John Hathaway

Speculating about future development is quite a popular hobby in Vieques. I don’t think I’ve had a single conversation of more than 10 minutes here where the topic doesn’t come up in some way.
“So when do you think the new W Resort is really going to open?”
“Do you think the ferry will ever really change to the new terminal?”
“Did you hear someone wants to open a marina?”
“What’s up with someone turning shipping containers into shops along the Malecon?”

Most people here  have conflicting thoughts on the matter: people want to see a stronger economy, more jobs,  and better goods and services available; but don’t want to see us become one big tourist mall like St. Thomas.

The funny thing is that many of the same exact conversions have been going on for decades. Long-time residents will tell you two things: Nothing ever changes here. And the boom coming in the next couple years.

Take a guess at when this was published:

Fortunately, an ambitious plan to develop Vieques (with a luxury hotel, golf course and plush country club subdivision) has fallen through. Thus for several more years Vieques seems safe from “progress.” The only recent signs of change are restoration of the old fort and a recreation area on Playa del Sol…

Today, it is primitive, beautiful, not too expensive and American. Tomorrow, it will still be American and beautiful. For several more years, however, we still believe you can move in here and get established before the boom hits.

If you guessed 2006, you’re probably not alone. I’ve read basically those same sentences from many sources in the recent past. But in fact, that quote is 40 years older. It’s from a book of my father’s, Utopia is an Island, by Norman Ford, published in 1966!

You can see images of the compete article below. (Click each image to enlarge to readable size.) If you change the prices and the names of hotels and restaurants, it pretty much describes Vieques today. So, I guess nothing does change here. At least until the boom hits.

Starting in the 1830s, sugar was king in Vieques. There were once 4 sugar mills here, along with thousands of free and slave laborers to work the fields and mills. A century later, only the Playa Grande mill remained.  This map hows the area at about that time.

It comes from The Route: The Forgotten Side Of Vieques, by Pragmacio, an interesting book with short first person accounts of his life here from the end of the sugar era into the Navy era. The mill closed early in the 40s when the Navy took over most of the island.

As you can see in the photos, it has been largely reclaimed by the jungle. It’s rather eerie to walk in the ruins of what was once such a busy center of industry. A few have begun to appreciate its historical significance and the Vieques Conservation and Historical Trust is now giving occasional tours.

                     

You can find the location of the ruins on my Map of Vieques:
http://tinyurl.com/viequesmap

You can see more photos here:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=15rd3izb.6diqh067&x=0&y=-maafar&localeid=en_US

You can find more historical information here:
http://www.vieques-island.com/museumnotes.shtml
http://www.isla-vieques.com/puerto-rico/history2.html
http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/43/281.html

There are things that are usually impossible to buy in Vieques. (High quality meats and cheeses top our list.) So getting to the main island about once a month to shop at Costco, Home Depot, and even god forbid Wal-Mart is a necessary treat. We’ve done this trip a couple times via air, but now that we’re locals and will be doing this regularly, decided we needed to explore the $4 version instead of the $80 version.

Alarm at 5:00. Got to the ferry dock by 6:00 and found quite a line of people, many, like us, carrying empty luggage. But the line moved along and the packed ferry left a couple minutes before 6:30. The interior had the A/C so cold that there was condensation on the outside of the metal doors. We sat outside for the pleasant hour-long trip.

A couple helpful people pointed us in the right direction and we found the rental car place, which was packed and fairly inefficient, even by Puertorican standards. But we got the car and the shopping all went smoothly. We’re getting to know our way around, but it was definitely handy having the iPhones and Google Maps. Was interesting to see the difference between my old one and Chris’ new 3G. The improved accuracy with the GPS makes it so much more useful in a twisty warren like Fajardo.

We got back to the ferry dock and stood in line again. But this time everyone had full luggage and many shopping bags, large boxes, etc. Basically you can bring on whatever you can carry. Trip back also left on time and was fairly enjoyable. After the horror stories we’ve heard about others, I’m glad we were so lucky on our first trip!