Luquillo is a small town just north of Fajardo (where our marina is) and about 40 minutes south of San Juan. It owes its fame to two factors: 1) It is the place where the last Indian tribe left in the island retreated after their annihilation by the Spaniards; 2. It has a very vast and famous beach. The town is very clean and well maintained. Even though the day was beautiful, we observed that there was nearly none one in the streets, something unusual for a Spanish country. After being here for a while and talking to some locals we have learned that people in this island are more like those in the US - they drive everywhere! Even in the most secluded and poor placesone would see a good looking car parked in front of the house. We are told that the majority of Puerto Ricans own cars. To our surprise, however, we have found people driving fairly slowly (most drive below the speed limit) and we have not experienced "road rage" events as one would see in the DC area.

After touring the town by car, we decided to have lunch at one of the beach's restaurants found in a row along the beach. When Maria was here in 1983 these restaurants were more like shacks, some made out of wooden logs. Today they are all built out of brick, with proper restaurant equipment and sitting areas. We picked our own fresh fish which was cooked on the spot for us - a serious delight!

Afterwards, we drove along the ocean to San Juan and El Condado beach, one of the most exclusive areas of San Juan, where we enjoyed our first ice cream cone in months.