Are you looking for a fun shopping experience in San Juan? On the first Sunday of every month, the Mercado Urbano is set up at La Ventana al Mar in Condado. Under big tents, this market holds about 40 or 50 vendors of local, Puerto Rican made products. Everything is home grown or home made on the island. You’ll be able to find all sorts of things. It is a great stop.

The Ponce Art Musuem (Museo de Arte de Ponce) recently reopened its doors after more than 2 years and LOTS of money in renovations and acquisitions. It is larger and it now has more than 800 art objects on display. I think it is the nicest art museum on the island, that I have visited, and it is a must-visit for anyone who has even a remote interest in the arts.

Looking for a way to save some money on vacation, while still having fun and eating well? Then order the 2011 Puerto Rico Entertainment Book and you’ll be able to find loads of discounts at lots of restaurants, attractions and services across the island. I always order the book and we always end up saving way more than the price of the book. Even for a short vacation in Puerto Rico, just using a few of these coupons can save you some money during your trip.

Do you know someone who loves amusement parks or carnivals? Then La Feria – The Park will be right up their alley. This annual carnival runs from mid-November through the end of the first week of January. This family-friendly fair is full of amusement park rides and games, food and refreshments, live music and shows, holiday light displays and even a petting zoo.

The new Museo de Vida Silvestre (or Wildlife Museum) in San Juan allows people to see what all sorts of wild animals from around the world look like. It is filled with a variety of mounted animals in displays that depict their natural origin and behavioral habits. It is a great way to learn about animals from far and wide without ever leaving the metro area.

The north shore of Puerto Rico has miles of beautiful shoreline and it is one of my favorite spots for great views on the island. Mar Chiquita is a small cove of a beach protected from the rough Atlantic by a rocky wall. This picture-perfect beach, located in the town of Manatí, is not always good for swimming, but it is always beautiful.

MLB Winter League Baseball in Puerto Rico has started! Get out to one of the stadiums in San Juan, Carolina, Caguas, Ponce or Aguadilla and support your favorite team. The action is non-stop and it is a great family-friendly atmosphere!

The Coamo Thermal Springs is another one of those natural wonders that makes Puerto Rico a pretty cool place. For hundreds of years people have been enjoying these natural hot springs, which are said to have healing powers. And now, with the recent completion of a refurbishment of the public area, everyone can enjoy the springs in clean pools.

More than 150 years ago, the Plaza del Mercado on Norzagaray Street in Old San Juan was the place to go to shop for food stuffs, fruits and veggies. Once again, it is open and, similar to in olden days, it is full of only organically grown and homemade organic products. Today, it is called the Mercado Agricola Natural Viejo San Juan and it is a treat for the eyes and the taste buds, for locals and visitors alike.

Here is another example of a local historical spot that is way under-visited. The Museo Casa Jesus T. Piñero is located right on Route 3 in Canovanas. Ray and I have passed this place literally hundreds of times and never have stopped in. We finally went for a visit recently and got a special tour of this beautifully restored home that has historical significance for Puerto Ricans.

BRAIN: The World Inside Your Head is a hands-on educational exhibition in Caguas all about our brains, how they work and what can go wrong. Though it is geared toward kids, it is still educational for people of all ages.

The nighttime sky has been beckoning people for probably as long as man has been on earth. I think most people have fond memories of their grade school solar system projects. If you really want to get a closer look at the night sky, you can go to the observatory at the Humacao campus of the University of Puerto Rico (UPR). It’s a fun and educational evening for the star-gazer in all of us.

PR4Less Tours offers a River Horse Adventure that is unlike any other trail ride we’ve ever taken. We learned about Paso Finos and then rode our horses through town, fields, forest and along a river. Oh … and we got to go swimming in the river with the horses, too!

Right on the grounds of the UPR Botanical Garden in Rio Piedras is a little-known museum all about insects. Called the the Museum of Entomology and Tropical Biodiversity, it houses the largest collection of insects in Puerto Rico. While I am not a big lover of insects, I understand their place in the world. So while we were visiting the botanical garden, we thought we would check out the "bug museum".

Tutankhamen: The Exhibition is now open in Old San Juan. The show contains replicas of objects associated with Cleopatra, Ramses II, Akhenaten, Tutmosis III and King Tut, including recreations of burial tombs, sarcophagi and King Tut’s burial headpiece. The show will run through March 2011.