Monday, June 18, 2012

BERMUDA

Historic Dockyard We arrived to Bermuda aboard the Enchantment of the Seas, a large Royal Caribbean ship that sails out of Baltimore, MD.  We docked at King's Wharf which overlooks the historical Royal Naval Dockyard.   Boasting Bermuda's largest museum, a marina, a shopping mall, restaurants, and an authentic British pub, Dockyard is one of Bermuda's key attractions. We ventured to the Bermuda National Museum where the Dolphin Quest is located.  The dolphins which have been trained from birth are very friendly and amusing.  This is a must-do in my opinion!
Clock Tower Mall in the Navy Dockyard
Dolphins performing in Dockyard

The area where the dolphins are housed used to be the keeping where the ships would pull in to receive supplies.  It is a great area for a  dolphin center.
  






For dinner, we stopped at the Frog and Onion for some live music and English pub food.  The fries, meat pie, and burgers were to die for.  The Frog is also home to the Dockyard Brewing Company, Bermuda's only brewery.  Brewmaster Robert Beck offers five great brews - my favorite is the St. David's Lager.
The Frog and Onion was one of the restaurants open on Sunday in Dockyard.  Sunday is a family day for the Bermudians so most stores and commercial areas are closed.
Bermudians and tourists alike enjoy riding their scooters around the island.  This cheetah print was too cool!
One evening, there was a parade in honor of the Queen's birthday. There was a lot of culture to be experienced by the children.
The Bermuda regiment in action with their music and marches.
Gombey's dancing in festive costumes for the Queen's Birthday.
St. George, the lovely little seaport in the eastern end of Bermuda has been capital of Bermuda and was the seat of government until 1815.  Everyone you turn, you see memories of yesteryear.  St. Peter's Church was rebuilt in stone in 1713, but the section around the pulpit dates from the 1600s.  
St Peter's Church in Bermuda is believed to be the oldest continually used Anglican church in the Western hemisphere. 
You will see that like many other churches in Bermuda, St. Peter's Church also has a separate gallery at the western side so that the blacks could attend the services. This gallery was built in the early 1700s. The entrance to this gallery was through a separate door at the north west corner of the church.

The sunrise as we pulled out of the dock.