Ponce Puerto Rico

On our 2nd full day in Puerto Rico, we set out to explore the island.  H read some great things about Ponce- both the town & the beach, so we set out on a mini-adventure to go to the South side of the island.

So  the island is only about 30 miles north-south, so we didn’t think it would be a big deal to drive to the South coast.  There’s a lovely toll road that cuts through the center, but it still ended up being about 60 total miles & took us about 2 hours each way since the roads cut through some very large & winding mountains. It was a beautiful drive, but more time than I really wanted to spend in the car.

The little town of Ponce is very quaint- the typical older town square, with fountains and a church, surrounded by trees and gorgeous old buildings.

We enjoyed getting out to stretch our legs after the car ride & loved seeing all the variety of colors & architecture.

The main attraction in Ponce, according to the guidebook, was this beautiful old Catholic church.  Noon services were going on while we were there, so we didn’t get to check out the inside. Yes, I realize how awful dirty my camera was on this trip- I don’t know how I am getting so much dust on the sensor or  lenses.

Literally backed up to the church was this red & black building.  I was confused about what could be so close to the church, but it turns out it was a fire museum- dedicated to a large fire in the town many years ago.  We walked up and down a large pedestrian mall area, checking out shops & looking for a place to grab lunch, but we couldn’t find any restaurants that looked good.

So we quickly headed out of town and went in search of the beach.  We were armed with maps, an iPhone & followed the signs to Ponce beach.  Unfortunately, we could never find it.  We ended up in the port & unless the beach was on the other side of the port, I have no idea….

Luckily, there was a resort Hilton right around the corner, so we decided to duck in there to hit up their bar for lunch & afternoon drinks before crashing on their beach.  I took very few photos of Ponce beach- mostly because I was ready for a nap after lunch & generally unimpressed after we’d driven all morning to get there.  It was very windy & soon our drinks were full of sand after our nap.  We walked up & down the beach just checking things out, but I feel like we must have been at the wrong “nice beach in Ponce”.

Don’t forget- the camera & photography workshop is 1 week from today!  Come join us!

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: I’m making all sorts of little changes around the blog & very excited about them!