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Ponce Top: The Hilton Ponce Golf & Casino Resort. Opposite top: Sailing regatta,
Humacao. Opposite bottom: The view from our Club Calla condo balcony.
It’s an easy 60-plus mile drive on Highway 52 from San Juan rooms and lavish terraced gardens, this mansk overflows with
to Ponce where, with my friends’ fabulous connections, we got style. You don’t have to take my word for it — you can view it
to stay, gratis, at Ponce’s top-notch luxury hotel, the Hilton for yourself, because now it’s a museum. Take a tour and you’ll
Ponce Golf & Casino Resort. The connection, Michael Serrallés, also learn all about the history of the sugar industry.
a member of the famous Serrallés clan, graciously provided us
with spacious oceanfront guest rooms. With tennis courts, a There’s lots more to do in this city known as “The Pearl of the
golf course, two pools, three restaurants and two bars — both South.” We could have toured the art museum, visited a coffee
serving drinks made with the DonQ rums that helped make plantation, climbed an observation tower, viewed historical
the Serrallés family famous — there was hardly any reason to instruments at the Museum of Puerto Rico Music or investi-
ever leave the hotel. gated the Tibes Indigenous Ceremonial Center but the next
day we had to be in Humacao to cover a sailing event.
rallés family. The family’s Puerto Rican rum history began Humacao
During a luncheon at the Ponce yacht club with Michael, his
son and grandchildren, I learned a few things about the Ser-
in 1865 when Don Juan Serrallés produced his first cask of
rum on his sugarcane plantation. That one cask turned into To reach Humacao, we decided to travel route 52 through the
Destileria Serralles, Inc., a company that now produces and mountain pass to Caguas and on to road 30. This was sup-
distributes practically all of the rum sold in Puerto Rico (and posed to be an easy hour and a half drive but, because of an
owns the Ponce Hilton resort). ambiguous sign that insisted west and east lay in the same
direction, we ended up traveling in circles. Over and over
Just like in a fairy tale, Michael grew up in a castle on a hill. again, we wended our way past that same, unintelligible sign,
Known as the Serrrallés Castle, this palace, overlooking the while also passing by a sun-wrinkled, toothless Puerto Rican
entire city of Ponce, was built in the 1930s in the era’s pop- señor sitting on his dilapidated stoop. Each time we drove by
ular Spanish Revival style. Beginning with the breathtaking his house, he waved and smiled at the silly touristas. We just
entrance, and on to the massive dining room, spacious bed waved and smiled back as though nothing was amiss.
96 Wine Dine & Travel Summer 2014

