On Sunday morning, we packed up, walked down to the bus stop, and took a short bus ride to the airport.
The airport hadn't fared especially well in the deluge a few days earlier; there were wet ceiling tiles crumbled on the floor in some places, trashcans catching dripping water in others, and sandbags in front of one of the entrances.
I suspect that even before getting soaked, the airport's future was uncertain. Plans to rebuild/upgrade it were already in place while we were there (almost a year ago), and there's a detailed timeline online, if anyone is interested.
Our return to home was uneventful, except that we managed to go to JFK in January without a snow scraper in the car, and there were several inches of snow on the car when we found it.
Bermuda was delightful, and has definitely made my list of places to visit again. While we hit some of the best highlights, there's still plenty of island to see. Next time, I'll push harder for the scooter.
I'm not sure where I'd like to stay during this hypothetical return trip. St. George's it a photogenic little town, and it was nice that it's somewhat off the beaten path, so to speak, but it's at the northern tip of the island. It might be more convenient to stay in Hamilton, especially now that we know how to get there via bus from the airport.
I recall one stranger being shocked that we rode the bus from St. George's "all the way" to Hamilton, and planned to go back the same day. To us, the island seems tiny, but just as with the weather, it's all relative to what one is used to dealing with.
I'm not sure which time of year I'd prefer for the next visit, either. Perhaps it's not far enough south to be unbearably hot in the summer, but it would be a very different experience with flocks of tourists. Going in the winter definitely has its pros and cons, though.
It was nice that absolutely nothing was crowded, but occasionally inconvenient that many places were closed. I called around in search of a kayak rental, but was unable to find any options. One place told me they don't do any watersport activities during the winter. I also made several inquiries about going snorkling, but was told that it was "too cold" or that I'd "need a wetsuit". Suddenly, the sight of people wearing winter coats, hats, and gloves on the buses didn't seem so strange.
It turned out to be perfectly okay that it wasn't a beach vacation. I don't think that's what any of us necessarily expected, nor wanted. I thought the weather was perfect, with the exception of our rainy luck on Day 2.
The fact that the ferries and buses are part of the same transit system was helpful. The buses were a convenient way to get around, and everyone was friendly. A few people even helped us with our suitcases when we stepped off at the airport.
One of the things I remember clearly about riding those buses, other than seeing the driver get out, in the dark, to help someone who had fallen over while on a scooter and stopped at an intersection, was that they accelerated (relatively) quickly. It seemed like they went through 4 or 5 gears going from a stop to the island-wide speed limit of 35 kph (just under 22 mph).
Probably the worst part about going to Bermuda in January was that it's not far enough south to have an appreciably longer day. The island isn't much farther south than Charleston, SC, and a quick bit of research suggests that the sunset was about 40 minutes later than in PA. There wasn't much to do in St. George's once the sun had set, but it's possible that that might be different in Hamilton, the resort areas, etc.
Writing this almost a year after the trip has been challenging, but rewarding in its own way. It has been nice to relive the experience in more depth and detail than I would get just from re-reading it later. At times, it has been a bit of a puzzle to put the details together correctly. And sometimes, if I couldn't remember or figure out the details, I wrote the story that the photos were telling me. ;-)
Sunday, January 8, 2017
Saturday, January 7, 2017
Bermuda 2017 - Day 4
Day 4 again promised perfect January weather: upper-60s to low-70s.
I don't think we had an overly detailed plan for that day; it definitely included going to Hamilton, possibly including a stop at the Bermuda aquarium/zoo/musem, and maybe going to the Royal Naval Dockyard.
Andrea, Joe, and Sabrina probably all had oatmeal for breakfast, and I think I had a banana and a sweet roll of some sort.
What with the bus or a (very expensive) cab ride being our only options (or multiple scooters with precisely one interested rider?), we were aboard the pink bus just before 10 AM.
It was the most interesting bus ride I can recall, at least in recent history; the scene out the window is often beautiful, and sometimes unexpected or unusual in some way. Approximately zero of the roads have sidewalks or shoulders, so there are occasionally shear walls of rock (seemingly) very close to the window, or dense forest, stone walls, hedges, trees, etc., (seemingly) mere inches from the bus.
I had the forethought to sit on the other side that day, apparently, which is why I noticed this... unique sign... as we went over the short bridge between St. George's Island and St. David's Island. In their defense, I think they were actively working on repairing it, as there were temporary traffic lights at each end to allow sharing of the solitary open lane.
Someday, I'll write a post about my favorite photos of signs.
Andrea and Joe opted for the aquarium-zoo, but Sabrina and I decided to head straight to Hamilton. We thought we might rent bikes and ride somewhere in or around the city. There is, after all, an 18-mile bike trail that spans most of the island.
Joe and Andrea would join us in a few hours; we made vague plans to meet near the bus station when they were done. I'm sure both of them took photos at the aquarium-zoo, but I certainly don't have them.
