Sunday, December 27, 2009

Beside the Point & “The Tamboo”

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For the first three nights I am staying at “Beside the Point".  It is a small hotel / Inn associated with the Tamboo bar and  restaurant.   I ate lunch there when I arrived and the shrimp wrap was excellent!  This evening they had a traditional Puerto Rican band playing until about 9:00 PM. 

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The Tamboo is an open air bar with a large deck that overhangs the beach.  It’s a surfer’s beach and the waves today were between 3’ and 6’.  It was inspiring to sit on the deck and watch the surfers catching the waves.  Later I spoke to someone at a local surf shop down the road and he said they are expecting VERY BIG surf for the next few days.

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Tomorrow my surfing lessons begin with Rincon Surf School. This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time and I’m really excited to finally be getting the chance.

Amazing Contrast


I am simply amazed that a person (in this case me) can wake up in New York, walk out the door into a freezing rain, and have lunch on the deck of a tiki bar in the caribbean while watching surfers tackle 6 foot perfectly curling emerald colored waves, with the late, great Bob Marley singing in the background.

Posted via my cell phone.


Making My Escape

IMG_0106It was only two days ago that the Nigerian terrorist idiot lit his own crotch on fire in an attempt to kill a plane load of Christmas day travelers.  I knew the TSA was still reacting to the event, so I gave myself extra time this morning.  It turned out to be unnecessary.  I arrived at the airport at 4:15 AM for my 6:00 AM flight, and was at the gate by 4:45 despite there being only two open security lanes.

I had not been in Terminal 7 of JFK since Jetblue finished their remodeling and I must say it is very nice.  The seats are comfortable, there are several places to eat including multiple coffee kiosks (a must at 5:00 AM), and free wifi.  They also have several rows of computer workstations throughout the terminal where you can plug in and charge up. 

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The flight to Aquadilla from JFK is an easy 3 hours and 15 minutes.  I was able top sleep for about an hour and we landed at 10:20 Puerto Rico time (one hour ahead of EST).  The Aquadilla airport is small, clean, and simple.  There were no crowds and parking and rental cars are a few steps way.  

I had arranged for a  car through Popular Auto Rental Car (info on the side bar).  They were closed today but their man Ramon Vega gave me his personal cell phone and told me to call when I landed.  He was at home when I called and he drove over and delivered the car to me under a big tree in front of the airport. 


IMG_0111 Ramon said they are closed when I leave too, but no problem – I can lock the keys in the car leave it in the bowling alley parking lot across the street from the airport.  He’ll stop by later in the day to pick it up.  Talk about low key! The car is a brand new Ford (Fusion, I think).

Although I updated my Garmin maps before the trip, my GPS was not a lot of help.  It got me going in the general direction but I needed to refer to printed maps to get me the last few miles.  The GPS took me to side streets rather than main highways, and to roads that have obviously been closed for years.  It was not really a problem because I was in no hurry and used it as an excuse to explore.

Rincon is about 25 miles from the Aquadilla airport.