We left the thermal baths and headed east and north still in our damp clothes from being in the Thermal Bath.  There were several possible routes to Fajardo and we had not made a final decision on which way we would go.  We found Highway 52 after a slight detour.  On another 'detour' an unusual thing happened.    I was in the wrong lane, and rather than risking an accident, I entered a toll booth knowing that the road would take us in the wrong direction.  I told the attendant I only wanted to turn around.  He said that's ok, just pay the toll going in and out.  So it cost $1.00 to turn around.  I have made this kind of error before, in other places, but this is the first time I had to pay any toll, much less pay twice.  We then got on Route 52, and headed northeast.

We decided to stay on Route 52 until near San Juan then head directly east on Route 3 to Fajardo.  The drive through the interior was wonderful.  The mountains were higher than I had expected.  We had many great views during this portion of the trip.  Along Route 3 we stopped at the very large Beltz outlet mall.  We just looked around and made no serious effort to buy anything.

We got to Fajardo and set off to find the Hotel Delicia.  We drove on some streets hardly wide enough for the car.  We arrived at a Y in the road that we thought was the way to the hotel, but the road was blocked by construction.  They were building an arch across the road as part of their beach front development plan.  We asked a passerby how to get to the hotel.  He told us there was a way there, but he would not tell us because he knew we would get lost.  So I got there by driving a few blocks the wrong way on a one way street.  It turns out we could easily have found the way to drive there had he got us started.

We planned to stay at the Hotel Delicia two or three nights, but after getting there and checking in we decided to seek other lodgings for the second and third nights.  This was the only hotel in which we got impolite and poor service from the manager.  Her grandfather was nice, but she had a problem.  We decided that she was worried about loss of business due to the road closing, or perhaps her grandfather, or was just having a bad day.

We planned to eat at Rosa's Restaurant but did not know how to get there.  A man who worked at a panaderia in the hotel told us how to walk there and assured us that it was safe even though it was dark.  We missed one turn and did not really know where we were walking in this dark residential neighborhood.  We passed a church where voices from chanting could be heard for 2 blocks.  After a while we asked directions from a woman in her yard.  She started to direct us, but then decided to walk, in her bare feet, with us for a couple blocks until we could see Rosa's.

We were not all that hungry so in this restaurant, that is known island wide, in fact world wide, we ordered one dinner and three plates.  The server was very polite and graciously accepted our order.  Before the food was served he brought us six delicious "Johnny Cakes" at no charge.  The menu cost for the free cakes were almost half of the cost of the dinner.  The red snapper was the best tasting fish I have ever eaten.  We spent $16.50 here.  This is a very delightful place to eat and deserves its fine reputation.

After we left Rosa's we walked down the street and the man who gave us the directions was standing in his yard.  He asked how we enjoyed our meal and said he was watching for us to see if we got along ok.  He directed us back the correct way which was about half the distance we walked going there.

The next morning we planned to go to Vieques Island.  The boat dock was only 100 yards from our hotel.  We asked to leave our car in their spacious lot,  She started to say no, but grandfather quickly said it was fine.

The trips to Vieques Island and the El Youque rain forest are described in pages accessed from the main Puerto Rico menu.

After Vieques we left Fajardo to find an hotel closer to the rain forest.  This was not one of my better ideas.  We ended up driving many miles, talked to several people, went into the Westin Resort and all we found out was that the only place to stay anywhere in the area was the Fajardo Inn  in Fajardo.  This inn was less than 2 miles from where we has stayed the previous night.

All the people were correct, this is a very nice Inn.  We stayed in the Guest House rather than in the main building saving $26 a night.  The room was large enough for 4 double beds.  The bathroom big enough for a small party.  The restaurant in the main hotel was excellent and they gave me a large fruit serving in place of the french fries.  This is the first place we had seen with a laundromat.  We really had it tough doing laundry.  The laundromat was less than 150 feet from an almost olympic size swimming pool.  So we frolicked in the water as the washer and dryer did the work.

Custom House next to the Delicia Hotel	An old tree in the Delicia Hotel courtyard
You may recognize the flags from the opening page.
Fajardo Inn's very large swimming pool.	The Fajardo Inn GuestHouse
We are doing laundry as we swim.

The day after the trip to Vieques Island we went to the El Yunque rain forest and returned to the Fajardo Inn for the night. Then on 27 July we are finally going to where most people go first,  San Juan.  At the Tres Palmes Inn we will join forces with our daughter Susan,  her husband Ram and their three children Rajan, Maya and Jay.
 

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Last revised: 6 August 2002