Day 4 - Relaxing in Rincon

A laid-back day in paradise. Using the supplies the host had provided, we breakfasted early. Gail and I drove the two miles into downtown Rincon to attend the mass at Santa Rosa de Lima on the town square. The service was (of course) in Spanish so we didn't catch a lot of detail but were able to follow it. The church is bright, airy, and beautiful with Latino - even mariachi music by two guitars bass, congas, and two singers. I chatted with the singers after the service about their music.

Back to the condo to join the rest of our group on the nearby beach for a swim. Then we headed into twon for lunch at a restaurant along the beach. Good foor and sampled a bit of Puerto Rican cuisine - mafongo, a dish made from green plantains - along with good fish. Food was great but the service was (as has been most of our meals) on Carribean time - over two hours for the lunch.

We did a major shopping trip at the local Econo supermarket, stocked with many products and brands from the mainland. Back at the condo we put things away and relaxed around the pool with a trip to the beach to test out my snorkeling gear. We had hoped to see a nice sunset but the rain clouds off the coast rolled in to quash that. The pic down the beach shows the extent of the destruction from H. Maria. The pool enclosure shown used to be 200 feet from the waterline but the hurricane eroded all that beach and the apartment owners have had to place riprap (large stones) around the enclosure to keep it from falling into the sea.

Back at the condo we sat around chit-chatting. The Minnesota crowd (everybody except me) talking about people from home and who's related to whom. we brought out some of the cold cuts and crackers we'd bought (and the wine) and snacked as we talked. We discussed plans for the week and how to arrange snorkeling trips and visits to other towns along the west coast. It was soon (it seemed) time to call it a night.Read more