To give a bit of contrast to our major trip to St. Martin, my wife and I decided to spend a few days exploring a part of Puerto Rico we had not seen before. After flying in on AA from JFK on Monday, we overnighted both ways at the Wyndham el San Juan in Isla Verde, a large and elaborate resort and casino on the beach. We didn't spend enough time there to really use the multiple pools, restaurants and other facilities, but if you can get a good price on the room, as we did, it is worth while. Of the several restaurants, we only used the Mexican one, but it provides an outstanding view as well as good food. <br><br>We picked up a car from D and H car rental, which has an office a few blocks from the hotel, and drove to Rincon the next morning. Rincon is a small city at the extreme West of the island; a surfing center in the winter but not much of a tourist area in this season. Our intention was to explore and sight-see this part of the island. Rincon itself has beaches that don't seem very developed, but the very large and popular beach at Bocqueron is not far away and is very nicely done for a public beach - probably a bit wild when crowded. Crash Boat is another popular one in the other direction. The zoo at Mayaguez is another attraction. <br><br>Much of the way from San Juan to Rincon is on a freeway. Puerto Rican drivers tend to cut in and don't signal, but don't drive very fast. The main highways are good but can become congested going through towns. KFC and McDonalds etc. are notably abundant. Secondary roads are narrow, crooked, but well surfaced and often scenic. <br><br>The Lazy Parrot Inn is a big contrast to the Wyndham. It has only 11 rooms, and while we had one of the better ones, it was small with little drawer space and only one chair, but with these limitations was comfortable, clean and well kept up. Management was very friendly. The room had a small refrigerator, which was nice. A bakery next door can provide some basics. The room shared a nice terrace with another room, but this was mostly exposed to the sun and too hot to be used very much. The pool and garden was very attractive. Another feature is a very good restaurant. We normally like to eat around, and there were several restaurants within reasonable driving distance, but there were enough things on the menu that we wanted to try, and our first meal was good enough, that we said to hell with it and ate dinner there all 4 nights. <br><br>We did stop in to see the Arecibo observatory on our way back to San Juan - interesting, especially to anyone with any kind of interest in astronomy.<br><br>We enjoyed this as a different experience and an introduction to a new part of the Caribbean for us. We left on LIAT on Sunday for St. Martin - the airport was crowded with cruise ship passengers going home, but they did not interfere with a problem free and routine flight <br><br><br><br>