Day 146: Hamilton, Bermuda

Today, we pulled into Hamilton, Bermuda. Downtown. Quite literally. We moored off Front Street, with a great view into some waterside office buildings, shops, and condos. At this point in the world cruise, we're thinking more about packing (a daunting task) and going home. So we elected to spend the short day doing some shopping and lunching at a neat restaurant we visited as a family about 20 years ago. It was still there - and the food was just as good.

Bermuda is a small archipelago of 181 islands situated about 650 miles off the coast of North Carolina. Its total land area is 21 square miles (54 km2), although most of the largest islands are connected by bridges, so it seems as if it's one large island for the 72,000 inhabitants. Bermuda is well known for four reasons—either as the home of Bermuda Shorts, as a tax haven, the pink beaches, or as the apparent target of almost every hurricane forming in the North Atlantic. 

Its name comes from the Spanish explorer Juan de Bermudez, who found the uninhabited islands in 1505. It was originally known as the Isle Of Devils because of the frequent storms, and neither the Spaniards nor Portuguese bothered to settle there. An English settlement was established in 1612 at St. Georges, and it has been part of the British Commonwealth ever since (although, until 1684, it was governed under a royal charter by the Somers Isles Company). The SIC ensured a steady trade of free but indentured African slaves from 1616 until 1684 to work on tobacco plantations. Most of those plantations were subsequently sold to the occupants and switched to growing food for the local population. This was precipitated by the better quality and quantity of tobacco from the Virginia colonies. The slave trade died out, and (surprisingly, given its location) the island never participated in the slave trade from North Africa.

The economy switched to a maritime focus, and the colony became a major base for merchants, pirates, and the British Navy. The Brits made massive investments in the military dockyards and island defense right up until the 1950s. The local Bermudan businesspeople saw the writing on the wall and pivoted yet again to tourism, prompted by the US protectionist trade tariffs of the 1930s. They also established a large financial center and set themselves up as a tax haven. This behaviour dates back to the American War Of Independence, when Bermuda gained an exemption from the trade ban with the UK and was able to supply both sides. 

Our day was spent shopping on Front St, mainly and unsuccessfully hunting for a British tea-pot. I also bought a few shirts (but no shirts). We then visited the Barracuda Grill for a really nice lunch. We'd been there about 20 years ago with Matt and Amanda for dinner and somehow managed to remember the name and location. Turns out the restaurant had been closed for a few months and had just reopened that week with brand-new decor and seating. It was a really nice way to finish our last adventure. 

Tomorrow is a sea day as we make our way to New York. It looks like it will be a lovely day, and the following day, we'll sail into Manhattan at about 9 a.m. Three more nights on the boat!