Bermuda 2017 - Epilog

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. ;-)