Bermuda Stories

Dear Blog

By popular demand, we have figured out a way to include photos in our travel stories. The link here displays the compiled version of our stories sent from Bermuda with the addition of photos.

 

BermudaBooklet

 

 

Bermuda Final

Dear Blog

Sept. 1^st Tuesday Day 8 Bermuda

 

Today is our last full day in Bermuda before we take the ugh plane ride home — though at least the connection going back is better than the one that brought us here. Small victories.

We decided to spend the day with a day pass at the Newstead Belmont Hills Golf & Spa Resort, one of the easiest ways to enjoy amenities you can’t always access on your own. Yes, Bermuda has plenty of public beaches, but once you get there you still end up paying for umbrellas, loungers, and everything else. With a day pass, all of that is taken care of.

What makes Newstead especially nice is how effortless everything feels. Lunch is right on-site — no wandering around looking for food.

It’s steps from the pool, so you can drift over for a leisurely meal and then slide right back into your lounger. The views are gorgeous, giving you a mini escape inside your escape.

We weren’t looking for just another pool — our hotel already has one. We wanted a quiet harborside retreat with peace, views, and that slow, relaxing pool‑day rhythm. For that, the Newstead day pass is absolutely perfect.

One of the best perks is the private ferry shuttle, an easy eight‑minute ride across the harbor. Newstead sits directly opposite Hamilton, close enough to see the skyline but far enough to feel tucked away. The shuttle drops you right at the Hamilton ferry terminal, giving you all the convenience of the city without any of the noise or crowds. And the weather? Bright, sunny, warm — 82 degrees. Truly the perfect temperature for a final Bermuda day.

One of the real joys of travel is meeting new people and having those easy little chit‑chats. It just works—you're on vacation, they're on vacation, and everyone’s in the mood for a good time. Those quick conversations add a little spark to the day.

Being with your spouse around the clock is great, but it doesn’t mean every moment will be filled with profound conversation. Meeting others along the way brings a refreshing balance.

On our first trip to Bermuda, we hit it off with a couple staying at our hotel. She was easy to talk to, and her man friend was nice, reserved, but genuinely interesting. We ended up going on a sunset cruise together and had a great time. He had that dead‑pan warmth—calm, flexible, and not afraid to give an accurate assessment, which made him pretty funny without even trying. At one point he asked, “You’re not one of those couples we get to know and like, and then never hear from again, right?” We laughed and said, “Probably.”

The funny part was that he looked exactly like the Lieutenant Bogomilt who starred with Eddie Murphy in Beverly Hills Cop.  Who displayed the same type of character, authoritative without being authoritarian, disciplined without being cold,

principled without being rigid, and honest without being harsh.

We asked him outright if he’d played that lieutenant in the Eddie Murphy movie, and he said, “Nah,” but there was a twinkle in his eye that Jay immediately read as a quiet yes. I took it to mean he’s definitely been asked before. And who knows—like he said, we will never know, because we never saw him again.

We chatted with a few people on this trip without ever learning their names—a couple from Alberta, a couple from Indiana, and a British girl who is one of the rare humans who can actually pull off wearing  a thong bathing suit. I spent way too much time misidentifying everyone around her. I confidently decided her brother was her boyfriend, and the older man sitting next to her was her father. Wrong on both counts. But that’s what we do when we don’t know the story—we just make stuff up.

Travel changes the way you see the world, and even more, the way you see people. The older I get, the more I realize that paradise isn’t usually a just a place—it’s a feeling of connection. And the people you meet along the way have everything to do with that feeling. It reminds me of that guy years ago who asked, “Are you one of those couples we’ll never see or talk to again?” The honest answer was yes. But we’ve never forgotten him.

 

Bermuda Day 7

Dear Blog

 

August 31^st Monday Day 7 Bermuda

 

Yesterday we went to St. George, a small, very old town in Bermuda. Many of the buildings have been here for hundreds of years, and you can easily see the island’s early history just by walking around. It’s the oldest English town in the Americas that people still live in. The town has colorful houses, tiny cobblestone streets, and pretty ocean views.

 

There are two ways to get there from Hamilton: by ferry or by bus. We took the ferry over because it’s the more scenic route, even though it takes a bit longer, and took the bus back since there are more return times than the ferry.

 

We actually had to look up how to ride a bus in Bermuda. We’ve been to 125 countries, navigated ferries, tuk‑tuks, bullet trains, and one questionable camel… yet somehow, we still had to Google how to ride a bus in Bermuda. “Uhm… so do we just… get on … how does this work?  We found out the good news: buses and ferries are $5 for adults, and the U.S. dollar equals the Bermudian dollar. Yes, there are cheaper fares and multi‑day passes, but if you’re going anywhere tourists actually go, it’s usually five bucks. So, we just packed some $5 bills.

 

The rules are simple. Stand by the pink pole the bus goes toward Hamilton, stand by the blue pole the bus goes away from Hamilton. Once by the pole, give the driver a little wave and he will pull over, get in and hand over your $5. And don’t forget to say hello to the driver, the internet insists on this.  Then find a seat and sit your butt down with only what fits on your lap — anything bigger and it’s basically “no bus for you”. When you want off, push the “STOP” button, pretend you’ve known how to do this your whole life and don’t forget to thank the driver as you leave.

 

We spent the whole morning wandering around St. George, weaving through cobblestone lanes, tiny alleyways, old churches, and the quiet forts. It really does feel like you’ve stepped back in time. Jay had printed out a little walkabout guide with all the must‑see spots, which kept us moving — at least until we got thirsty.

We wandered into Wahoo Bistro – the perfect spot to grab a cold beer on the deck overlooking the water. We politely skipped their swordfish bites and famous octopus stew and stuck with a frosty Amstel Light.

Then we found a  pink pole and caught the bus to Crystal Caverns. The caves bus stop was where a crowd of people were waiting to catch the bus back to Hamilton so we knew this must be the way to the place. Besides there was a big sign that says, “Crystal & Fantasy Caves – A Bermuda Landmark” and a tall overhead sign reading “Pedestrian Footpath to the Crystal Caves of Bermuda.”  

 

The caves were discovered in 1907 by two teenage boys chasing a lost cricket ball. When you’re inside, you can imagine how shocking it must have been to stumble into something so vast and untouched. The caves are enormous chambers filled with thousands of slender white stalactites, hanging like chandeliers from the ceiling and stalagmites rising from the shore of a crystal clear lake. They look delicate, almost like frozen icicles, but they’ve been forming for millions of years. The caves have soft blue lights that shine on the rock walls. The blue light makes the hanging rock formations look icy, almost like glass. The rocks themselves are white and light gray, so the blue lighting gives the whole cave a gentle, underwater glow.

 

After our tour of the caves we stood by the pink pole once again and took the bus back to Hamiliton where it was officially wine time and we stopped for a bite to eat on our way to bed.

 

It was a good day.