Last year my wife and I traveled to Bermuda and absolutely loved it during the off season. We stayed for almost a week but left the day before Thanksgiving to have dinner back home with family.
We’ve been going out to dinner at nice restaurants for many years but last year was the end of that with bad experiences on year after another all culminating to the prior year being our last.
My wife and I, with the helpful prodding of our daughter, convinced my parents to come with us to Bermuda this year and stay through Thanksgiving. We had no idea where we were going to eat or exactly do, but we knew we would have a good time no matter what.
We left Boston and our direct flight (everyone always asks me if it is direct. Yes folks, we fly over water. No stopping) brought us right into BDA
We stayed at the Grotto Bay, as you can see above via my quadcopter photos. Yes, I actually packed and brought my DJI Mavic Pro. It’s small and light enough that it was easy to take and I was rewarded with some great shots on the non-windy days.
We rented some scooters and went about visiting the towns.
First stop.
Hamilton
In Hamilton we walked down a few of the side street and alley ways for some photo ops, mostly of my daughter as she wanted some photos to send back home to her friends.
We popped into the Hog Penny for some of their home brewed ales and good food. Service was more than excellent. The beer was great too. I highly recommend stopping in there.
Everyone wanted to visit the light house next. That was far down the island, so on the scooters we went!
I suggest taking the “Harbour Road” route from Hamilton to get to the light house. It’s a wonderful ride along side the Hamilton harbor.
Harbour road will end. Take a right and you continue onto Middle Road. Look for Lighthouse Road on your left. A few dollars will allow you to walk the 201 steps to the top. I’ve been here twice and both times decided to stay at the bottom. Not afraid of heights, just both times I’ve had a sore leg or foot. Figures right? Maybe next time.
After the light house, continue down the Lighthouse Road and onto South Road. Take a left. Just up ahead on your right along side the cliffs is the infamous Horseshoe Bay Beach, currently rated the number 8th best beach in the world!
There is a spot on the rocks you can climb, despite the ominous government sign warning you not too…
Great views can be had from up there
From there it was back to the resort!
Grotto Bay Resort
The Grotto Bay has free ranging chickens and Grotto kitties. You wouldn’t think they would get along, but they don’t seem to bother each other much.
Bermy the Grotto Kitty who would come up to you and if you sit down, will crawl into your lap and purr.
Now the definition of a Grotto is: A small cave or cavern
The Grotto Bay resort has a couple that you can explore. One that you can get a massage in, the other you can actually swim in!
Do get an ocean front room. Well worth the extra expense and the view completely makes up for it.
Of course you can’t forget about Tea Time! Starting at 3:30 each day, the resort has tea, coffee, and cookies – or other baked goods available.
St George
The historical town of St. George is a must visit. Settled in 1612 and originally the capital of Bermuda before relocating the capital to Hamilton. There is a lot of great history and little shops. Truly the gem of Bermuda, and my most favorite town and place to visit.
We got to go through a life sized replica of the Deliverance. This was the ship that was made out of the remains of another ship that they ran aground on Bermuda after a hurricane, and was instrumental in saving the early colony in Roanoke, VA.
Saint George is also the location of the Saint Peter’s Church, also formed in 1612, this church has over 400 years of history inside.
Just up a side road from there is the perfumery “Lili Bermuda“. Here you can purchase one of their designer perfumes or even make your own!
Lastly we took a short scooter ride past the unfinished church and to Fort St. Catherine.
No cannons were fired, but the tour was great. Ask for Patrick the tour guide to see if he is there.
Then on the way back to the hotel there are a couple of quite places for you to escape. We went to our favorite beach which is usually abandoned even during the busy season. Tourists never go here it seems.
Of course that night we went out with some friends we made on the island. We always enjoy meeting up with them and it is a shame we get together so infrequently. They showed us the new house they just purchased and we had a great meal just down the road.
Hopefully will get to see them in the states sometime soon!
THANKSGIVING
Yes, we actually had Thanksgiving in Bermuda. While not an official holiday there, we were told by our local friends that a lot of American companies do give their employees the day off.
So were did we go?
The Swizzle Inn!
Ok, so this isn’t your traditional Thanksgiving meal. Actually yours truly had a dish of Chicken BBQ nachos for dinner, and since Thanksgiving falls on Thursday and Thursday is Trivia Night at the Swizzle, we did just that. Hang out at a bar, play trivia, and had one of the best family Thanksgivings we could remember!
Bacardi 8K
Every year on the week before Thanksgiving – so I’m rewinding in time at this point, as we actually did this the first full day there, starting at the Bacardi headquarters, they have an 8K road race. The walkers start off at 8:30 and the runners follow behind at 9:00 in the morning on Sunday.
It’s such a fun event and well attended. Bacardi does a fantastic job hosting the event and the food after is amazing. Plus, if you do well, your prize is a bottle of rum!! I did not win any rum, but that was also expected.
Blue Hole
Blue Hole park is on the right hand side, just before you go over the bridge heading to St. David – aka the Airport. My local friends told me it’s where they used to have dolphin shows prior to being moved to the dockyard.
Bring your bathing suit! Prepare to get some red clay / mud on you also as you climb out, but it’s worth it.
Of course we did our Geocaching on the island too, but I’ll leave that for another post. We had a ton of fun on the island and will be back sometime next year.
Go to Bermuda! It really is worth it!
True to its name
