What can I say. Today we had nothing scheduled to do. Was it tour fatigue? Was it a sadness that many of our friends and crew are debarking in two days? I don’t know but we left the ship this morning with literally no plan.

Bermuda is a British Overseas Territory Island, 643 miles northeast of North Carolina, which is actually an archipelago of 181 islands. The main islands of St. George’s, St. David’s, Somerset and Main, have the greatest portion of the population of 64,000. The islands were settled in 1609 when British colonizers, headed to Jamestown in America, were thrown off course by weather and instead landed at the archipelago. They built a life there and refused to move on to America. After the War of Independence, Britain decided to utilize Bermuda as a naval outpost, and much of the original fort and buildings are still standing on the island. During the U.S. Civil War, Bermuda was used by the Confederate States to bypass blockades and get cotton to Britain in exchange for war goods.

Today, Bermuda has two primary industries: finance and tourism. Due to the fact that there are minimal standards of business regulation/laws and no direct taxation on personal or corporate income, many corporations register businesses here.

In the West End where we were docked, there are the remains of the original British Royal Navy Dockyards. These are now full of shops and restaurants, with a nice museum. So, we got off the ship mid-morning and did a walk about the fort. We visited the Frog and Onion Pub, which is set in the old fort. The thick walls are amazing and it was fun to think about the Royal Navy being stationed there over the years.

Continuing on, we walked the full length of the dockyards, did some shopping and found a place for lunch. We enjoyed great haddock and chips at the Anchor Restaurant. After a nice lunch, we jumped on the shuttle back to the ship. Before we embarked for our 4:30pm “all aboard”, we stopped by Calico Jack’s Pirate Ship for a famous Bermuda drink, the Rum Swizzle.

Next stop in 2 days: Ft. Lauderdale, FL