March 2010

It's been a busy month so far as we have had some friends and relatives visiting, a great opportunity to do so many of the things we've been putting off doing in and around Rincon.

Cyndi went horseback riding with Pinto R Us and had a blast! She said it was the most fun she's had since she's been here.  The group started at the Marina and rode north and onto the Domes trail near the Spanish Wall.  Cyndi said the horses had plenty of spirit and they were able to do a lot of galloping, but her favorite part was riding on the beach, I don't blame her, I get jealous every time I see a group pass me by on the 413, knowing they will soon be on the sand watching the sun fall into Desecheo as they mosey along the shore.

We also went to a waterfall in San Sebastian.  It was a little hard to find the trail, but some nice Sebastianos told us where to go.  The hike toward the fall is pretty easy, maybe 10-15 minutes, definitely worth the trip.  It's not a huge, gorgeous waterfall, but nice enough.  There's a nice pool below and plenty of spots to jump from, also a water cave if you're feeling real adventurous.

We went to a great party while Cyndi's mom was in town, (thanks Rosa!), and experienced our first pig roast.   Also met some great people, other bloggers, blog readers as well as neighbors, the house was 5 minutes way from ours.  It was a nice evening and a great chance for Cyndi's mom to see what a friendly town Rincon is.

We also went up to Rincon Pottery, the studio owned by our friends, Nick and Miri, for the first time.  Beautiful ceramic art, functional, looking forward to having more space so we start collecting,  thanks for the tour Miri.  The drive to the Rincon Pottery studio is a nice slice of the part of Rincon we don't get to see enough.  Beautiful hillside homes on large lots with amazing views, brightly painted houses with all types of fruit and decorative trees and more manicured landscaping than we see in Puntas.

We finally had breakfast at The English Rose and it definitely lived up to it's billing.  Hanging high above Tres Palmas, the restaurant patio has a beautiful view of the ocean and the surrounding hillsides.  The food was not overly expensive and the best we've had since coming to Rincon.  Kicking ourselves for not trying it sooner.

While on the subject of restaurants, another great one is El Fogon de la Curva, a pig roast/fresh fish (yes, those are their specialties) bar and grill on the way out of Rincon, at the curve toward Anasco.  It is attached to a fish market where the owner will filet whichever fish he has caught that day (and still has left) for you.  The Dorado is fantastic, but goes quick, I tried the Parrotfish and it was very good as well.  But the restaurant is cheap and delicious, a nice combination.

The weather has been incredibly hot this week and the waves very small, so the dogs have been coming with us to the beach.  I picked the hottest week of the year to start painting the house, but at least it's not raining.

Rincon Surfing

I haven't written too much about surfing here in Rincon, but the great surf here is one of the reasons we're here and one of the reasons Rincon is such a special place.  The story usually begins with the 1968 World Championships that were held here in Rincon, which was then barely a blip on the Puerto Rican map, but from there the town has grown in small spurts to what it is now; a sleepy surf town where mostly East Coast surfers come down during the surfing season, December -April, filling up the guest houses and surf schools as well as the line ups at most of the local surf spots. 
     The reason Rincon draws so many surfers is because it has beaches that face 2 directions so that swells coming from the north, bring waves to the northern beaches and south swells bring surf to the southern beaches, leaving very few days where neither side has had decent waves this season.  But Rincon isn't the whole story, Aguadilla and Isabella just 30 minutes north offer more beaches and world class waves without the hype.

     Cyndi and I came here to surf, although neither of us surf.  I've  body surfed all my life at beaches in southern California, but never brought a board in the water with me.  Cyndi started paddling a big soft board a year before we got here, but never got too serious about actually standing up on it.  Since we arrived here in Rincon, Cyndi has taken 3 surfing lessons and goes out almost daily, but has yet to feel the thrill of standing up through a wave.  She is determined and loves just being in the water so eventually her day will come and when that happens, I don't think I'll ever be able to get her out of the water.  I haven't taken any lessons, but I went out on a big softboard for the first time about a month ago and felt pretty comfortable, but a little out of breathe after 30 minutes of paddling.  Since then our friend sold me a nice epoxy longboard that I've taken out once, but need more I'll have fun with it.
     But listening to surfers talk, it's amazing the respect and awe they have for the sport and love they feel everyone should feel.  Most of our surfing friends are so encouraging about getting us on a wave and everyone has words of advice, it does seem like a cliche but they "live to surf".  I've seen a 60 year old man come out of the water grinning like a teenager and kids talking to each other about swells and currents and tides as knowledgeable as a TV weatherman (probably more so).  I usually tend to dismiss the hype of this type of thing and I know I'll never be as fully immersed in surfing as many, including Cyndi have become, but I also admit that I'm looking forward to my day on a wave, when my legs are strong beneath me and the surf is rolling before me and surfing's mystery comes  a bit closer into focus.

Randomness Rincon Notes

A few random thoughts...

