Dan and I celebrated our 20th anniversary in May, and our marriage has aged amazingly well! Dan's still my favorite person on the planet, my best friend, the rock of our family, and we have the best time together. He's an idea guy, a perfectionist, and a great starter of projects. I'm more of an inside-the-box thinker, but I like to finish what I start, even if it only turns out "good enough." He thinks out loud, and I keep things inside. Our strengths and personalities are definitely different, but we make a point to communicate clearly with each other, and we rely on our most important foundation - our faith in God and dependence on him to guide us through life. Neither of us makes all the right decisions or always reacts in the best way, but we know not to trust each other for happiness and perfection. Knowing that we can only trust God to be perfect takes so much pressure off our relationship!
We love to travel together and we've been hearing wonderful things about Bermuda for years, so we decided to vacation there to celebrate our milestone anniversary. It was a beautiful place to visit and we "mostly" had an amazing time (more about the "mostly" later...). We arrived on a Saturday afternoon, and our friendly, talkative taxi driver gave us a good run-down of the people and the area. It's a gorgeous island, and the taxi ride made us want to see more of Bermuda's breathtaking turquoise water and lovely beaches.
We rented a studio apartment VRBO in a converted garage.
We were 1/2 mile from the ocean, and we had a beautiful view!
Our rental owners also had a lovely, heated pool, which was very nice at the end of each busy day.
Just down the hill from our rental, there was a scooter rental office. Bermuda doesn't allow tourists to rent cars, because their roads can't support that many vehicles. They do allow you to rent a scooter or a one-person electric car (that's about the size of a go-cart), which is much more expensive. Since we didn't have cell service, we decided to stick together and rent a scooter for the two of us. I hadn't driven anything like a moped/motorcycle before, and didn't feel comfortable figuring it out on Bermuda's roads. They're small, two-lane roads with lots of blind corners and no sidewalks!
We stopped at a grocery market to get some food for our fridge that week. While we enjoyed eating out at a few highly reviewed restaurants, we preferred to pack sandwiches and use most of our time to explore. Also, Bermuda food is VERY expensive, so it saved us some money to buy groceries instead of eating out all the time. It was "interesting" to have to pack the groceries in the scooter's wire basket. Dan had to go back out to the parking lot to measure the basket and make sure we weren't buying more than would fit.
We drove to Horseshoe Beach that evening and ate dinner at the small, open-air bar before going for a swim in the ocean.
Horseshoe is the most famous beach in Bermuda, and the powder-soft sand and warm, clear water reminded us of another of our favorite beaches, Clearwater Beach, FL. It wasn't very crowded when we went, probably because the cruise ship passengers were heading back to their ships already. The other times we saw Horseshoe Beach, it was packed!
There's a beach trail that starts at Horseshoe, that you can follow to find smaller, more secluded coves and beaches. We walked about 1/2 mile on the trail and stopped at 4 little beaches before heading back before it got dark.
The weather was in the mid-80s both day and night, and Bermuda is humid, so we definitely got sweaty. After spending hours outdoors riding the scooter, swimming in the ocean, and hiking, we enjoyed a swim in our pool.
On Day 2, we tried snorkeling at Church Bay, which has a reputation for being the best snorkeling spot on the island.
Unfortunately, the water was a little rough and choppy, so the water wasn't clear. We did see some coral and a few fish, but we both got a little scraped up getting out of the water afterwards.
After snorkeling, we tried a highly-rated restaurant & bar called Woody's
We both ordered their famous fish sandwich, which had fried fish, coleslaw, cheese, and tartar sauce (with hot sauce in it!) on raisin bread. The service was incredibly slow, and we had to wait an hour before getting our sandwiches, but they were delicious!
After lunch, we continued driving to the Dockyard, where cruise ships dock. There's a mall with souvenir shops and a few restaurants to check out.
We wanted to visit the National Museum of Bermuda, which is located in a fort at the Dockyard, but we arrived just after the museum entrance closed.
We walked around the fort courtyard before leaving the area.
That night, we went on a quest for a great sunset-watching location. We tried Daniels Head Beach, but it was very small and crowded with locals. Next, we tried West Whale Bay Park, but it was high tide, so we couldn't sit on the beach at all.
West Whale Bay Park was pretty, but not a great place to sit...
Dan led us on a short hike through some woods and up a hill to see if we could find a better spot, and we did! There was a lovely golf course at the top of the hill with Whale Bay Battery overlooking it. We climbed to the top of the battery and had the perfect place to sit, eat our picnic dinner, and watch the sun set over the ocean.
Our backdrop was Turtle Hill Golf Course
There were lots of interesting cloud formations during sunset.
On day 3, we drove across the island to Tobacco Bay.
The water at Tobacco Bay was crystal clear and perfect for snorkeling, since it's more sheltered than Church Bay.
There were very cool rock formations at Tobacco Bay, and we swam around them while snorkeling. We saw a variety of colorful fish, and swam with a school of thousands of small, silver fish!
After snorkeling, we drove to the nearby town of St. George's, which was the first settlement in Bermuda.
We visited St. Peter's church and read about the history there
A view out the window from the balcony pews in St. Peter's church.
We walked along the pretty, colorful streets of St. George's
And visited the Unfinished Church.
After our walking tour, we met at the town square to watch a reenactment of "The Ducking Booth," which was used as a punishment during the early days of the Bermuda settlement.
A government official had caught this woman "gossiping and nagging," and led her to the ducking booth.
Dan and some of the other strong men were recruited to dunk the woman underwater for her crimes!
They suspended her over the waterway, and gave her a good "ducking" several times, until she repented. She gave the men a piece of her mind before running away to safety!
