Rain was predicted again for Day 4. We planned accordingly.
We got on a boat.
The rain hit while Carrie and I were riding the ferry from Hamilton to Dockyard.
I wanted to ride the ferry for two reasons: 1) I did not want to putter back and forth across the entire nation, and 2) you have to get on a boat at least once when you visit an island nation. Boats are a part of everyday life!
Despite the rain, the views were beautiful. Bermuda is very green and there are lots of small islands decorating the Great Sound.
Carrie got the most excited when she saw the cruise ships. She has a soft spot for Celebrity X ships.
I don't have a lot of pictures from the dockyard. We were too busy looking around! There was a glass making demonstration, rum cake samples, and a 1,000+ line of people waiting for a cab. Cruise ships carry a lot of people.
The dockyard was much changed from Carrie's last trip to Bermuda. It was swimming with tourists and tourist attractions. The beach was $5 admittance, stores were everywhere, and the National Museum charged an arm and a leg to visit. We declined.
The picture was free.
We enjoyed walking around the mall and looking at everything. The fort walls surrounded the area and lent a sense of history.
From dockyard, we began our trip to trace the island. Our first stop was the Pompano Beach club.
It was a trip down memory lane for Carrie. Her family stayed at the Pompano when she was a kid.
We went inside to eat lunch at the resort and hide me from the sun. My skin had begun to tighten and remind me clouds don't stop sunburns (we passed on paying $15 for lotion in dockyard...oops).
After lunch we climbed the lighthouse at Gibb's Hill.
I can't recommend our method for everyone.
Burns the calories, though.
We had some fun stopping for pictures to make up for the lack of digital memories from Dockyard.
In case you don't know me, I'm all about trying to turn something normal into something memorable.
It's more fun that way. Try it.
But don't do anything you wouldn't want to be caught doing. You never know who's watching.
Two-hundred steps later we hit the top.
Rule #1 if you don't like heights: Don't go onto any heights.
Rule #2: Don't look down.
If you're afraid you're going to drop your cell phone and it will smash into a million pieces or kill an innocent bystander: take a few quick picks and then pocket it in a hurry.
After the lighthouse, Carrie and I cruised along South Road. We diverted north to pass the hospital, the first (and only) dentist I saw on the island, and back into Hamilton. There was one stop I had asked to see since Day 1 that we kept missing.
The Blackwatch Well.
There was not much to see.
The Black Watch was the first Independent Highland Company to be raised to join the regular British Army. It started as an irregular militia in the 18th century and served with distinction all around the globe. They dug a well in Bermuda, too.
I like history and I've been on a Scottish binge lately.
I would also be lying if I didn't add that the first time I heard about them was as a teenager in a science-fiction novel where the Black Watch was a name given to a battalion tasked with protecting the Star Lord before the collapse of the Star League.
After a day of riding all over the island, Carrie needed her ice cream fix.
I know she loves me, because she shared.
With the last light of day, we gassed up the moped and explored the Cooper's Island Nature Preserve past Clearwater Beach. St. David's used to be a US Military base. Carrie, being a Carrie and military brat, was able to point out different buildings from the old base that had been re-purposed. We saw some more derelict buildings while on the nature preserve. There's a lot of history on Bermuda for such a small island.
We made some more memories and then returned to the cottage for our last night in Bermuda.
PS - I had my nerd moment in the morning. Carrie and I tracked down the island comic shop while we waited for the ferry.
Q'plah!
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