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.
1 comment:
Of course you found the only microbrewery in the country...
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