Out early to stand in line for the ferry. The skies are a little threatening, but the
temperature is nice, and the sun does keep peaking through. Ferry is right on time and it is a quick ride
over to St. George.
We arrive in time for the festival, we scope out a great
viewing place beside the stage, behind a group of school children (nice! If
they stand up they are too short to get in our way!). The dignitaries are escorted to their viewing
seats, the military band parades in, the announcer gives us the overview of
what is going on, the police commissioner or some such thing arrives, then the
rains arrive. Fortunately we are also under a tree which provides great
protection from the rain, so we remain relatively dry. But unfortunately the
parade thing isn’t really working so well – at least from a timing perspective.
The wait for the next uniformed guy to arrive is really long (long enough for
the school teacher next to me, whom I have befriended, to comment there is
something wrong and it shouldn’t take this long), and before he can arrive the
skies really open up.
Now the tree is no longer shelter enough, so we move out
from under and open our umbrella. But even so – it’s pouring. We decide to ditch the festival and head back
to Hamilton. On our way up to the bus
stop- the Governor and his wife finally arrive in a horse and buggy – we wave
to them as they go down the street and probably have a better view of them than
anyone on the rain soaked square down by the stage!
There is a huge crowd at the bus stop – including a bunch
of Japanese. Uh oh! At least 2 buses arrive at once, and we are
able to shoulder our way on the 2nd bus and actually get seats. We spend a delightful hour talking to two
fellow cruise passengers who are seated across from us while we twist and turn
our way back into Hamilton.
Once in town, we make sure we know when the next ferry
leaves and we wander a bit, again enjoying the now beautifully sunny day. Timing is everything! We make the next ferry, Sunny gets his 2nd
ferry ride and we are back on the ship in plenty of time for our sail away from
our invited perch on the helipad.
Mimosas in hand, we watch Bermuda fade into the distance
while chatting with a lovely couple from the Villages in Florida.
We’ve really enjoyed everyone aboard and have
met some wonderful people from Cruise Critic, the ARE game and the ersatz Elite
lounge!
Off we go – our long sea day stretch – and the
continuation of ARE is upon us!
No comments:
Post a Comment