Mom's Bermuda Vacation

8/9/2019 Mom's Bermuda Vacation

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A colorful gemon the seaBermuda


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The

BermudaCruise

A travel journal by

Dorothea Linda Stienstra

With editing and haiku by

Wm. Blaine Bowman


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The Bermuda CruiseCopy ri gh t 2010 b y W m . B l a ine Bow m an

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in

any manner w hatsoever without w ritten permission, except in the caseof brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Book des i gned byW m . B l a ine Bowm an

A l l pho tog raphy byJ im and L i nda S t iens t ra

Th i rd S t ree t ha i go Ch i nese sea l / chop p rov i ded byKam Leung a t Funa l l iance .com

ISBN -10 : 145285 4130EAN-13 : 97814 528541 37

The Berm uda Cru i se i s ava i lab le a t :H t tps : c rea te space . com/3452304

P r i n ted i n the Un i t ed S ta te s o f Amer i c a


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Preface

On April 25th, 2010 Jim and Linda Stienstra left on a cruise to Bermuda tocelebrate Jims 70th birthday! For the next eight days Linda kept a journal of

their activities and also personal observations that she graciously shares with us.We travel to historic landmarks, museums, a glass beach, and we travel onpublic buses getting a feel for the rank and file residents of beautiful Bermuda.

I appreciate the privilege to be allowed access to her journal. It was also aprivilege to be allowed to edit it and insert my own haiku style observations. Itook great pains to keep the original feel of her unique voice along with retainingthe feel you can only get from a personal journal. Her wry commentaries andenthusiasm remain intact.

I hope you get the same feel for Bermuda that I got when I first read her

account. I hope to someday travel there myselfand if I do I will have thistravelogue in hand as a guide. Thank you for joining us on Jim and Lindasadventure.

Wm. Blaine BowmanJune 20th, 2010


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Jims 70th Birthday Cruise25 April 2010

Sunday, Day One


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Our day started bright and early, 5:15AM to be exact, when Jim decided he couldno longer sleep!

Eyes snap open

in eager anticipationcant wait to begin

Since I had not finished packing, I started rearranging suitcases to make sureeverything fit. Jims six pairs of Bermuda shorts, (he only wore two of them)three pairs of slacks (he only wore one)and ten shirts (he wore four)along withLindas seven pairs of slacks and only the Lord knows how many blouses to bepaired with five jackets and one of the sets of shoes ~ walking shoes, dressshoes, flip flops, surf shoes, slippers and casual shoes. (and of course, I didntwear everything I brought either!) The whole philosophy here is too much is

better than not enough!

We dontgo on vacations

we go on expeditions

Tinka Bell had to be shooed out of the suitcase every time I turned around. Ithink she wanted to be packed, too! She knew we were leaving. Jim scurried tothe store for a few forgotten items and picked up Egg McMuffins ~ a breakfasttreat to get us accustomed to non-nutritious meals!

Our goal was to be out of the door by 9AM and we missed it by half an hour.Our GPS took us on a leisurely route through Podunk Pennsylvaniaand wethoroughly enjoyed the relaxed ride ~ until we hit Newark! Everybody, exceptus, knew where they were going, and we were following a GPS that showed oneway and told us the opposite! Talk about confused! The important thing was

that we finally made it to the Cruise Ship Terminal, thanks to signs along the sideof the road!

When we left home, I had predicted that we would be there at 1PM. We werethere right on the money. Talk about a wild guess that was right! Hordes of

people were there and chaos ensued! We got in the line for what seemed like acattle call, our documents were checked and we were ushered up to the front ofthe line and into a much smaller line (maybe 10 deep) for our priority boarding.Priority Boarding? Yup, we booked our passage for Concierge Level cabins.That means we got priority embarking and priority debarking! We figured it wasonly a couple of bucks more, and what the heck? You only go around once, andwhy not?

First onfirst off

works for us!


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As we boarded the ship we were greeted by a hostess offering glasses of eitherChampagne or Mimosas. Jim passed but Linda took a Mimosa. A great way tostart the cruise ~ with a watered down Mimosa!

We checked into our cabin and the following sight greeted us ~ aint it great?Chilled champagne and fresh fruit! Also in our cabin was a pair of binoculars, acredit card case for our room keys, stationary with our names on it, freshflowers, and all of the regular amenities. Our balcony had a table with twochairs for us to enjoy the serenity and peacefulness of the sea for the next sixdays.

Chilled champagne

and fresh fruit

Bon voyage

We left our cabin for the lunch buffet on the floor above us. Talk about amadhouse! It was as though some of those people had never eaten! We tookour salads and went as far away as possible from the maddening crowd and justwatched Mr. and Mrs. Middle America pretending to be celebrities sailing aboardthe Celebrity Summit!

Next was the mandatory Safety Drill. It was a waste of time since we didnteven need to take our life jackets but were supposed to simply watch a memberof the staff put hers on. Since I couldnt see over the crowd, I could have been

in the swimming pool and accomplished the same thing. After the life jacketdrill we stood outside under our lifeboat for ten minutes doing nothing. Whenwe were dismissed everybody rushed for the one door on that side of the ship ~and then the elevator. We opted for the stairs and back to our cabin.

Desultorysafety drills

no icebergs in Bermuda

Dinner was room service ~ salads, vegetable lasagna and fruit. We watched TV,

read and called it a night around 8:30PM. After all, tomorrow is going to be abusy day at sea and room service will be here at 7:30 AM!


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Jims Birthday Cruise26 April 2010

Monday, Day Two


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After a good nights sleep we woke up at 7AM and got our bathrobes on ~ yes,they were the plush chenille ones furnished to the Concierge Level people ~ andwaited for our breakfast to be delivered to us. And then Linda found it! Yup,the room service request that she had forgotten to hang out the previous night!

A call was made to room service and they said they could deliver it . . . in 30 to40 minutes! OK by us, as long as we didnt have to get dressed and walk downthose halls with the ship rocking and rolling.

Misplaced request

remediedby a quick call

After breakfast, we lounged around the room reading until the cabin steward

knocked on the door to clean the room. He would not clean it with us in it, sowe decided to get dressed and go for a walk.

The seas were rough this day and Jims stomach was queasy, so he sat down asI signed up for internet service. As soon as I was through he wanted to go backto the cabin and by this time he was breaking out in a sweat! Yup, Jim gotseasick! First time ever on a cruise, but it was also the first time ever weve hadthese types of seas! The steward was finished with the cabin by this point, soJim lay down and I read. And I read. And I read. Around noon I decided to goup and get a bite to eat. Jim told me to go ahead and go, so I took my book andheaded up for a salad and a roll.

Blue skiesand rough seas

green passenger!

I took a roll back and put a bit of butter on it for Jim. He ate it and lay backdown. By this time I decided to go downstairs and buy those little motionsickness bracelets you see everybody wear. $15 later I headed up to the cabinand installed them on Jim.

I read for a bit longer and decided to head back up for dinner. I spent sometime watching the rough seas and the less than seasoned travelers trying tonavigate the dining room carrying trays full of food. After dinner I returned tothe room with a mild cup of soup and some crackers for Jim. I ordered roomservice for the next morning and decided to call it a day.


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Tuesday, Day Three


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Coffee urn

made out of coffee beansirony?


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Room service was delivered a bit early, but a call to our cabin warned us theywere on their way. Coffee, orange juice for both of us and an English Muffin andan egg for Jim and Special K and an English Muffin for Linda was just enough.Jim felt a bit better, so he showered and got dressed and we decided to go tothe Library and see if we could find something for him to read. They didnt havea very good selection so we took a walk and ended up in the WaterfallRestaurant (and why do they call it that?? Not a waterfall in sight!) and Lindalogged on to the internet. The man at the next table engaged us in conversationand we learned that he was Dave Hennin, the comedian on the cruise! We hadseen him on our New England cruise last fall and never laughed so hard! The

subject came up about our house for sale and he said he was interested. Ishowed him pictures and he loved it. Well see if he is merely bullshitting or if hewas sincere Shortly into the conversation Jim asked to be excused since hewanted to go back to the cabin. Yup, he wasnt over this seasickness. I stayedfor awhile and continued talking to the comedian, then I ordered some tea andtook it back to the cabin.

Waterfall restaurant

out to sea?incongruous name

We relaxed for the afternoon and watched The Blind Side on TV ~ purchasedon our cruise card. When the movie was over we went to dinner. Jim had alittle to eat, felt better and we decided to take in the show this evening. