Lunch at Luquillo Beach

It was the last full day on the Isla del Encanto. We wanted to see Luquillo Beach in nearby Rio Grande and marked it down for a late morning excursion including a last visit to Ralph's supermercado. At Ralph's they stock all items anyone could want for basic survival.

Supermercado, food warehouse--same difference

Ralph's is one BIG place!

Next stop Luquillo Beach. We'd read about the beauty of the beach, family amenities, and the restaurant kiosks. Seemed to us to be an ideal lunch choice for seafood. Further research on Trip Advisor and Yelp made our target La Parilla. 

We drove south on the main highway. We were on the east side of the island and that meant we had to turn left to get there. We saw the row of kiosks on our left and turned left at the next light. Intrepid navigators that we are a left turn took us to a cross street where we turned the wrong way. We soon realized our error and reversed course, passing several "flood evacuation zone" signs on the way to the beach.

La Parrilla (slow-loading website but worth the wait) was just one of the 55 or so kiosks. Not all were restaurants. The one next door to the restaurant sold cheesy tourist souvenirs. Each kiosk has a number, thus I knew the approximate count. Our restaurant was at the north end of the strip, just left of this parking lot picture.

It was a short stroll through the restaurant and onto the beach--a much different view. It was beautiful!

Couldn't resist a selfie on the driftwood log...

We went in and were seated at a table with a fine view.

It was a fine view until the parking spaces across the street filled up with vehicles.

We ordered Magna beers and an assortment of seafood appetizers from the extensive menu. It was a pretty fancy restaurant for a kiosk.

We had quite a few leftovers that we boxed up and took with us, thinking we'd have a little seafood brunch before heading to the airport on Saturday.

It was siesta time for me when we returned. Dail read and checked email and FaceBook from the hammock chair on the front porch, enjoying the tropical breeze. When I got up I wanted to take a couple of pictures of the neighborhood near the villa. I was especially jealous of the blooming bougainvillea.

There were lots of breadfruit trees along the street to the villa.

Karl, the owner, came by as the day waned and wanted to take a picture of us together.

We had purchased the ingredients for tuna fish sandwiches to make dinner. We also finished up the munchies we'd accumulated in the fridge. Seems like a bottle of wine disappeared, also!

The next morning it was time for leisurely packing, cleaning up the place, and enjoying our seafood leftovers. The flight didn't leave until 2:30 but we had to negotiate San Juan traffic to the airport and turn in our rental car. All went well except for a lengthy wait to clear security. The flight to Charlotte was routine.

It was good to get back to the U.S. mainland. This was a welcome sight on the concourse.

Our flight was delayed due to thunderstorms and a power outage but we did take off eventually and made it back to Raleigh around midnight.

Thus ended our epic first visit to Puerto Rico, the Isle of Enchantment!