Uno, our "foster" dog is too sweet to give away, Cyndi's waaaay too much in love with him and I'm developing a little crush on him myself so I think we have 3 dogs now.....

We added a pet adoptions page to our 413 geek site, just because we hear of all sorts of puppies being droped off at people' houses and what can we do?  Not much, but if anyone sends a pic and contact info we'll put it up there....

We've had a lot of luck with renting "La Olita", our downstairs studio, despite the water being turned off from time to time and roosters at 5:30 am, the guests seem to have really enjoyed their stays, $55/night, what's not to like?

Had a really bad dining experience at Brumas Bar and Grill, a restaurant on the curve toward Anasco, we only went there 'cause the fish restaurant we wanted to go to was closed for a private event, but what a waste of $50...

I decided that cooking with coconut milk is pretty cool, add it to rice and veggies for a soupy curry with a little lime and mint, it's pretty rich, but sooo good...

We went to The Best of the Fest, a screening of a film from last year's Rincon International Film Festival.  The movie called This is a Robbery was a funny documentary about a 91 year old bank robber and was pretty good, definitely gets me interested in what we'll see from this years event....

Last Saturday we helped install some trash cans at the Black Eagle Marina with the Surfrider Foundation, thanks to all those that helped, hopefully they'll get used and picked up regularly by the city....

Fernando of Villa Orleans put a post on his blog about a group coming to Rincon this summer to prepare to excavate the shipwreck off the coast of Rincon.  Seems there's a group looking to build a maritime museum filled with what they find.  How cool would that be?

Cyndi's still working on standing up on the surfboard, she's tenacious, I even went out yesterday, but it was too blown out, I'm was having problems just paddling out, she seems pretty comfortable, maybe just afraid to commit to the wave...


A 90 lb Wahoo was caught off the coast a few days ago, great pictures provided by our friend Pablo...

The surf contest on Saturday and Sunday at Domes was packed, we went Saturday for a little while and couldn't believe how many people were on the beach, cool to see thankfully only once a year...

I guess there's a Haiti fundraiser at the Pool Bar on Friday night, our friend Yaro will be playing some music, check rincon.org TAR member events for a posting soon...

We're enjoying Rincon as much as ever, even more so as we meet more people and become more integrated in the fabric of the community, it's a special place, salud to those who recognize that!

Rincon Art & Artisans

It was a weekend of art activities as Saturday was the Juntarte art show in the Plaza in downtown Rincon and Sunday we went to the Traveling Treasures art show at the Tropical Treehouse in the hills over Rincon.
The Juntarte show comes around every few months and includes local artists and craft people who make everything from soap and candles to small pieces of furniture. We missed the live music that started at 6pm, but we enjoyed seeing different artists and supporting this event as it is more of a Puerto Rican event than most other things we go to.
The Traveling Treasures is as implied a traveling art show that makes it's way to various locations around Rincon; The Lazy Parrot, Casa Islena and Villa Cofresi, but Sunday's event was at the Tropical Treehouse, an amazing collection of a main house with 2 other bamboo "hooches" that include running water and electricity. We wandered the property in awe of the various bamboo structures, furniture and crafts made by the owner, who unfortunately was out of town and we did not meet.
The art show, while not especially a large collection did have some interesting works. I bought a few prints by the Aguada based artist, Kurt Zeigler, and there were some beautiful ceramic pieces by our friend Miri from Rincon Pottery. Mostly it was another opportunity to support local artists and see friends and meet new neighbors who do the same. There are a couple of galleries in Rincon, The Secret Garden which is small, but houses some nice works by its owner, Roberto and other local artists and Playa Oeste, which specializes in surf art from around the world and other places where art can be found such as gift shops and adorning the walls of restaurants and hotels, not to mention the many murals all over Rincon, (another posting on this soon). I know of a couple great photographers, Rachel Tanner and our neighbor, Angelo Cordero.
Rincon is such a beautiful and inspiring place that a strong artist presence here seems natural. I think of places like Laguna Beach and Santa Fe where artists were drawn to the natural beauty and formed colonies of studios and galleries as their ranks grew. Rincon could turn out to have something like this, I think there are already many very good artists here, but there needs to be support from all sides of the community and maybe a more united approach between expats and locals.

