Vieques Island: Our Last Big Adventure

Day 6 continued . . .


I realize that this series of Puerto Rico posts isn't too exciting for many of you (as my comment section has been so quiet, I think I've put you all to sleep with my vacation stories); however, since this is our Family Journal (and since my my Mom loves the play-by-play action), I will now wrap up our 30th Anniversary Trip.  

We only spent an hour or two at El Yunque Rainforest,

on our Last Day in Puerto Rico,

so that we could head to Fajardo to catch the ferry.

This "ferry" is nothing like the ferries that we have in Washington State,

but rather a little Passenger Ferry, which probably held 150 people.

(Sorry . . . I didn't get any pictures.  It was a pretty nice little boat.)

The PLAN was to catch the 1:00 Ferry and arrive on Vasques by 2:00.

We would then spend the afternoon at the beach,

and catch the 6:00 Ferry back to the Big Island.

(We discovered later that multiple people had the same plan . . .

and, thus, multiple people's plans and expectations

had to be discarded completely.)

We took a little carry-on suitcase with us

in order to bring our swimsuits, towels, sunscreen, etc . . .

However, as we had discovered all week . . .

"plans" in Puerto Rico do not always go as expected.

(The Suitcase?  Not needed.  Never even opened all day.

Just a heavy "chain" for Jim to carry all day.)

On to the details of our day . . .

which definitely turned into an "Adventure".

We sat right up front so that we could "Get a Good View".

Unbeknownst to us . . . the reason the front seats were all empty

when we boarded was because it was also the 

"Best Seat in the House" to catch the Awesome Waves.

Everyone felt sorry for us at first . . .

until they saw us LAUGHING and enjoying the Salt Water Spray.

The "1:00" Ferry did not actually leave Fajardo until 2:30,

thus we didn't arrive on Vasques until 3:30.

We walked in the direction of the "Town Center"

in search of the "famed" Restaurants and Shops

that we had read about in the Tourist Books.

No. Such. Luck.

Everything was closed up tight.

We finally found an "Information Center".

The woman behind the counter told us that we MUST be back at the

Ferry Terminal by 5:00 in order to catch the 6:00 Ferry.

(We had tried to purchase tickets for the return trip,

but they do not sell them until an hour before departure.)

It was the last ferry of the day,

and we had a plane to catch in the morning.

The Information Lady also told us how to catch a "Town Car" to take us 

to another town, where we would find an open restaurant,

and the "Famous" . . .  "Nicest Beach on the Island" . . .  Sun Bay.

She assured us we could walk to the beach from Lazy Jack's Restaurant.

We found a "Town Car" and paid the driver $10 to take us 15 minutes down the road.

We found Lazy Jack's, and ordered some great burgers at the outside bar.

We found an itty, bitty Gift Shop, where we each bought a hat.

Then . . . we looked for the "famed" Sun Bay.

We finally sat down on a little ramp by the water, to eat our lunch.

By now, it was nearly 4:30 and we were supposed to be back

at the ferry terminal by 5:00.

We looked at our little Tourist Book Maps, 

and knew that Sun Bay must be "just around the corner"

if we walked down the beach and through the gap between the trees.

We couldn't just head back to the Ferry Terminal without even seeing

the talked about Most Beautiful Beach on the Island, could we?  Of course not.

(We hoped and prayed we could then find a Town Car

back to the other side of the island.)

Jim took off his tennis shoes and headed through the surf barefoot.

I followed close behind . . . wearing my Flip Flops.

However, the Flip Flops kept getting stuck in the sand,

so I quickly pulled them off and followed barefoot.
(We had to be quite careful, though, as there was 
quite a bit of broken glass and things on the beach.)

We walked and walked and walked.

It was, actually, quite far.

We found a young American Couple 

who had had the same "Plans" for the day.

They, however, had made the decision to just get a hotel 

on the island for the night and catch the next morning's ferry,

after arriving on the island so much later than "scheduled".

They, too, had read all of the Tour Books.

They, too, were quite surprised that the reality of visiting

Puerto Rico did not at all match the books' description.

We walked . . .

"around the corner" . . .

and through some trees . . .

and we did discover a Beautiful 

(but completely deserted?) beach.

No.  

The "Nicest Beach on the Island" was not quite what we had expected.

No time for sunbathing anyways . . . it was now 5:00,

and we had no idea how we were going to get back across the island.

I prayed we would not miss the last ferry of the day.

We found our way back to the main road, and flagged down the next Town Car (taxi van)

that drove by.  The other passengers were also headed to the Ferry Terminal

and didn't seem the least bit worried that they might be "late".

There was hardly anyone at the Ferry Terminal.

There was absolutely No Need to be there an hour early

(as the Information Lady had told us it was imperative).

With no boat in sight . . . we decided to take a little walk up the hill.

We walked by some nice "Seaside Homes".

We walked up the hill to a Historic Lighthouse. 

We were now not at all worried about the time,

as we could see the bay clearly, and the ferry

was no where in sight.  (Not surprisingly.)

It was a Beautiful View.

We had expected a beautiful Sunset Cruise on our 6:00 ferry.

However . . . the sun began to set . . . and there was still no ferry in sight.

Then . . . the rains came and we headed back down hill to await the boat.

The boat finally arrived about 7:30 

(after we had gotten to the terminal 2 hours before).

We sat up front again . . . fully prepared if the waves came.

The captain "warned" us this time . . . but we told him we were fine.

We enjoyed a pitch black cruise back to Fajardo, arriving about 9:00

(rather than the scheduled  7:00 arrival time).

While our day did not turn out anything like we had expected,

we did thoroughly enjoy ourselves.

We talked.

We walked.

We laughed.

We walked.

We ate a good lunch at Crazy Jacks.

We met several nice young American Couples.

We sat in the dark and enjoyed the Boat Ride.

After arriving back in Fajardo at 9:00,

we were definitely ready to find some dinner;

but found not an open restaurant in the city

(except for the American fastfood places on the highway).

We pulled off the road, however in Laquilla,

and found a wonderful little Pizza Place

at the Laquilla Kiosks by the highway.

Whereas we had visited the Kiosks (65 Little Shops)

the day before . . . they had been deserted.

However . . . they come ALIVE on Friday Night.

This . . . was a most delicious Calzone.
(There are a LOT of Pizza Places in Puerto Rico.)

Yummmm .....

Our Adventure to Vieques Island pretty much wrapped up our time in Puerto Rico.

We had just one more little adventure on the way home.