Bermuda Day 3

Dear Blog

 

Day three August 27^th Bermuda

 

Our room is small but cozy, tucked upstairs with a nice view of the garden and pool at the Rosedon Hotel. It’s furnished in a beautifully appointed colonial style, and the whole property is wonderfully quiet. Being an adults‑only hotel is a real bonus — especially when it comes to enjoying the pool, with no kids yelling “MARCO!” “POLO!” every 3 seconds.

 

We headed out early and went for a morning walk along Front Street and the waterfront. This is what I would call the postcard stretch, good for photo ops. Ferries were coming and going, joggers were out, and the city was just waking up.

 

We stopped at one of Bermuda’s most‑photographed spots, the Birdcage. This is the blue‑and‑white traffic tower where Bermuda’s “dancing traffic cops” once directed cars. Traffic lights eventually made the job unnecessary. The Birdcage name comes from Geoffrey “Dickie” Bird, Hamilton’s first City Engineer. In 1962, he designed the raised, covered tower to protect officers from the sun and rain — and since Dicky Bird built the cage, everyone just started calling it the “Birdcage”.

 

We wandered through Queen Elizabeth Park, enjoying the cool shade of the trees and the quiet benches tucked beneath them. From there, we strolled past City Hall and the Arts Centre with its pretty little courtyard, then continued to the Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity. We passed on the 155‑step climb to the tower—spectacular view or not. By then the day was warming up and our thirst was catching up with us.

 

Looping back toward the water, we went looking for some “Johnny Bread” a slightly sweet Bermudian treat. It’s not the traditional Bermudian breakfast of cod fish, potatoes, hard boiled eggs, avocados, bananas and tomato sauce the locals line up for, but that sounds a bit too much for us. We stumbled into bakeries offering the usual gooey, sugary jelly-filled gut bombs. They did look dangerously scrumptious, but we shared a rare moment of restraint.

 

We spent the day wandering around and “shopping”—not actually buying anything, but you’ve gotta look, right? We walked through the Hamilton Princess & Beach Club, the one everyone calls the “Pink Palace”. It’s right across the street from where we’re staying, gorgeous, and wildly expensive at about $1,200 a night. We were perfectly happy just strolling through and taking it all in.

 

We spent part of the afternoon stretched out by the pool, reading — me with Resort to Murder, soaking up all that Bermuda‑resort mystery energy, and Jay with some Jack Reacher literary masterpiece he seems obsessed with. Stretched out poolside, we ordered a cold beer and a glorious pile of french-fries instead. That’s vacation- doing exactly what feels right.

 

For dinner, we crossed the street back to the Pink Palace and settled into a waterfront table at Restaurant 1609. The harbor was glowing, the breeze was soft, and the fish tacos were genuinely terrific. Afterward, we headed out for our sunset cruise.

 

We adore sunset cruises and have taken them all over the world—Africa, the Caribbean, Spain, Greece, and probably a few places I’ve forgotten. If a boat leaves at dusk, we’re on it. There’s nothing better than sipping a rum swizzle, listening to live island music, catching the guide’s lively commentary, and watching Bermuda slowly light up as the sun slips away. Unfortunately, we waited and waited …no boat, no other passengers. No rum swizzle drinks, nothing. I guess they cancelled it probably because there aren’t many tourists in town right now or maybe the full moon scared everyone off, so we wandered down the street and let the moonlight lead us to a nightcap while enjoying the most beautiful full moon ever.

 

Tomorrow is another day in Paradise and we’re going to the beach! After all, it is Bermuda.