El Morro

After San Cristóbal we drove about a mile down the road (it looks like a lot longer!) to El Morro, another historic fort in Old San Juan. The earliest piece of this fort built was a round tower made of stone that resembled a chess piece called a “rook” or “castle”. It was built from 1539-1540 and was the only defensive structure protecting the entrance to the San Juan harbor. The rest of the fort was built around the tower. In 1898 the U.S. Navy bombarded San Juan and a shell penetrated El Morro and lodged in the tower. You can still see fragments of the shell in the tower today. We went into the tower and looked for the shell fragments but we weren’t sure what we were looking for! There have been 3 lighthouses at El Morro. One built in 1846, the second in 1876, and the third built from 1899-1900. The third was hit during the Spanish-American War but they salvaged the brick foundation and used it to put the lighthouse there today. They still use the lighthouse to help ships enter the San Juan harbor, which is one of the busiest ports in the Caribbean. To walk to El Morro from the street is ¼ of a mile. Once we got there we climbed up and down the stairs to go to the different levels. It was very interesting. There is a wall that goes from San Cristóbal to El Morro. After the forts we were hungry so we drove & found Senor Frogs. Courtney & I had never been to one but Brent & Katie both went in Mexico. It sounds a lot more interesting at night but it was still a fun place. We got free shots & souvenirs. After that we walked around a little and looked at some vendors and then drove home. It was very hot yesterday and we walked ALOT so we just hung out once we got back to Guayama. We can't wait for visitors to come so we can take them to Old San Juan!