The surf brought us, the people keep us

When we first decided to move to Rincon it was because of the great weather and beaches, but the people here are what makes Rincon so special. I've already described how Steve and Francia Lantz from the Lazy Parrot have helped, but there are so many more. Whenever we have a question about where in the Rincon area or who in Rincon, we run it by John from Surf's Up Coffee, he's just a guy who has been here a long time and done many things here and he's eager to suggest local folks that he trusts and has a connection with.
Cyndi first met Rhea Maxwell of the El Coqui of Rincon at a volunteer graffiti cleanup event and Rhea, who has so much on her plate, was kind enough to see that we would like to help and we have built a great relationship with her.
A number of our friends have blogs; James and Shannon who got here about 6 months before we did have a great blog, James N Shan Do PR. She teaches yoga at La Paz Yoga studio and he teaches surfing at Rincon Surf School. Their blog is a great way to see Rincon through the eyes of an adventurous young couple, exploring all the things that make this place so unique.
Rincon Life is Annie, who along with her husband Justin, own Rincon Vacations a vacation concierge service for the West Coast of Puerto Rico. Her blog is probably the most informative Rincon blog I've read and there are always new and interesting posts. She and Justin are great at what they do and work hard to match local business people with tourists in Rincon.
Fernando is the man behind the Villa Orleans blog and his videos show so much about the Rincon area and beyond. He knows as much about this part of Puerto Rico as anyone I've met and is always willing to share great information about this place he loves.
His brother, Roberto is an amazing artist and runs the Secret Garden Art Gallery, where local artists can show their work. The gallery is located amidst a tropical and jungle landscape that Roberto and Fernando built behind the Villa Orleans.
Sam and Jahbi, who both work at the Lazy Parrot really welcomed us when we first got here. They came here from Pennsylvania a few years ago and remembered how hard it was to get the house in order and Sam worked on our electric and plumbing problems after some long days at the Parrot.
Carlos, who runs the Boarding House Surf school and rentals really epitomizes the Rincon attitude as we have found it to be. When Cyndi was looking to buy a board he offered up a few to try out so she would know what she liked and when I expressed some interested, he pulled out a big 11 foot board and shoved in my hands and told me to get out on the waves with my wife. When I got my hands on a nice longboard that needed a few fixes, he took care of it and found a cheap used fin for Cyndi's board, all the while not worrying about how he would get paid, more interested in us getting out on the waves. Not everyone in Rincon has this esthetic, but the more people we meet, the more nice things we have to say.

Rincon.org

Rincon.org is the website of the Tourism Association of Rincon, TAR, and Cyndi and I are proud to say we are behind the new design of the website. TAR brings local businesses in Rincon together for the purpose of tourism, but it is also a great networking opportunity for new businesses. Cyndi joined with Rincon Sports Massage before we got to Rincon and has met a lot of great clients and friends as a result. Our business, 413 Geek was hired to redesign the website when the previous web designer announced a hefty price increase for the maintenance of the site. A redesign was long overdue, the old site had broken links, drop down menus and long, long pages that took forever to load. There was a lot of good information on the site, but it had been added to so often, it had become unorganized and redundant.
The website is the main benefit of becoming a TAR member and the old site wasn't serving its members as well as it could. Rincon.org has always been the most popularly searched site for Rincon, but we want it to be easy to get to and easy to navigate. But mainly we want to make the site to serve potential tourists as well as its members, listings that are organized, up to date and easy to find, important information, but not too much information, and photographs that show the beauty and fun in Rincon.
But I also think the website is just a start, there are things like the Rincon International Film Festival and the Mayaguez 2010 Games that local business owners can be a part of, but there needs to be organization and communication between owners, planners and back to potential visitors, TAR can be a big part of this communication. Cyndi and I are so excited to be able to play a part in the process. We decided a year ago that this is our town and we look forward to participating in the future of Rincon.

Fresh Veggies!

Cyndi and I bought 1/2 share of this season's crops from Finca Cielo Verde, a local community supported agricultural collective. Their website: http://cieloverdepr.blogspot.com/
I've heard of these types of arrangements before, but never had the opportunity to get involved, so when our friend Katka emailed us some information, we were very interested. The produce in Rincon is generally very good. We have a small market less than a mile away, La Placita, that sells locally grown fruit and vegetables, but it's really just a roadside stand so the variety isn't so great. I buy tomatoes there when they have them and avacados as well, but the prices can be high also. The regular market, Econo, in town sells plenty of produce, but much of it is from other countries and for all sorts of reasons we are trying to limit our food purchases to local sources as much as we can.
So the chance to invest in a local farm, they're in the hills above Mayaguez, about an hour away, will keep us eating local and fresh as the deliveries come weekly. The first delivery was 2 weeks ago and in it we had Mesclun greens, Scallponini squash, eggplant, mandarins, cilantro, mustard greens and Pac choi. The 2nd weeks delivery was similiar but included some starfruit and different greens. We've been making vegetarian pastas and stir-frys, but also eating these straight from the farm veggies raw. The flavor and freshness is incredible and doesn't compare to something bought back home from a Ralph's or Vons where some of the vegetables are shipped in from defferent states and can take days to make it to the produce counter.
If you have an opportunity to go, Finca Cielo Verde also sell at the Rincon Farmer's Market. And if you don't live in Rincon, chances are there is a farm near you that has similiar arrangements, seek them out at Farmer's markets and support local growers and the local food movement. The consolidation of the farming industries is something that should trouble us all, small growers are being forced out by large companies whose growing practices and pricing strategies threaten to shut down small farms everywhere, but it doesn't have to be that way.