PONCE
Located 75 miles (121km) southwest of San Juan, Ponce — “The Pearl of the South,” was named after Loíza Ponce de León, great-grandson of Juan Ponce de León. Founded in 1692, Ponce is today Puerto Rico’s principal shipping port in the Caribbean. The city is well kept and attractive, with an air of being stuck in the past, like a provincial Mediterranean town. On weekday afternoons, men dressed in starched guayaberas and hats play dominoes while uniformed school girls run along the large walkways.
Its historic district underwent a $440-million restoration for 1992’s 500th anniversary celebration of Christopher Columbus’s voyage to the New World, and improvements have continued. The streets are lit with gas lamps and lined with neoclassical buildings, just as they were a century ago. Horse-drawn carriages roll by, and strollers walk along sidewalks edged with pink marble. Contemporary Ponce has been restored to its former splendor, the city as it was at the turn of the 20th century, when it rivaled San Juan as a wealthy business and cultural center.
La Guancha is a sprawling boardwalk around Ponce’s bayside harbor area near the Ponce Hilton. Several eateries are located here, and it is the scene of free concerts and other events at night. There’s no beach, but during weekend afternoons children and their families come here to fly kites or ride bicycles. Hundreds of yachts and pleasure craft tie up here, which is also home to the Ponce Yacht Club. La Guancha is a relatively wholesome version of Coney Island, with a strong Hispanic accent and vague hints of New England. On hot weekends, the place is mobbed with families who listen to merengue and salsa. Lining the boardwalk are small establishments selling beer, party drinks, fried beach snacks, and souvenirs. There is also a lookout tower here, which is worth a climb.