A not so tropical island paradise

As a "bonus" for buying a timeshare at the Princess Country Club Hotel in Freeport, we got a free week at one of several other Princess properties of our choice.  I don't remember where all of them were, but I do recall one was in Scottsdale, Arizona.  I'm sure Scottsdale is a nice place but the last time I looked at a map it was not situated on any ocean or sea.  To me that means, though there would probably be a whole lot of sun and sand, there would not be much in the way of waves or tropical breezes. Two outta four doesn't make it.  Scottsdale just isn't my kinda town.  One of the other choices though was Bermuda.  Sun, check.  Sand, check.  Ocean, check.  Tropical breezes, check.  It looked like four outta four, so in 1993 we went to Bermuda.  The free week was supposed to be in addition to our normal timeshare week in Freeport, but we didn't have the time or the money to go on an island vacation twice in one year.  We banked our timeshare week and went to Bermuda instead.


Bermuda is sometimes considered a tropical island, but it isn't really.  The island group is located due east of the Carolinas at latitude 32º 20' N.  The Tropic of Cancer is at latitude 23º 26' N.  However, Bermuda owes its subtropical climate to its position in the Sargasso Sea, east of the warm Gulf Stream current.  The result of this fortunate position is temperate year round conditions -- warmer in winter and cooler in summer than the mainland cities at the same latitude.  Though the territory of Bermuda consists of 181 islands, there is one main island, usually called Bermuda, where the two incorporated municipalities are located.  These are the City of Hamilton (the capital city) and the Town of St. George (the largest city).  There are other villages on the islands, but the majority of the population are found in one of the two large municipalities.


The roads on the island are narrow, and there are restrictions on who may own a car (only Bermudian residents and only one per family) and the size of vehicles.  A large portion of traveling is done on scooters.  Scooters are available for rent, and that is unquestionably the best way to get anywhere.  As long as you remember, these people are Brits and they drive on the "wrong" side of the road.  Again, I did not dare attempt anything so risky as piloting myself.  I rode along as a passenger on the back of Bud's scooter, which was daredevil enough for me in that traffic on the wrong side of those teensy roads, around curves, up and down steep hills.  But Bud was a great helmsman, and we traversed the entire island on our little scooter, visiting quaint little perfume and glass shops, and locating secluded little out of the way beaches.  I have to say, in all the place I have been, I have never seen water quite the same color as it is in Bermuda.  There aren't a lot of sandy beaches in Bermuda, but the ones that are there are beautiful.  Horseshoe Bay is a popular spot for waterfront activities, and rightly so.


Hamilton is a fun little city with shops and taverns and businesses and grocery stores.  The smaller cruise ships (less than 700' long) dock at a pier in the middle of downtown Hamilton.  One afternoon we sat on the outside second floor balcony of an Irish pub in Hamilton and watched the cruise ship passengers disembark.  I can think of worse ways to waste an afternoon.   During our week there, Bermudians celebrated one of their holidays, and the entire City of Hamilton was turned into a giant street fair.  We could have stayed another week and not run out of places to see and things to do.


As mentioned earlier, Bermuda is a British territory and it is still verrrrry British.  They still have afternoon tea at 4:00 PM.  You are expected to dress for dinner.  Bathing suits are not to be worn in the hotel lobby.  The entire atmosphere is much more formal and not nearly as laid-back as any of the islands further south.  We had heard things were a bit more expensive in Bermuda than other islands, and we found that to be true.  But we believe we received a good value for the money spent.  The cities of Hamilton and St. George were immaculate.  In the entire week we were there we did not see any trash, we did not see any seemingly abandoned properties going to ruin, we did not see a single individual who could even remotely have been considered a vagrant.  Those things may exists in Bermuda, but they are certainly not obvious to the casual observer.


We had a great vacation, and both of us are glad to have had the opportunity to visit, though we have not returned.  Will we go back to Bermuda?  Probably not.  We both prefer the more relaxed atmosphere of the Caribbean.  There's just something in that true tropical air that calls to my soul, as if beckoning me home.