Our morning view

Yesterday was another gorgeous day in Puerto Rico. In the morning, we drove our rental car to the north side of Ponce to visit the “House that Rum Built,” the Castillo Serrallés. The mansion was built on the south side of El Vigia hill in the 1930s for the son of Juan Serrallés, the founder of the distillery that makes Don Q rum, named after Don Quixote, and the top selling rum in Puerto Rico.

Castillo Serrallés

A few bottle of antique Rum in the Castle snack bar

The Antique Rum display in the snack bar

A view of Ponce from one of the several terraces

Looking down into the central courtyard

The pool and gardens at the Castillo Serrallés

Don Q and Doña C

After grabbing a quick bite for lunch we hopped back in the car for a two-hour drive through the mountains of Puerto Rico, the Cordillera Central (Central Mountain Range). The views were absolutely stunning from the 4,000 ft. tall peaks. Puerto Rico is a pretty cool place. One minute, we can be enjoying the beaches and the water, but just a few minutes later, we can be driving through the switchbacks and hairpin curves of mountain peaks.

Mountain vistas

One of the mountain roads with Bamboo to the right

I think I want to live here.

More Mountain Vistas

Our rental car pulled over to take a photo

Enjoying the mountain air

A River Runs Through It

Worn out (and Cindy was more than a little stressed out from my driving up and down the mountains), we returned to Beatitude after picking up a few groceries at the local Pueblo supermercado. Shortly after stepping back on the boat, we received an exciting surprise visit from some fellow cruisers we had met in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos. The crew of the sailing vessel, Stop Work Order (Patrick and Corice, and their three wonderful children, Ciara, Cameron, and Truly), had just arrived in Puerto Rico earlier that morning. From the Turks and Caicos, they spent a couple of weeks in the Dominican Republic before making their way to Puerto Rico. We enjoyed such a pleasant visit and are so thankful they stopped by. They are planning to do a Pacific Rim circumnavigation over the next couple of years.

The crew of Stop Work Order (photo taken from their site at http://www.svstopworkorder.com)

Well, today, will likely be our last in Ponce. Tomorrow’s forecast is for calm seas and light winds — the perfect combination for heading directly into the trade winds. By this time Friday night, we hope to be on the east coast of Puerto Rico.

This morning’s sunrise in Ponce Harbor