Within a stone's throw, emerges Mice Cay (Spanish: Cayo Ratones), a Brown pelican nesting grounds, an islet covered with Australian pines and bordered by sandy beaches.

Though the nearby path, "Camino el Indio" (en: Indian Way), may elicit visions of a rich indigenous past, little surfaces, in fact, from colonial sources about Joyuda, but until the 19th century.

With the sharp population growth that followed the Spanish American wars of independence and the resulting migration of loyalist creoles to the island, Joyuda made a definitive appearance on the map.

Among the flurry of English-language publications about Puerto Rico that rolled out of New York presses in the wake of the Spanish–American War, Joyuda turns up commonly as a point of geo-reference.

From nearby U.S. companies in Mayagüez, came a steady dribble of customers who could afford to take the 15-minute drive over the new road and across the river and lagoon to eat "genuine" Puerto Rican food.