 First stop...the Amirage beach house. Located in Ricon on western side of the island. |
 Some images of Amirage... |
 ...seashell mobile... |
 ...fountain in the atrium |
 Our living room for the 4 day stay |
 Our suite had some permanent occupants... |
 ...a Brown Anole? |
 View of the main deck from our balcony |
 Other views from our balcony... |
 Every morning fishermen (human and avian) worked the waters |
 ...a Brown Pelican |
 Oceanside view of neighboring beach house |
 Family enjoying the beach. Sadie on her way... |
 ...and zipping by! |
 Even the row boats are colorful. |
 Near these rocks... |
 I watched as a crab dashed out to grab and eat a hapless lizard! |
 While predator eats prey, this scene of serenity |
 Alma and Laurel chat on the backside of Amirage |
 The roadside entrance to Amirage, where a car fell from the sky! |
 Unknown flower with poinsettia-like leaves |
 Artie on his morning walk |
 Artie and Laurel |
 Daniel chillin' on the deck |
 Hilda looking her usual best! |
 Alma shaming the flowers! |
 Lunch at a beachside restaurant |
 Rincon is famous for its surfing... |
 ...the waves were said to be small that day |
 One night at Amirage we had a small gathering. Here are some of the boys... |
 ...and some of the ladies |
 Laurel on Calle Jaguita, Mayaguez, where the Lugo family has lived for 75+ years! |
 When I was a kid, the dead end of Jaguita led to a meandering stream with grazing cattle. This is it now! |
 The Ladies Lugo of Calle Jaguita |
 Laurel and Percy |
 Sara, Edwin and Percy... |
 ...with Margo, Alex and Joey |
 Artie and Hilda |
 Fiona (enjoying the bubbly), Daniel, Sadie and Matthew |
 The Ladies and their gentlemen guests |
 One night, we had our big family celebration - complete with two bands... |
 ...Caobana, featuring a young guest singer.... |
 ...and the best quatro player I have ever heard - Junior Carrillo |
 The second act was Tuliband |
 Needless to say... |
 ...a... |
 ...great... |
 ...time... |
 ...was... |
 ...had... |
 ...by... |
 ...all! |
 The day after, Artie & Daniel feeling no pain! |
 Another beach near Rincon... |
 ...and three dudes chillin' in the shade |
 One day we drove to the southwestern end of the island. Here is the church in Cabo Rojo... |
 ...where my mother was married in 1935 |
 Here's mom in front of the church. Seems that it was renovated 12 years AFTER her marriage. |
 Boats in Boqueron Harbor |
 El Faro Cabo Rojo - The extreme SW tip of the island... |
 ...is a protected 'refugio"... |
 ...complete with scenic lighthouse... |
 ...and great sunsets |
 On our next-to-last day, we headed to the northeast corner of the island and Luquillo beach... |
 ...where we found this tranquil hide-a-way |
 That day we were adopted by one of the island's semi-feral dogs. |
 We called her Skippy and she even spent the night in our beachhouse! |
 Fresh from the water...Laurel, Matthew, Sadie & Daniel |
 On our last day, we headed to El Yunque - a tropical rain forest where the trails were cleverly made of stone |
 A stream in El Yunque |
 Alberto and Laurel during the hike... |
 ...to a spectacular waterfall |
 Another waterfall...For perspective, those leaves are 4 feet long! |
 An unusual sigth to us northeners - a tree fern... |
 ...as in ferns the size of trees! |