To Vieques
Today we are off to Vieques. From what we can determine, most tourists take a short flight from San Juan, but at $100 a person each way (times 5) the ferry holds a certain quaint appeal. The downside is time-based, as with the 60 mile drive to the port, 90 minute wait in the terminal, and 90 minute crossing, it is close to 3 pm before we arrive at the hotel.
Until recently, nearly half of Vieques was used as a naval bombing range, so unlike most of Puerto Rico, it is very undeveloped. With few hotels on the island, we tried to find a house for rent, but the combination of short notice, mixed with a dose of apathy, put us squarely on the day of departure with nowhere to stay. Under duress, we finally booked a few nights at the W, which, as the only real hotel on the island, smugly charges more for a room than I have ever paid when not on Goldman Sachs’ expense account. After factoring in the cleaning fees and extra person charges, it doesn’t end up being much more than a house would have cost, but I still feel a burning pain in my left front pocket.
As hotels go, it is nice, but the whole concept of the W is a little more trendy than suits us. There are not a lot of kids around, so we feel constantly on guard to make sure our little entourage doesn’t crank up the volume to eleven. And likely by design, it is quite secluded, so the options for walking to anything close by are quite limited (the harder it is to get somewhere else, the easier it is to sell you a $15 hamburger). Undaunted, we bring our full Clampett game, and quickly replace the $5 Cokes in the mini fridge with our collection to sliced sandwich meats, cheeses, and juice boxes.
Being on the Atlantic side of the island, they tell us the beaches are generally too rough for swimming, but today the water is quite calm, so we spend the rest of the afternoon watching the kids build castles at the tide line and plaster each other with sand balls.
We’re not really sure what we want to do here, other than I have heard the diving is quite good, so tomorrow maybe we’ll try and come up with a plan. While just relaxing by the pool is a perfect vacation for some, I go stir crazy easily, and as big as the resort is, I can already feel the walls closing in.