In 1966, my sister and I made our first trip to Bermuda. This year was, then, our 50th anniversary trip. It had also been planned as our celebration of my sister’s 70th birthday.

We flew Air Canada from Toronto on Sunday, June 26th, with reservations made for 4 nights at Rosedon Hotel.

Rosedon is a small hotel in Hamilton, within walking distance of great shopping, great food, the ferry, the harbour front – a really convenient and idyllic spot.

We have stayed at Rosedon before and enjoyed the atmosphere and great service. Room rates include breakfast and afternoon tea daily, along with free shuttle service to Elbow Beach, one the best beaches on the island. The gardens and pool area are a riot of colourful flowers and other plants and beautiful landscaping. Rooms are very comfortable, each with a patio area. We always thought the rooms were pretty much perfect but things have gotten even better. Renovated bathrooms now have walk-in showers with rain shower heads and lots of storage space for your stuff. Electronic safes have replaced the old lock box and key arrangement. Breakfast has also been up-graded. Previously, you pretty much got whatever the chef prepared each day. Now, you can choose from 6 options each day, including breakfast potatoes with spicy sausage and poached eggs, an omelette, French toast, avocado toast with poached eggs, smoked salmon and cheese with a bagel, or eggs your way with bacon or sausage. Everything comes with toast, jam, tea or coffee and orange juice, along with the local newspaper, delivered to your room, the front porch or by the pool.

After unpacking, it was just about time for afternoon tea so we headed out to the front porch of the main house. Afternoon tea includes a variety of sandwiches and baked goods – cookies, scones, cake – along with tea. Very civilized.

That evening we had reservations for dinner at The Lobster Pot, which is an easy walk from Rosedon. I’m not sure if the staff at Lobster Pot really remember people who return but they always greet you as if they are very pleased to see you again.

We shared an order of deep fried calamari, I had the Bermuda triangle – shrimp, scallops and fish – and my sister had the filet mignon. We both had the bread and butter pudding for dessert and hoped that the walk back to Rosedon would burn off a few of the calories.

Monday morning, after breakfast on our patio, we walked to the ferry to purchase a day pass for the ferry and bus service. Our plan was to take the harbour ferry to the dockyard, where the cruise ships berth, and after looking around out there, take the fast ferry to St. George’s. However, we, and a number of other folks, miss-read the schedule. Arriving at the dockyard around 11:30 a.m., we found that the fast ferry did not go out to St. George’s until 2:00 p.m. We decided to get the bus back to Hamilton and then get a bus to St. George’s. However, about 3,000 cruise ship passengers had the same idea about the bus to Hamilton, so we grabbed a taxi and had a taxi tour of the western end of the island, back to town. We never did make it to St. George’s as we got very hungry somewhere around the Swizzle Inn and Bar and hopped off the bus for lunch.

This is the original Swizzle Inn (Swizzle In, Swagger Out). It should really be Stagger Out, after a pitcher of rum swizzles. It is a good thing that they don’t rent cars to tourists in Bermuda and, if the Swizzle Inn expands any further around the island, they should think twice about renting motor scooters, too!

Lunch was good – shrimp wraps and fish and chips. And, yes, a pitcher of swizzles. Not interested in dessert there, we went across the street to the ice cream shop nearby and ate ginger ice cream while waiting for the bus.

All in all, we pretty much covered the whole of the island, except, of course, for St. George’s. Oh well, next time.

That evening we had reservations for dinner and a rather unique show at Fourways Inn. Fourways Inn is one of the best restaurants on the island and on Monday nights during the high tourist season, they offer a three course dinner, drinks and a show that is billed as a “memorable evening in Bermuda” – Mark Twain/Reminiscences and Other Lies.

Dinner included a choice of Caesar salad, garden salad or Bermuda Fish chowder. I had the chowder, with added sherry peppers, followed by salmon. My sister had the chicken. We both agreed that the food was excellent. Everyone got the Inn’s renowned soufflé for dessert.

We were seated at a table for 8, the other 6 diners being locals. They were charming, friendly and our dinner conversation was the best I have experienced in some time.

Once dinner was over, the lights were dimmed, more candles were lit and “Mark Twain” walked into the room. The makeup, wig, moustache and the slightly crumpled white linen suit were perfect. You could believe that the man had come back to life. The actor, Gavin Wilson, who portrays Twain, was superb.

He did not use a microphone, as the room, with just 32 guests, was small enough for him to be heard well. This seemed to make the experience more intimate, more real. The monologue, made up of Mark Twain’s comments and observations of life over 100 years ago are not just laugh-out-loud funny, they are still relevant to a lot of what goes on today.

This was, all in all, a great evening and I’m so very glad that I saw the reference to it when I made our reservations.

Tuesday, we decided, was beach day.

After breakfast, we took the free shuttle, provided by Rosedon, to Elbow Beach. The beach staff at Elbow were very welcoming. They provide beach lounges, umbrellas, towels just the same as those used by the hotel’s guests. Just coming for the day, you are also entitled to use all the equipment on the beach – snorkels, swim fins, kayaks, floatation devices, etc.