We made it to Hamilton just after 10:30, and were treated to a festive view of city hall (& arts centre), right behind the bus station.
Not having much to go on, we walked down towards the water in search of the tourist information center and/or ferry terminal (same building).
Fun fact: the mayor of Hamilton is part of the Gosling family, according to Wikipedia. At least his last name is Gosling, anyway.
A woman at the ferry terminal / information desk suggested we could rent bikes at a place about half a mile down Front street, so we strolled along the waterfront.
The bike rental place was a letdown; they only rented in 24-hour increments, and they were unbelievably expensive. I think they only had two or three bikes left, too.
While we were in the rental office, a couple walked in that we recognized from the day before; they were on the cave tour with us, and had also come to Hamilton looking to rent bikes. I don't know if they rented them.
Our grand plans ruined, we decided to just go for a walk in the direction we were already headed.
Sometimes, a picture really is worth a thousand words.
I didn't realize that there was a guy in the front yard, at the time. I hope he didn't hear us...
I initially steered us towards Spanish Point, but I got a text from Andrea that they were about to leave the aquarium-zoo, so we redirected onto a short loop back towards the bus station.
Along the way, we ran into more people who would have appreciated the rain being spread out over a longer time period. (And this was 2 days after it stopped.)
Andrea and Joe beat us to the bus station, so they walked down to Front street while we caught up. Together, we explored the other half of downtown that Sabrina and I hadn't seen yet.
By then, it was 12:30 PM, so we found a diner and grabbed some lunch. I'm pretty sure we had sandwiches at The Spot Restaurant (although Google classifies this as a "Caribbean Restaurant").
While we were eating, we studied the ferry schedule and decided we had enough time to get out to the Royal Naval Dockyard.
I think we shopped around a bit while we waited for the 3 PM ferry.
The ferry ridership was sparse on Saturday afternoon, so we were able to get the premium seats on the upper deck.
Again, the fact that the locals seemed to think it was winter may have contributed to this opportunity; as I recall, there were people huddled in the covered seating area, shielded from the cold wind.
It was a beautiful 40-minute ride out to the Dockyard.
The weather even cooperated for us; it cleared up halfway through the ferry ride.
We passed the cruise ship terminal on the way in. I can't imagine how crowded that place would be when a large cruise ship unloads there.
We completed our crossing of Great Sound and de-ferried at the Dockyard, unsure exactly of what we'd find.
What we found was an old fort that has been turned into a sort of retail/tourism destination, including the National Museum, Snorkel Park Beach, and Bermuda Fun Golf.
I think the museum was the only activity that was open. Andrea and Joe had just been to a museum-zoo-aquarium, and because it didn't seem like a great use of our limited time, we opted to save the museum for the next visit.
(E.g., we wanted to enjoy a few more hours of not-winter before returning to the frozen hellscape that is the Northeastern US in January.)
We continued exploring the Dockyard. Whoever was in charge of marketing did a fantastic job making it painfully apparent that Bermuda was going to be hosting the America's Cup in the summer of 2017.
The double-clocktower building that we saw on the way in turned out to be a shopping mall, but it was closing at 4 PM (winter hours or something).
Along the way, we stopped at the Glassworks/Rum Cake Company, which helpfully share a location.
The fort structures themselves were either well-preserved or well-restored. Some of them were still in use, supporting the shipping-related functions of the shipyard.
If seems that half of the photos I took on this trip include at least one scooter.
We sort of did a spiral, starting on the perimeter, and ended up at the area in-and-around the Victualling Yard.
Originally some sort of storage/supply facility, some of it has since been converted into shops and restaurants.
We happened to be walking by The Frog and Onion Pub around the time several of us were looking for snacks, so we popped in for a quick bite.
Just as the sun was starting to set, we hopped on the ferry back to Hamilton. We ran into the same couple from the previous day's cave tour, and the bike rental place, waiting to get on the ferry.
A few other tourists joined us, out on the rear deck, for the romantic sunset cruise.
The sun dipped below the horizon just as we got to the dock.
The city of Hamilton looked beautiful at night, still decorated for Christmas.
We got back to the bus terminal around 6 PM, ending our trip to Hamilton with another view of the town hall (& arts centre).
I'm not sure when we got back to St. George's, or what we did for dinner.
This was really our last day in Bermuda, as we flew home the next morning.
I don't think we had an overly detailed plan for that day; it definitely included going to Hamilton, possibly including a stop at the Bermuda aquarium/zoo/musem, and maybe going to the Royal Naval Dockyard.
Andrea, Joe, and Sabrina probably all had oatmeal for breakfast, and I think I had a banana and a sweet roll of some sort.
What with the bus or a (very expensive) cab ride being our only options (or multiple scooters with precisely one interested rider?), we were aboard the pink bus just before 10 AM.
