DORADO BEACH

My last post was in mid-February and the last four weeks have zoomed by.  Since then, we have packed up our house into a 40-foot container, said goodbye to our friends in Bali, taken four flights and flown over 24 hours to finally arrive in Puerto Rico on the first of March.   It's been a bit over a week since we arrived in Puerto Rico and the first days have been surprisingly easy.  The kids are in school, we found a house nearby and we've started exploring the area.  Dorado Beach (at least what we've seen so far) is beautiful - the beach is nearby, there are several golf courses spread out through the property and there's lots to do for everyone. I think we're going to love living here.

The history of Dorado Beach started out in 1905 as La Sardinera - a grapefruit and coconut plantation owned by Dr. Alfred Livingston.  At that time, transport was on horseback or on foot and people lived in thatched roof dwellings.  When Dr. Livingston died in 1925, his daughter Clara, an aviator and friend of Amelia Earhart, inherited the plantation and built herself a new beachfront "hacienda" called Su Casa.

In 1955, the plantation changed hands when it was auctioned off and bought by Lawrence Rockefeller who wanted to create a resort in the Caribbean on the golden sands of Dorado Beach.  Rock Resorts constructed a 125-room hotel right on the beach and for twenty years, Dorado Beach was where the rich and famous friends of Rockefeller came to spend their holidays. In December of this year, the Dorado Beach, Ritz-Carlton Reserve will open on the same place where the original Rock resort used to be.  Su Casa is still there on the beach with some of the original furniture and an atmosphere of the plantation life and days gone by while the new hotel will be modern with all rooms facing out to the sea.  I can't wait to see what it'll be like.