Puerto Rico in 7 days - Day 5

Our 2nd day on Culebra was supposed to be spent snorkeling. Since I had gotten a pretty bad sunburn from the day before we decided we better not do any snorkeling. I didn't want to be miserable for the rest of the trip. Instead we went down by the ferry dock upon Terri's advice and looked for sea glass and shells there. We weren't disappointed. I collect sea glass and got an amazing assortment of different colors, sizes and shapes. My favorite ones were these bright blue pieces which were tiny but oh so gorgeous. We were also able to see some fish right from the dock. Tiger fish, needlenose fish and some others that I don't know the name of.

We had an amazing brunch at this place called Pandeli. We both had a breakfast sandwich but the way they made it on french bread and then pressed it together was so delicious.

After our tummys were full we were able to do some serious shopping. We had found a great shop the day before and our luck continued on this great island. I had been looking for some things that had actually been made in Puerto Rico and didn't have much luck in San Juan. We found a lot of things on Culebra that were made by locals of the island. My favorite things were some jewelry made from sea glass. I love the necklace i got and Chris found a couple of necklaces he liked too made from shells. My other favorite thing is a WeBe Bag made out of a recycled feed bag. My sister had a similar bag when she came to visit a couple weeks ago and I fell in love with it. So when I saw one that actually said East Caribbean Feeds on the recycled bag and that it was made in Culebra PR I HAD to have it. I love my new bag!
This sign pretty much sums up the feeling on Culebra. Very kick back, a whatever goes attitude.


Our flight from Culebra left around 4 p.m. and once we got back to our car we were off to find the city of Utuado. Now, I have to say that whenever people would ask us what places we were going to be seeing while in Puerto Rico they were always, without fail, pretty impressed that we were going to Utuado. It made me curious what we were in for. After a 2 hour drive we arrived in Utuado which is situated in the mountainous area of Puerto Rico, kind of in the middle of the island. It was getting dark and the owner of the guesthouse had mentioned her concern with us arriving after dark. We weren't too worried though. Our first task in Utuado was to give the missionaries a ride. We saw them walking down the street and pulled over to ask if we could give them a ride. They gladly accepted and we then drove them about 3 miles to their destination. They were also able to head us in the right direction which I am really grateful for. For the next 30 minutes we went around the curviest road I have ever been on. The sharpest turns on a very narrow road that was meant for two cars. Yikes! I found myself at one point holding my breath. Chris did a great job and we eventually did find it. The sounds were amazing! I have never heard anything like it before. The Coqui frogs felt like they were everywhere and combining that with all the other sounds was an unbelievable auditory sensation. When we arrived, our host Marlene met us and showed us to the cottage. It was beautiful and everything that I hoped it would be. I couldn't wait until morning to see what everything looked like around me. We needed to figure out how to get to our sightseeing things the next day so Marlene even invited us into her home to use her computer and figure it out. she was so friendly and her hugs and smiles immediately made us feel like family.