It was the most interesting bus ride I can recall, at least in recent history; the scene out the window is often beautiful, and sometimes unexpected or unusual in some way. Approximately zero of the roads have sidewalks or shoulders, so there are occasionally shear walls of rock (seemingly) very close to the window, or dense forest, stone walls, hedges, trees, etc., (seemingly) mere inches from the bus.
I had the forethought to sit on the other side that day, apparently, which is why I noticed this... unique sign... as we went over the short bridge between St. George's Island and St. David's Island. In their defense, I think they were actively working on repairing it, as there were temporary traffic lights at each end to allow sharing of the solitary open lane.
Someday, I'll write a post about my favorite photos of signs.
Andrea and Joe opted for the aquarium-zoo, but Sabrina and I decided to head straight to Hamilton. We thought we might rent bikes and ride somewhere in or around the city. There is, after all, an 18-mile bike trail that spans most of the island.
Joe and Andrea would join us in a few hours; we made vague plans to meet near the bus station when they were done. I'm sure both of them took photos at the aquarium-zoo, but I certainly don't have them.
We made it to Hamilton just after 10:30, and were treated to a festive view of city hall (& arts centre), right behind the bus station.
Not having much to go on, we walked down towards the water in search of the tourist information center and/or ferry terminal (same building).
A woman at the ferry terminal / information desk suggested we could rent bikes at a place about half a mile down Front street, so we strolled along the waterfront.
The bike rental place was a letdown; they only rented in 24-hour increments, and they were unbelievably expensive. I think they only had two or three bikes left, too.
Our grand plans ruined, we decided to just go for a walk in the direction we were already headed.
Sometimes, a picture really is worth a thousand words.
I didn't realize that there was a guy in the front yard, at the time. I hope he didn't hear us...
I initially steered us towards Spanish Point, but I got a text from Andrea that they were about to leave the aquarium-zoo, so we redirected onto a short loop back towards the bus station.
Along the way, we ran into more people who would have appreciated the rain being spread out over a longer time period. (And this was 2 days after it stopped.)
Andrea and Joe beat us to the bus station, so they walked down to Front street while we caught up. Together, we explored the other half of downtown that Sabrina and I hadn't seen yet.
By then, it was 12:30 PM, so we found a diner and grabbed some lunch. I'm pretty sure we had sandwiches at The Spot Restaurant (although Google classifies this as a "Caribbean Restaurant").
While we were eating, we studied the ferry schedule and decided we had enough time to get out to the Royal Naval Dockyard.
I think we shopped around a bit while we waited for the 3 PM ferry.
The ferry ridership was sparse on Saturday afternoon, so we were able to get the premium seats on the upper deck.
Again, the fact that the locals seemed to think it was winter may have contributed to this opportunity; as I recall, there were people huddled in the covered seating area, shielded from the cold wind.
It was a beautiful 40-minute ride out to the Dockyard.
The weather even cooperated for us; it cleared up halfway through the ferry ride.
We passed the cruise ship terminal on the way in. I can't imagine how crowded that place would be when a large cruise ship unloads there.
We completed our crossing of Great Sound and de-ferried at the Dockyard, unsure exactly of what we'd find.
What we found was an old fort that has been turned into a sort of retail/tourism destination, including the National Museum, Snorkel Park Beach, and Bermuda Fun Golf.
I think the museum was the only activity that was open. Andrea and Joe had just been to a museum-zoo-aquarium, and because it didn't seem like a great use of our limited time, we opted to save the museum for the next visit.
(E.g., we wanted to enjoy a few more hours of not-winter before returning to the frozen hellscape that is the Northeastern US in January.)
We continued exploring the Dockyard. Whoever was in charge of marketing did a fantastic job making it painfully apparent that Bermuda was going to be hosting the America's Cup in the summer of 2017.
The double-clocktower building that we saw on the way in turned out to be a shopping mall, but it was closing at 4 PM (winter hours or something).
Along the way, we stopped at the Glassworks/Rum Cake Company, which helpfully share a location.
The fort structures themselves were either well-preserved or well-restored. Some of them were still in use, supporting the shipping-related functions of the shipyard.
If seems that half of the photos I took on this trip include at least one scooter.
We sort of did a spiral, starting on the perimeter, and ended up at the area in-and-around the Victualling Yard.
Originally some sort of storage/supply facility, some of it has since been converted into shops and restaurants.
We happened to be walking by The Frog and Onion Pub around the time several of us were looking for snacks, so we popped in for a quick bite.
Just as the sun was starting to set, we hopped on the ferry back to Hamilton. We ran into the same couple from the previous day's cave tour, and the bike rental place, waiting to get on the ferry.
The sun dipped below the horizon just as we got to the dock.
The city of Hamilton looked beautiful at night, still decorated for Christmas.
We got back to the bus terminal around 6 PM, ending our trip to Hamilton with another view of the town hall (& arts centre).
I'm not sure when we got back to St. George's, or what we did for dinner.
This was really our last day in Bermuda, as we flew home the next morning.
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