wouldn’t say it looks classically Caribbean – in fact it has a European or New Orleans flair with its ornate gates and building architecture. We started with lunch at El Barril de Mulata, which had a line going around the restaurant so we knew we were someplace good. After stuffing ourselves with roast pork, rice & beans, and fried plantains, we wandered around town and enjoyed the view.

Even the bikes are cool here

Later we ubered it back to the boardwalk (a long walk that crosses highways – not a good idea) where people were gathering for the start of the weekend. There’s a series of bars along the boardwalk, each with their own drink specialty and music. Oh – the music. Everyone is blasting something different and you pick your preference and hope that you can hear it over the din (the next restaurant/bar is only a few feet away with their own blasting tunes). Good luck at having any sort of a conversation, but it’s a lot of fun. The food is mostly fried but it soaks up the beers as they go down so easily. After a few hours of enjoying ourselves, we headed back to the boat to get ready to move on.

Guess who’s hair is long enough for a pony tail???