A Week in Bermuda Part I

I'm kind of missing my old diary style of travel blogging...maybe bc it's lazy and uncreative :D Is uncreative not a word? Why is blogger telling me it's misspelled? 

Right, let's go...

Friday 10 July 2015

I've started booking flights that leave LA around 1pm. It's a heck of a lot easier going to work at a less unGodly hour...and then heading to the airport. The downside is that I land late in DC. Boo.

On the plane, I mostly slept. This is something I've gotten REALLY good at since moving to the west coast. I used to not be able to sleep on planes at all. Now 'sleeps on a plane' is my Indian name. Jk.

Next to me on my flight, were a mother and daughter traveling alone from visiting family in California. They were super nice and we had a great time chatting. The little girl, who was about 7? was the most adorably precocious child. She took a real liking to me and gave me lots of hugs. Lol. We played some card games and I whipped out my old DS to entertain her for a bit. An amazing coincidence is that we have the same middle name...spelled the same way...Mae! It's a family name for them too. Random! They walked me to the baggage claim at Dulles, with Samantha (the little girl) holding my hand the entire way. Haha. I even walked outside with them to meet their dad/husband and dog. Too funny.

My mom picked me up, so I got to spend some time with her before I leave in the early morning for Bermuda!

Saturday 11 July 2015

My dad picked me up early from my mom's house and we were off to collect Von and head to the airport. Our flight to Bermuda was uneventful, except I had no seat in front of me in the exit row.

Since Preston wasn't initially sure he could go to Bermuda, he had ended up on a separate flight that went through Philadelphia, but was scheduled to land at the same time as our flight. 

Dad, Von and I made it up to the custom's agent before I spotted Preston. AMAZINGLY, (and this really is amazing for Bermuda), the custom's agent let me go grab him out of a HUGE line to come up through custom's with us. AWESOME.

Nana, Mark, and Nikki (who had arrived the day before) greeted us at the airport and we were off. 

Ah, I just love Bermuda. It's always so gloriously hot and humid. 

We dropped our stuff at the hotel. We are staying at a new place this year called "Coco Reef". Despite the gaudy decor and bizarre art, it seems very nice. I won't complain about anywhere that I get to stay in Bermuda! (Unless there are no windows. I'm STILL haunted by that place in Spain). 

I mean, seriously.

Views from our rooms

Creepy waking up to her every day lording over us.

Phallic.

Our next stop was Mrs. T's bike shop at Elbow Beach to pick up our mopeds for the week and then on to The Paraquet...which is our favorite diner...for milkshakes and lunch.  Yum.

Back at Coco Reef, we were reunited with the rest of my family: Kirk and Anna (Aunt and Uncle from such hits as ICELAND), Greg and Sherry (Aunt and Uncle) and Maddie and Jack (cousins), Mark and Nikki (brother and his fiance/my friend), Susan and Dale (my Aunt Sherry's sister and Susan's longtime boyfriend), and of course, Dad and Von and me and Preston. 

A few of us decided to take a walk down the beach. I was loving the overcast day. :) 

We were introduced to the resident animals...a pair of cats, and a really creepy bird.

Since we'd had a late lunch...no one was all that hungry for dinner, so we just walked up to the store for snacks and sat outside talking and watching the stars, before retiring to our giant king sized bed. (Preston LOVED it). 

Sunday 12 July 2015

For my entire life, we've been going to Bermuda. And in all that time...we ALWAYS attend the Sunday Brunch Buffet at the Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club. Welllllll last year, the Dinghy Club abruptly stopped serving this brunch buffet. What?! 

Coffee first.

Luckily, this year...we were able to go just for lunch and so we did. Fancy dresses and all. 

Ok, not that fancy. 

Me and Nikki matching shoes

Fixed Nana's car window

I hit the beach for the afternoon to read and digest and get in the most awesome water you'll ever see or feel. <3

After sitting around and chatting a bit, Susan, Dale, Mark, Nikki, Kirk, Anna, Preston and I headed off to an old haunt "The Swizzle" for dinner. 

Nikki driving Mark on the moped :D

The weirdest thing happened there. We were sitting outside and the manager came over and said that for our safety (??), we should move inside as a swarm of small flies was coming. Haha! What?! We had so many questions! Like, how did he know? And what?! We kind of felt like maybe they were punking the tourists, but we did, indeed, see quite a few small flies. Hrmm.

I love riding the moped at night in Bermuda. The air feels so silky and smooth. It's a tradition of my family to take night rides and it's one of my most favorite things.

Since I took no pictures at the Swizzle, we'll end with this :)

Monday 13 July 2015

Today we got up early and Nana picked us up to take us over to the docks where my Uncles had rented two pontoon boats to hang out on for the day.

Once we were loaded up, we headed across the Great Sound to Dockyard for sandwiches, drinks, and coffee at one of our favorite shops.

With supplies in hand to survive on the high seas (just kidding, we never leave relatively shallow water), we cruised on over to our favorite spot to hang. On the way, we picked up my dad and Von (who wanted cut the trip short for seasickness reasons) and Mark and Nik.

Slackers ;)

It was a relaxing afternoon floating in the water, sipping on drinks, and enjoying our sandwiches. A favorite game of my family is to dive down in increasingly deeper water. The goal is to bring up a handful of sand. It was only probably around 20-25ft deep, but it's fun! A small and fast shower came through, but we stayed in the water. I love swimming in the rain. 

How Susan do.

Rain comin!

We dropped the late arrivals back off and headed over to another favorite spot...diving board island. Preston actually introduced us to this place after hearing about it from our friends Gavin and Gianna. A weird coincidence is that Gianna also grew up visiting her grandparents in Bermuda.

I don't like cliff jumping, so I played around in the even deep water (probably 30 some feet) while everyone took turns jumping. Preston is the only one brave (or reckless?) enough to jump off the highest point-'The Shack'. Eek. 

Having our fill of sun, salt, and sea, we headed back to the dock. 

After showering, Dad, Von, Mark, Nikki, Pres, and I headed into town (Hamilton) for dinner overlooking front street at yummy Flanagan's. 

Just as we were ordering a last round of drinks, a sudden downpour hit and we all rushed inside. It was too funny. 

Luckily, most rain storms in Bermuda don't last long and it was a dry ride on home the moped. :)

You know, sometimes I think...we are some of the luckiest people in the ENTIRE world. Really. :) :)

To be continued...