If you want to be part of a local experience, get up early on a Friday and head to the San Sebastian Market. I guess I would call it a large flea market or farmers market, since it had a little bit of everything. The market is located on the Centro Agropecuario grounds. It has slots for over 340 tables inside the grounds and, of course, there are other people selling things outside in the parking lot.

With all the talk of the economy and the recession, it’s always helpful to find a way to save some money on vacation. Order the 2010 Puerto Rico Entertainment Book and you’ll be able to find 50% off and 2-for-1 discounts at lots of restaurants, attractions and services across the island.

If you love ice cream and exotic flavors, you need to visit Heladeria Lares, located on the town square in Lares. They have home-made ice cream in flavors like rice & beans, garlic, corn, pumpkin and cod fish (to name a few). Most are tasty. Some are just bizarre. For the faint of heart, they also have "safe" flavors like vanilla and chocolate.

Whether you have just a couple of hours or a couple of days, there are plenty of things to keep you busy and entertained in the northeast part of Puerto Rico. From the rain forest to beaches to biobays, we’ve put together a list of activities sorted by the amount of time you need to do each.

For the real Puerto Rican local market experience, you need to head to Rio Piedras. There, you will find a large indoor Mercado de Rio Piedras (Rio Piedras Market) and blocks of outdoor sidewalk shopping where the locals go to shop!

The Aibonto Flower Festival (Festival de Flores de Aibonito) will be held this year from June 26 through July 5, 2009. It’s a wonderful day of flowers, plants, shopping, music, food and more!

One of my favorite things about going on vacation is the opportunity to try food that is different than I can get at home. Tropical fruit has become somewhat of a passion of mine, and it’s always something I seek out whenever we travel. Luckily for me, we can grow a bunch of different types of tropical fruit right in Puerto Rico. Luckily for you, there are many different places you can get a taste of the tropics!

If you’re embarking on your cruise from San Juan, then you’ll be able to purchase duty free liquor and cigarettes at the pier before you board the ship. We were in Old San Juan the other day and came upon a copy of ad for the duty free store at the cruise pier, which we’ve scanned so that you have some idea of what’s available and how much it will cost.

The recently expanded Prime Outlets Shopping Village in Barceloneta now boasts over 85 designer and famous-name factory stores. You’ll find discounts on brands like Coach, Gap, Tommy, Polo, Adidas, Nike, Reebok, and many more. And it’s only about 1 hour from the San Juan area.

I am always looking for ways to save some money, especially on vacation, and I thought that I would share this with our readers. The San Juan edition of the Entertainment Book is filled with 50% discount coupons for restaurants and activities across Puerto Rico.