|
I
by Carole Terwilliger Meyers
|
|
|
|
|
Looking for a good night's sleep?
Instead of buying that new mattress you've been thinking about,
perhaps you should instead sock the money into a vacation at the
deluxe Cambridge Beaches resort in Bermuda. You'll fall asleep
to the song of singing frogs, awaken to a cheery call of "Room
service", then dine on your balcony to the sounds of the sea
lapping below while you stare out at the blue, blue sea. Perhaps if
you stay here long enough, you might be able to develop a healthy
sleep habit that translates to your bed at home.
Of course you'll want to spend
some time relaxing on one of the resort's namesake beaches,
and playing with the little fishies in the bathtub-warm water. And
you'll want to have a least one gourmet dinner in the casual,
open-air, oceanside dining room.
Cambridge Beaches was the first of
the many "cottage colonies" that are unique to this
temperate semi-tropical island. (Just a little speck isolated in the
Atlantic Ocean midway between the Caribbean and NYC, Bermuda is not
one island. It is actually a tight cluster of small islands linked
by causeways.) Cottage colonies usually consist of a central public
building-where visitors go for dining and other
activities-surrounded by guest cabins. A similar noteworthy property
is Ariel Sands, the cottage colony resort owned by Michael Douglas
and family (his lineage can be traced in Bermuda back to the 1630s).
Though there is enough at Cambridge Beaches to keep any guest happy
for the length of a vacation--afternoon tea, a croquet lawn, a
putting green, tennis courts (Bermuda introduced tennis to the
western hemisphere), two swimming pools, five private beaches, a spa--most
guests will want to explore some of the island's sights.
Bermuda is not the typical sun, surf,
and sand destination. It is an other world. In fact, according to
"Jaws"-author Peter Benchley, "There's no
mountain hiking and the skiing is terrible, but everything else a
vacationer could want is here."
A good start to exploration is to hop
the ferry into Hamilton - the island's capital--for some
tax-free shopping.
And spend at least half a day in the
four-century old town of St. George. Now a UNESCO World Heritage
Site, it is the oldest continuously inhabited town of English origin
in the Western Hemisphere and has the oldest Anglican Church≈St.
Peter's. Look for the colorful, and noisy, Town Crier, and
stop for a photo op in the replica stocks in King's Square.
Garden aficionados can view orchids,
fruit orchards, and banyan trees at the Botanical Gardens (private
homes and gardens welcome visitors from early April through mid-May
during the annual Open Houses and Gardens tours), while dolphin
lovers can actually swim with these gentle creatures in stone-walled
tanks at the Royal Navy Dockyard. Hikers and bikers can trek the
scenic 21-mile Bermuda Railway Trail, novice sailors can charter a
sailboat with crew, spelunkers can explore Crystal Caves, divers can
explore the myriad wrecks offshore (Remember the legend of the
Bermuda Triangle? There have been more shipwrecks here than anywhere
else in the world, and the island inspired Shakespeare's
mystical play "The Tempest."), deep-sea fishers can try
for wahoo and marlin, historical house lovers can tour the
antique-filled Verdmont Museum house, and birders can visit Dr.
David Wingate on Nonsuch Island to learn how he reintroduced the
indigenous Cahow bird.
|
|
|
|
Should you need something more to tip
the scales in favor of a visit to this Bermudiful spot, here is some
food for thought:
- Things you won't find in Bermuda: billboards, fast-food
franchises, strip malls, neon lights, sales tax, rental cars,
croaking frogs.
- Things you will find in Bermuda: high tea, fish chowder, Dark
and Stormys (the island's signature drink made with dark
Bermuda rum and ginger beer), rum cake (Horton's just might
be the best), rental motor scooters, pink buses, friendly taxi
drivers, cricket, more golf courses per square acre than anywhere
else in the world, blushing beaches, unique whitewashed stepped
roofs that channel rainwater into underground storage tanks, the
world's narrowest drawbridge, men dressed to the nines in
Bermuda shorts and knee socks, singing frogs.
- PLUS: Everyone speaks English. The U.S. dollar is worth the same
as the Bermuda dollar and is good everywhere. You can drink the
water.
(Images c 2002 Carole Terwilliger
Meyers)
|
|
Categories