Tag Archives: Rincon

Island Birthday and Anniversary

What is so fun about living on a “vacation destination” is that you’re already here! So when we go out to celebrate something like my birthday or our (10th!!) anniversary, we didn’t have to go very far at all. We were just talking about how if we were in Colorado and planned a 10 year reunion trip to Puerto Rico in memory of our honeymoon that we took here, how much of a hassle that would be. Researching, buying tickets, getting time off, packing, arranging someone to take care of the house/animals, getting to the airport, getting screened, waiting, cramming in to the seats, waiting, cramming in again, getting unfamiliar food, finding a rental car and accommodations and then getting to the destination and fun that awaits. The reason for the trip!

Sand dollar!

Instead, now that we live here we just get straight to the fun! We just get in our truck and head out to the beach, small island (like Desecheo that we went to last year), waterfall, cliff, cave, garden or new restaurant/club/bar/event of our choice. And we get to know these places and people who live here (friends!) much better than we would if it were just for a week or two.

Here’s how we spent a few special days on our “vacation” island we now call home.

Corcega Beach on my Birthday

For my birthday this year, we decided to keep it low-key and just spend the day at the beach and then go out to a nice restaurant that we’ve been wanting to check out for some time. First we stopped by our favorite little food truck: Jack’s Shack which serves up local organic goodness. Then we headed to the beach. Even though it was a Saturday there weren’t very many people out and we enjoyed the long sandy beaches of the Corcega area in Rincón.

Britton even did a little spearfishing, though he didn’t see much

We dressed up a little (hey just wearing clothes sometimes has become difficult with our new lifestyle) went out to Mahi Mahi in Añasco for dinner and I enjoyed, surprise!, the fresh caught mahi mahi AKA dorado. Then we went out to the little ice cream parlor in town called Tip Top. They even make some of their own ice creams with things like local mangos and tamarind.

Mahi Mahi and Tip Top

Mmmm ice cream in the Rincón Plaza!

Our friend Ariana also shares the same birthday as I do and planned another get-together at Borinquen Beach in Aguadilla as we did last year. Everyone brought something to the potluck and we were enjoying the day but the sky looked a little foreboding. People took a swim out to the rock caves and munched and talked. Then it started to rain a little…and then it dumped! We all huddled under the tiny little tent and laughed and thought that it felt like we were on Survivor, living outside in a torrential downpour. Everyone was soaked. We all shared towels and hugged each other for warmth. And it truly was just so much fun.

Borinquen Survivors!

Next up was our anniversary. Ten years is a pretty big deal and we had thought that maybe if the cabin was finished we might throw a party, but that was just not in the cards.

2005-2015! Where has the time gone?!

So Britton and I decided to just enjoy another day at the beach and out and about. We spend a lot of time at our property (we love it!), so when we leave it always feels extra special. I wanted to go to a beach we either hadn’t been to or hadn’t been in a while. Maybe Table Rock? Crashboat? But we decided upon Tres Hermanos in Añasco.

This is a HUGE public beach with a nearly equally large parking lot. The whole thing is fenced in so cars can’t drive right up to the beach but you can park along the road and there are little pedestrian entrances all over so you, or your horse, can walk right in.

Tres Hermanos fence and horse tied with a hose

It was a cloudy day, but no rain. We hung out and swam for a while and took a walk to see this old boat. From a distance we thought it was possibly a ditched Yola from the Dominican Republic, but it wasn’t.

This beach is really cool because you can see the Rincón peninsula from a distance and it gives you that depth that you really do live on an island! Plus, there are tons of coconut palms!

Pelican (I think?) soaring the palm-lined skies

The obligate selfie at the beach on our anniversary!

Since it happened to be a Thursday, later that evening we also went out to the Art Walk in the Rincón Plaza, had dinner at De Bocas and saw a few friends. Art Walk is always the social event of the week!

With my creative friend Jessika at the Art Walk

We love our never-ending summer vacation and on special days like these are reminded even more so how fortunate we really are to live here.

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A Tour Around Rincón in Pictures

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As requested, I have compiled some pictures of Rincón, Puerto Rico. Rincón is surrounded by water on three sides, so there is good reason that most pictures of the town show the beach and/or ocean. However, to get a better sense of this area, here is a pictorial display. I hope this shows both the inner workings of Rincón as well as “slice of life” scenes.

First on the tour: The Lighthouse or Faro the farthest west you can possibly go on the main island of Puerto Rico.

Lighthouse/Faro

From the lighthouse park you can overlook one of the most popular surfing beaches:Domes named after the globular now defunct nuclear power station

Domes Beach on a quiet day and during the Corona Competition

Next is the downtown plaza area that is bustling with activity.

Alcaldia/Town Hall

Downtown on Thursday night is the place with the best night life because of the Art Walk! You can check out great artisanal work as well as have a beer at the hugely popular Rincón Beer Company.

Rincón Beer Company from the road on a Thursday night

Enjoying a coco frío from the farmer’s market

Downtown Rincón is great on Sunday mornings for the organic farmer’s market where you can find fresh fruits and vegetables

Fountain in Downtown Plaza

Strange name for a neighborhood near downtown: Cerro los Pobres -Hill of the Poor People

Around the corner from downtown is the cemetery, public works (trash and recycling), an indoor skate park (Skate Town) and the rarely utilized public library.

Mural at the skate park

Public works: Trash and recycling

There are also lots of little shops, doctors, dentists and pharmacies near downtown as well as a medical center/emergency center.

Costa Salud Medical Center

Going in the other direction from the plaza you’ll find the police station and further down the road, the post office.

Rincón Post Office

There are many little fruit stands and food shacks all over town.

