Let me try and flesh out the little coastal town of Puerto Viejo Caribbean side of Costa Rica’s population of 2,500. Last week my wife Jan wanted to do little clothes and souvenir shopping in Puerto. I’d rather go down to the dump and watch the chrome rust on the cars than shop so we agreed I would hang, she would shop and we’d meet later for a bite. Jan began her down main street shopping and I wandered. Soon I spied the plank counter at the restaurant Tamara owned by Mr. Patterson an Afro-Costa Rican who has in the past been a representative of the Costa Rican government. Sitting on the inside of the counter facing the street offered a great open-air view of the ebb and flow of life in Puerto Viejo. I ordered a cold Imperial beer put my elbows on the counter and watched.
Down the street came young European walkers with backpacks, a wide assortment of Costa Ricans, tuk-tuk taxis, bike riders, motor scooter riders, and motorcycle riders. Also cars, pickups loaded with riders in the bed, large transportation busses, dump trucks, and various delivery trucks. The largest vehicle during my watch was a backhoe on a big trailer being towed by a dump truck. The width of the main street is 21 feet, narrow, and when cars are parked on the side, which they are, the street becomes one-way and all transportation and delivery vehicles must come through town on their way south. Like Ft. Bragg there is no town bypass but the main street in Puerto is the width of one lane main street in Ft. Bragg. Traffic moves very slowly gets snarled, un-snarled, and life moves on.
After finishing the Imperial -my journalistic curiosity compelled me to count how many businesses were compacted in the Tamara block of the main street. The block is 390 feet long and there are thirty separate businesses occupying both sides of the street. This includes restaurants, sodas (small restaurants), street vendors, food and pastry, a variety of clothes and souvenir shops, and a few upstairs dwellings. There is also a money exchange place, a place you can buy a lottery ticket, a real estate office, a tour schedule place, and an art gallery. At the end of the block is the cultural center where a variety of activities are offered including yoga, salsa dancing, and Zumba. At the other end of the block is a big bar, food, and entertainment center with a large stage where live music is performed. This place is called Hot Rocks. The only house on the block is owned by Mr. Patterson. The numerous businesses, the flow of different vehicles, and the interesting mixture of people make the main street experience rich.
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May 26, 2022 at 08:07PM
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Golf Notes: The ebb and flow of life - Fort Bragg Advocate-News
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