Afterwards, we ate a nice lunch at Wahoo's in St. George's
We drove a little farther past St. George's to see St. Catherine's Fort on the water
On our way back to our rental apartment, we made a quick stop in Hamilton.
It was a larger city than we were expecting, and it was intimidating to drive through the city traffic. So, after a brief rest there, we headed back out of the city and stopped at Elbow Beach. We looked around, but we didn't see any nearby parking areas or bathroom facilities where we could change clothes. We knew that there were better facilities at Horseshoe Beach, so we drove there for a swim in the ocean at the end of our day.
On Day 4, we began by hiking to the top of Gibbs Hill Lighthouse.
We had a panoramic view of the island from the top!
Bermuda doesn't protect its landmarks the way we do in the U.S. I was surprised that they let us climb, unattended, right up to this working lighthouse's lantern.
Gibbs Hill Lighthouse was very close to where we were staying. Here's a picture I took one night of its light, which was visible from our back patio.
After visiting the lighthouse, we walked and drove along the Railway Trail.
There was a cool, tree canopy.
These pretty Moonegates were scattered around the island, and we saw one on the Railway Trail. They're believed to be good luck.
We ate a picnic lunch at Fort Scaur and took a self-guided tour.
Again, the entire (creepy) underground quarters of the fort was open to the public. Not that we had any ill intentions, but in America, tourists and locals aren't trusted to respect property. We didn't notice any graffiti or damage to the public places we visited in Bermuda, though.
After lunch, we drove past the airport to swim at Clearwater Beach. It was a nicely sheltered beach next to Cooper's Island Nature Reserve, where we took a nice hike, hoping to see some sea turtles.
We didn't see any turtles, but we did see a beach chicken!
There were beautiful overlooks at Cooper's Island.
The water was so clear and pretty!
We enjoyed seeing many tropical plants on our hike, too.
Unfortunately, our fun time ended that evening. There had been some light rain during our hike, and as we were driving out of the Clearwater Beach parking lot, Dan realized that he was exiting the wrong way just as two police officers walked across our path! He took a quick turn toward the correct parking lot exit and our tires slipped out on the wet pavement. The scooter ended up on Dan's left foot, but I was able to leap off unscathed - I thought. We got back on the scooter and drove a few minutes down the road to an ice cream shop, where it became clear that Dan's ankle was not okay, and my right calf had swollen to twice its normal size.
There were a couple of police officers at the ice cream shop who offered to lead us to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, so we could visit the ER.
Dan was whisked off for an x-ray, which revealed a fractured ankle.
He ended up with a back cast, with plaster from the back of his knee to the back of his foot. The doctor left the front of the cast open and wrapped it in gauze. Since injuries swell during flights, she didn't want to put a full cast on him prior to our flight home.
I was told I had a severe hematoma in my calf, and it was swollen because the impact during our fall had burst blood vessels. I probably hit my calf on my foot pedal on the way to the ground. The doctor gave me Tylenol and said I'd be fine.
We took a taxi back to our rental apartment and headed to bed. It wasn't a great end to our day.
On Day 5, we spent the day in bed, resting our legs and making phone calls with insurance and airlines, trying to figure out how to get home earlier than planned. It was a rainy day, so we probably wouldn't have done much sightseeing that day, anyway.
On Day 6, we were determined to get out and do what we could. Water activities and driving ourselves were now off limits. But Bermuda has a great bus system, and there was a bus stop at the end of our road.
It was a looong, steeply sloped road, but Dan maneuvered it well.
We rode the bus to Hamilton, ate some lunch, and did a little bit of shopping.
We also bought tickets to ride the ferry to the Dockyard.
The ferry ride was a pleasant and peaceful way to commute.
We had a short time to spend at the Dockyard, and then rode the ferry back to Hamilton.
That night, we made a reservation at The Reefs Resort to have a buffet dinner at Coconuts Restaurant. They served dinner right on the beach and had live music.
Dan's ankle and his crutches weren't up for the soft sand, so we sat on their patio overlooking the other tables. It was very nice! I kept revisiting the buffet to fill plates of food for Dan and I, and I'm sure the servers thought I was extra hungry!
As the sun set, the night was even prettier.
The people of Bermuda were so very kind, and they went out of their way to help Dan when they could. At the resort restaurant, they gave us golf cart rides around their property, so Dan wouldn't have to walk far on his crutches. As we were starting to walk up the big hill to our rental apartment, a taxi driver was leaving, but he offered to drive us up the hill to our front door. God was watching out for us!
On Day 7, we flew home a day earlier than originally planned. It was the earliest flight we could book, but we didn't really want to spend even one extra day in Bermuda when there was nothing more we could really do. We're not "sit around and do nothing" vacationers.
Dan had to give himself a blood-thinner shot before he flew, but he did get a first-class ride through Bermuda's airport. This attendant was very dedicated to her job, and was even ready to wheel him into the bathroom, but we convinced her that he could manage on his own. His armpits and shoulders were so sore from using crutches the previous day. He would've been miserable at the airports without the wheelchair, especially during our layover in New York, where we had to travel a couple of miles quickly from one gate to the other.
By the time we arrived home, my leg had gotten very colorful.
Dan saw an orthopedist in Virginia, who said that no surgery was needed and prescribed a walking boot for him. Dan was so relieved to be able to put some weight on his injured ankle, even though he still had to use crutches. At least he could have his hands free while standing, which made a difference.
Staff and teachers returned to school the Monday after we returned from Bermuda, so Dan's job got really busy, whether his ankle was ready or not. He's sitting on the right in this StoneBridge School staff photo, with his big boot on. It's not exactly the souvenir we wanted, but we're so very thankful for God's protection, and grateful for the great memories we made on our trip!
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