La Placita

And plenty of restaurants too!

La Cambija Restaurant

Besides the immediate downtown area, most of Rincón is pretty rural and it gets pretty steep quickly. If you drive up the hills of Rincón/Aguada/Añasco for about 3-5 miles as the crow flies or about 20 minutes you can look out at some incredible vistas!

However, down a little lower the views are pretty spectacular as well!

View from the Beach House and the English Rose

Mainly because of the gradation of the slopes, houses are mostly right on the road and about 80% of them are simple rectangular concrete construction, though occasionally you’ll see a wood house too.

wooden Examples of houses in Rincón

Rincón from a different perspective: on the water

Because Rincón IS a beach town, it is really hard to describe it in pictures without the beach! You must literally try to avoid the beach since it is surrounded on 3 sides by it! There are so many activities, businesses and events that are beach centered. And in some ways it is just the background of life here. Right behind the Econo grocery store not 50 paces away is the beach! The beaches in Rincón are phenomenal and each one is a little different. While Rincón is mainly known as a surf town, there are beaches for everything: boating, snorkeling, surfing, swimming, bonfires, camping, secluded beaches and beaches to party with restaurants and bars!

Beware! Surfer Crossing!

Welcome to Rincón in photos! I hope you enjoyed the picture tour!

Nos vemos pronto, espero!

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Bees in a Jar

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Today as I was walking from the cabana down to the coop with the daily catch of fallen mangoes for the compost pile I got a bit of a surprise. A bee up and stung me in the ear! I dropped all the mangoes and ran while the bruised and over-ripe fruit started rolling down the hill. At about the same time the water hose popped and sprung a leak!

Cassie said I looked like a cartoon with my flailing about, yelling and running. As we were going back towards the cabana there were more bees bumping us, giving us that tell tale warning that they are going to attack.

We got in the cabana and shut the door….. “Holy smokes! What the hell was that?” Had we stepped on one on the way down to the coop? We normally don’t get stung by the few bees that visit the yard, especially having cleared out all the previous hives living within the wood house and the trunk of the old mango tree. Bees are supposed to only sting when they feel threatened or if the hive is under attack.

After about 10 minutes and looking at my stung ear as it swelled we decided to go back out and see if we could figure out what was going on. We went up on top of the cabana because it offers a good view. We weren’t up there 5 minutes and we started getting bumped again by bees. We ran. We got back in the cabana and decided that there was something up and that we would give them some time to calm down. We went to town for some food, groceries and another mower blade.

When we went to let the chickens out Cassie spotted what was causing all the commotion.

Bee Swarm (click to enlarge)

There were quite a few bees on one of the Mexicola avocado tree leaves, so we must have a swarm on our hands. This is a very small swarm by swarm standards, actually tiny. This was a perfect opportunity for me to use my newbee bee keeping skills! I went and grabbed a jar, some scissors, gloves and the bee veil.

It didn’t take very long, and I didn’t get stung but there is a queen in with the swarm. Not sure where it came from or why it is so small, but it all went well and put an end to the bee sting mystery and I gained 5 experience points in my bee skills! I would rather do this with a small amount of bees to start with. If there were hundreds of bees it would have been more intimidating but I think even then I would be up to the task.

We don’t have an empty hive yet, but now we think we should have one around for the next swarm opportunity. For this group I am just glad they aren’t going to end up inside the walls of the house and I wanted to take care of a potential issue as well as some aggressive bees in the yard. Bees are not known for being aggressive when they swarm. I think it is possible they were fighting with another hive in the base of the big mango we took down a few weeks ago. There were some bees flying super fast all over today.

Bees in a Jar

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The Good Life in Rincón: Beach Yoga, Local Brews and Fiery Sunsets

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We continue to get a lot of work done in the yard. We have cleared close to 2 acres of overgrown weed trees and vines. It is intensely physical work and seems endless, but we are definitely making a dent and digging out from the tangled rat’s nest that results from 10-20 years of neglecting a property in the tropics. We are planning to leave a good portion of the other two acres fairly raw and use it as a jungle sanctuary hiking trail (or paintball area maybe?).

We call this Hawk Lane as the birds swoop through and it continues to open up

Britton has built the base of the chicken coop and the chickens are doing well. We’ve had a couple of fires to help us clear and some friends and neighbors have helped us and enjoyed the mesmerizing beauty of a fire with us. They called the dinners that are cooked directly on the fire “hobo dinners” which is a cute name. I think it would be fun to have a traditional Puerto Rican pig roast (lechón) some time too!

Campfire with friends

But in addition to all the work that goes on at the farm, we have also been having some fun off the compound.

We recently went to the Grand Opening of our friends’ business: Rincón Beer Co. in downtown Rincón and had a great time drinking their artisanal beer and listening to a local band called Mijo de la Palma.

I have also recently started going to yoga at the beach platform at the balneario with some friends. It is so peaceful and beautiful to stretch into a pose and look out over the water as the waves lap at the sand and the pelicans and white clouds float across a bright blue sky. We are going to try a Zumba class right near there soon as well. Meanwhile, Britton has been swimming in the sea.

Ohmmmm and Namaste

Additionally we have been meeting new friends and trying out new restaurants. The other night we had a rooftop dinner with friends and watched a gorgeous sunset. Good friends, food and fun in a great place. Esta es la vida buena. This is the good life.

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Lifetransplanet

Colorado, Puerto Rico and life elsewhere on the planet.

Tag Archives: Rincon

Island Birthday and Anniversary

A Tour Around Rincón in Pictures

Bees in a Jar

The Good Life in Rincón: Beach Yoga, Local Brews and Fiery Sunsets