good talk

I flew L.V. to Charlotte, to San Juan.  I had been to Puerto Rico 22 years before and then was also in Ponce and Mayaguez, this time only San Juan.  Discovered by Columbus on his 2nd Voyage on Nov. 19, 1493, Puerto Rico was a prized possession for the Spanish as it was a big island, 100 miles by 35 miles, with fresh water, also San Juan Harbor was very deep and easily defended.  In front of their fort, El Morro, was like a freeway taking the Spanish Treasure to Europe and other ships to Puerto Rico via favorable breezes.  Castillo de San Cristobal comprised 27 acres that was the largest fortification in the Western Hemisphere. To visit both was very exciting.  I was in the Cathedral of San Juan Bautista where is the tomb of San Juan's founder, Juan Ponce de Leon. La Casa Blanca was one of the first buildings in San Juan and this was his home.  I was in the Puerto Rico's Art Museum.  A nice lady gave me a tour of the Territorial Capitol and I was in both Houses of Legislature.  Puerto Rico has a pop. of 3.6 mil and there's more than that in the U.S.  40% of Puerto Ricans have Taino Indian Blood.  When you're in PR you really feel like you're in a 3rd World Country, it's a backward place.  Ah, but nice to visit, I stayed in a motel close to Isla Verde Beach and it was great, at daybreak I'd be in the water for an hour, warm saltwater, that was good.  The Spanish held their Jewel for over 400 years fighting like a dog to keep it.  Francis Drake, whose prowess at seizing Spanish Treasure Ships gained him the sobriquet of El Drage, the Dragon, tried to take San Juan in 1595.  The Spanish scored a direct hit on Drake's Cabin as he was sitting and eating dinner, they blew his chair out from under him, unhurt but enraged, Francis leapt up and tried to take San Juan by leading a force overland, but this failed.  All other attempts at taking Puerto Rico failed until May, 1898.  By then the only Spanish possessions were the Philippines, Cuba and PR.  The Spanish-American War which lasted less than 4 months, had the American Fleet shelling San Juan, by then the Spanish were so toothless that half their cannon wouldn't even fire and Puerto Rico fell to the United States.