We settled under the umbrella on the pink sand beach. The day was sunny and hot, the sea was fairly calm, beautiful turquoise water.

There is bar and food service on the beach – wait staff from Mickey’s Bar and Grill roam the beach taking orders. I had a couple of “Dark and Stormys” – black rum and ginger beer - and settled in for some beach time.

We had lunch at Mickey’s on the beach, curried chicken salad for my sister and a pulled pork wrap for me. The food at Mickey’s is very good, the service excellent.

At 3:00 p.m., the shuttle came to take us back to Rosedon, so we could get ready for the hotel’s swizzle party that evening.

I have never been there on a Tuesday before and was looking forward to the party. I was not disappointed. The management and staff at Rosedon are all pleasant and caring. The swizzle party was like going to good friend’s house for drinks and snacks. They serve swizzles aplenty along with hot and cold hors d’oeuvres to the extent that some guests don’t go out to dinner after filling up at the party. My sister and I, however, are not among those people, having made a reservation for dinner at the Barracuda Grill.

We decided to walk to the restaurant, again convinced that a walk along the streets of Hamilton would burn off all excess calories.

Barracuda is a classy little place upstairs from the Hog Penny Pub. The food is excellent and the service is great, if a wee bit impersonal.

For dinner, we again shared calamari. We seem to be trying this at every restaurant that serves it, maybe looking for the best. I think The Lobster Pot won.

I had the gnocchi with lobster – delicious – and my sister had rockfish. For dessert, we had the ginger bread toffee pudding.

We staggered down the stairs, out of the restaurant, to find it was raining. I went for a cab and asked the driver if he would take us to Rosedon, in spite of it being a rather short trip. (Cabbies in and around Toronto refuse short runs.) He said “Yes”, he was there to work, then later asked what we would have done if he had said “No”. He was just joking and was very pleasant.

On Wednesday morning, we were glad that we went to the beach on Tuesday. Wednesday brought lots of rain. We decided to do indoor stuff and went to see the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute or “BUEI.”

This is a great place to visit on a rainy day. First of all, it’s all indoors. Secondly, it has a bunch of really interesting displays to keep adults and kids busy for hours.

There are displays of shells and coral. There is a room showing treasure found on sunken ships around Bermuda. There is a simulation of a shark cage. You step into the three-sided cage and are surrounded by video of underwater life. Fish of all sizes pass by and then the sharks appear. As they come up to the bars of the cage, the whole cage and floor shakes so you feel the impact of the shark slamming into the cage. Kids loved it!

There is also a simulation of a diving bell. You sit in a small dark room with a screen that looks like a large porthole. You can see fish and reefs and all manner of under water stuff. Again, here, the floor shakes and the chairs bounce as if you have hit the reef or sea bottom. At the end, you are told to abandon ship and head out into what looks like a dark, watery cave.

In 2017, Bermuda will host the America’s Cup race in June. They have advertising up for this all over the island and a great display at BUEI about the America’s Cup races, past and present. There is a great video showing the action on the boats, if you can call them boats. They seem to spend more time in the air than in the water!

There are a number of hands-on exhibits where you can practise being a “grinder” and navigate your own boat, sailing with and against the wind.

The BUEI is a great place to spend time. The map they give you get around the two floors of exhibits could be clearer but the staff were all very helpful.

Within the same complex is the Harbour Front restaurant. Since it was still raining, we decided to eat there.

My sister had the shrimp and avocado croissant, I had Bermuda fish cakes. We both had the trio of small crème brules, flavoured with different teas. Great service and a great view of the far eastern end of the harbour, despite the rain.

We took a taxi from the BUEI back to the shopping area on Front Street. We did some shopping, picking up gifts for the 2 granddaughters and for the neighbours who were looking after the house

Since this was our last night for this trip, we went to the Lido Café on Elbow Beach for dinner. I love this place. The food is exceptional, the service is first class and the view of the beach and ocean is so beautiful.

For an appetizer, my sister had the special seafood trio and I had the caramelized scallops. My sister then had the filet mignon and I had the tuna steak and giant prawn.
For dessert, more crème brule – a trio flavoured with thyme, ginger and honey.

Thursday morning and it’s time to go. We are sorry to say goodbye to the wonderful staff at Rosedon. We were offered a swizzle for the road. My sister said “Yes” but I declined, not sure if I had yet recovered from the previous night.

This trip, I sensed a different attitude on the island. People have always, for the most part, been friendly but they seem to be making an extra effort. Locals told us that there is resurgence in tourism, after a shaky few years, and people on the island are trying to build on that. You can tell. I wish them all the best. Maybe the golden age of Bermuda tourism will come around again.

As for me, I may not get back for a while but I have plenty to dream on for now.

P.S. My apologies for the emphasis on food in this report. We seem to have eaten from one end of the island to the other!

Sounds like you girls had a great time. Really enjoyed your report.