Greetings all! How were your weekends/first half of your work weeks? I don’t have a ton of details to report since it’s only been five days, but I did make it out to see the other lighthouse in Bermuda. One more thing off my list! Now I need to play golf, go to Elbow Beach, and visit the Crystal Caves in Bermuda to conquer my tasks! I think I have about 5 more trips there so I better get to work.
I was hoping to catch the 11:30 ferry over to St. George immediately after boat drill on Monday, but I was waiting on a call to go film some stuff. Finally, by 1:00 I decided that the call was never going to come and I headed off the ship and bought a one day transportation pass (good for all the busses and ferries in Bermuda). I went over to the visitor center and told the lady I wanted to see the St. David’s Lighthouse. Now, I’m not new. This isn’t my first barn dance. I know a couple things about Bermuda and I’m pretty good about doing my research. I have all the tour books, a couple maps, a bus schedule, the ferry schedule, etc. I knew that I needed to take a ferry to St. George and then hop on a #6 bus to St. David’s. Even th
ough I knew the main ideas I thought I would ask incase they could provide me with more info- where the bus would be, how long it would take to get to the lighthouse, if the lighthouse was open today, etc. Well, I didn’t get any new information and instead the lady told me that I didn’t have enough time to make it over to the lighthouse and back before dark. Dark? Who said anything about back before dark? I had to be to work at 9:00. 7.5 hours from this moment. I believe it takes less than 2 hours to travel the entire length of Bermuda by bus. I was currently in King’s Wharf and St. David’s is at the opposite end, but I was still fairly sure I could get there and back in plenty of time. Plus I had already bought my bus pass. But, this helpful visitor lady had put doubts into my mind and now I wasn’t so sure. I asked if I could use my pass anytime and she said yes, but a few minutes later I read on the back that it has to be used in 7 days. I wouldn’t have another chance to use it in the next 7 days and I had just paid $12 for it…come on now, I was raised better than that- I had to use it! So, I climbed on the 2:00 ferry for St. George.
Once there I saw a sign for another visitor center. Since I was much closer to St. David’s I thought they might be more helpful and they may have been, but their signs were not- I never found the place. However, I did find a #6 bus that said St. David’s Lighthouse. I got on and told the driver that I wanted to see the lighthouse. 25 scenic minutes later I was at the lighthouse. I walked up a small hill and found an open door at the base of the lighthouse. I climbed the 85 steps to the top and could see until the ocean met the sky (yeah, like I don’t see that every day, but still…you know what I mean). This lighthouse was much shorter than Gibb’s Hill Lighthouse and was constructed out of limestone as opposed to cast iron. When I got to the top, I was the only one there. A few minutes later, the lighthouse keeper got there and a few minutes after that I saw a scooter pull up. Once they had time to climb the steps I realized that the two people on the scooter were members of our Ice Cast onboard. Crazy.
I got to the the lighthouse at 3:10 and it closed at 3:45. There really wasn’t that much to see so I wasn’t rushed. I walked back to the bus stop and was on another bus back to St. George 15 minutes later. I got to St. George slightly after 4:00, the next ferry to King’s Wharf wasn’t until 6:05, and everything in St. George closes at 4:00. So I decided to go back to the bus stop and catch a bus to Hamilton. I’ve been to Hamilton a few times and there are a lot of ferries from there. Plus I’ve gone from King’s Wharf to Hamilton on a bus so now I was seeing the rest of the islands. I was in Hamilton by 5:00 and the ferry had me back to the ship by 6:00.
I was only gone 4 hours, but I traveled from one end of the country to the other and back again. Sure, I’ve done that in the States, but it took me 8 months! In my 4 hours on Monday I took 2 ferries and 3 busses, made it to my lighthouse, saw the islands, and proved the visitor center “expert” wrong.
Sadly, that was the most excitement I encountered this cruise. Now I’m off on a 9 day cruise to the Caribbean and this will be the last time I’m there for the next 2 months. Goodbye slight tan I have developed. It’s alright though, I spend September and October in New England and Canada and I’m very excited!!! Come cruise with me!
I love and miss you all!!!!
