In Mayaguez, we’re staying in an old convent, Posada Hotel Colonial, on Calle Iglessia.
I grew up on the Federal Experiment Station where my parents lived for seventeen years. My dad worked for USDA as director of the station and my mom taught genetics at the University of Puerto Rico and gathered shells for her book Caribbean Seashells, for which she collected all the shells and took all the pictures.
I attended a Spanish Catholic school, Imaculada Concepcion, through fifth grade, when we moved to Gainesville, Fla, only because under Nixon, federal employees were not allowed to stay in foreign posts longer than two years. We were all heartbroken.
Needless to say, I have many fond memories of our house and of the lush the station grounds. The station hosted many lavish parties on the rooftop of the Spanish Colonial building.
We arrived in Mayaguez from Rincon and checked into the Posada Hotel Colonial, which was once a convent, with enough time to shower and nap before dinner. 
While the boys napped, I explored the square. Luckily, the cathedral was still open after Easter services and I was able to walk inside, which was decorated with white flowers.
The square looked lovely and there were several other wonderful buildings, including Teatro Yaguez.
Unfortunately, downtown Mayaguez looks down at the heels, with many empty buildings.
The beautiful old casino next to the cathedral is scheduled to be restored. Apparently, PR has lost 2 of its nearly 5 million inhabitants since hurricane Maria hit and it shows in Mayaguez.
As we drove to dinner, however, we saw an extensive oceanfront park with skate park and the baseball stadium and sports complex, all of which look thriving.
I managed to get reservations at Gonzales seafood restaurant on the water for 7:30.
We had what will undoubtedly be the best meal of the trip (and the most expensive). Mine was lobster chunks, JP and Steve snapper with every kind of imaginable seafood on top, and Jordan snapper, all of which was very fresh and tender. Once again, too much food to eat, in part because we ordered fish ceviche first, which was delicious, and they brought us seafood bisque and bread with a chopped vegetable ceviche topping.
The next day we went to the Ricomini bakery we used to go to and bought boxes of pastry and coffees for breakfast
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Then we walked to the tropical agriculture station, once the Federal Experiment Station. We checked in and were given visitor passes and shown into the conference center where there was a picture of my dad who had been director from 1953 to 1963.
It was a moving moment because he looked so young. the house we lived in was damaged by an earthquake and by hurricane Maria and is slated for demolition. But we could peek in the windows and see the splendor that once was, the fountain in the central courtyard that had been glass topped when we lived there and the mahogany Built in cabinets in the dining room.
The boys posed in front of a huge canoe tree behind the house.
The back of the station, showing the rooftop where parties were held.
Then we did a walking tour of the paths with labeled trees, including the cannon ball tree, that JP discovered stinks.
The remains of the lily ponds that once graced the back of the station.
Across the street from the station is now a lovely linear park with a beautiful pavilion. It stretches all the way from the station to town.
By 10 am we had finished our tour and headed south to explore Buye beach on our way to Cabo Rojo.