Friday, SEPT 7, 2007--Today is my friend BM wedding and my sis bday. I ignore my alarm (at least today I am just sightseeing before the wedding at 4pm).
I head out about an hour later and catch the #7 into Hamilton. I change to bus #11 at the Bus Depot. I am ravenous and manage to grab a corn muffin and yogurt for $3.35 at the small cafe across from the bus depot. I get on the 9:30am to head towards the Aquarium. I get off at the FLATS area. The fee to the Natural History Museum, Zoo and Aquarium is $10 for everything and the average visit lasts about an hour. The aquarium is small. I did find the mornay very interesting. Supposedly a very shy but can look intimidating. I learned the most dangerous thing around Bermuda is the Portugese Man of War! There are lots of sharks but not very harmful to humans. Though they have strong sense of smell to blood, they might bite humans, unless you have a high fat content, they will not continue to bite you. (Chatting with others later on some mentioned "JAWS" scared them in regards to sharks.)
I liked the colorful fish and spindly lobster. The hogfish looked interesting with its face and "snout". From there I hit the Natural History Museum. Bermuda triangle is all a myth. There used to be lots of animals and natural cedar. Long since gone and farmed out. Now there are more resources brought in than created within Bermuda. Tourism is a big trade and money earner for this 20 mile island.
Then I decided after looking around, I went to the smaller Zoo area. I liked the seals (along the way to the entrance of the Natural History Museum. They were lazing about. I saw flamingos (a ton of them) and some other endangered animals. Very small place and I managed to grab the #11 bus to Crystal Caves relatively quickly.
I get dropped off at the old Swizzlers location. (I heard about it based on Rachel Ray's show and it is known for their Rum Swizzlers drink.) The walk to Crystal Caves is only about 5-10 minutes. I get the dual visit to both Crystal and Fantasy Caves for $23. I manage to catch the tour that just left (every half hour). Walk down 88 steps and into the pools and crystals. It is beautiful. The crystals take 100 years to grow an inch. Looking at 1.5 million years of history and if our hands touch them, it stunts their growth. The colors come from minerals and if they are white there is none (I think). The grey color comes from magnesium and the pinkish color comes from iron. (More Pink at the Fantasy Cave anyways.) It did get a bit humid and the pools were as deep as 55 feet deep. Very blue and clean and turquoise. As with anything, photos do not due this place justice. Seeing is believing as photos are only two dimensional.
The next tour started within 10 minutes and I had to exchange for another ticket. This time Fantasy Caves are a bit steeper with no ramp and I made sure to go down holding both railings. (The steps were steeper and wetter.) It is beautiful in a different way and people were able to name various formations thing---faces , the thinker, the chess pieces etc. Very imaginative and fun! Both are caves are privately owned. Both were only opened within the 20th century.
My cell phone died and now I want something. I decide to get a small rum raisin ice cream kiddie cone for only $2.35. (Beats the $3.50 one scoop cone plus I do not want to be inhaling alot of cream.) I wait for the bus (this one is a LONG TIME) as I have seen at least three buses in the opposite direction pass by.
I bump into the couple from Alabama who are waiting for the same bus and a local from Nigara (in Bermuda for a few months) as we all head to St. George's. Time is tight and now I have no time to explore St. Georges. The bus driver is kind to drop me off really within 2 minutes walking distance to the ferry. I sit there and meet Terry from Atlanta. She is here to treat herself to a nice vacation. We chitchat. The Ferry arrives and we make the 1:30pm. The ride on the water is very BUMPY that I felt I was on a rollercoaster ride! The water was very beautiful! So blue and pristine just gorgeous not something you see in Boston or Cape Cod!
I took a nap and at around 2:20 we land at the Dockyards. Here there is not much save the Rum Cake Factory, small mall in the Clock Tower, and the Maritime Museum and of course the dockyard. Since there is not much time I got to the rum cake factory and try all the flavors---coconut, banana, chocolate, original, swizzle I opt for the Chocolate cake. The small one is $12.95. Not too bad. Then I hit the Clocktower Mall for some souvenirs. I get my requisite stuff. I catch the 2:45 whichs lands me back to the Sandpiper by 3:15pm. (I did get to see Somerset, go over the smallest bridge, see Horseshow Beach (Heard it was lovely) while heading back from the Dockyards.
I prep and get ready for the wedding. Noticed my room was made up and wait for the bus at 3:49pm. The wedding is at 4pm. I get there about 4:09 and it has already started. BM and RC are already standing up. It is by the pool overlooking the water and beach. (It was sunny then cloudy and sunny). At least the weather held up for them! I was happy! BM looked radiant in her halter top style v necked wedding dress which was gorgeous! She was stunning and she later told me it only took her an hour to get her dress, tiara and shoes all in the same shop! (It did not hurt she did her internet research before going to the bridal shops with her mom.)
Her niece was the flower girl and she looked very pretty. Her maid of honor looked lovely in peach and later told me she got her dress at Filene's Basement for a steal! (Her shoes cost more than her dress! The only thing she had to do was fix the zipper! Isn't that cool?).
We had some cheese/cracker platter and a fruit platter laid out for the interim before the dinner. We had only two long tables and the seashell wedding cake was gorgeous. This is the smallest wedding I attended by very elegant and lovely. I got the seared yellow fin tun with a tomato feta as a side. It was very good. Everyone spent time and then later we were done by 8pm.
I decided to take the 9:15PM from Hamilton Bus and used the Coco Reef's internet for a bit of catch up. Once I got back, caught up on errands and I had an "America's Next Top Model" marathon in the backdrop.
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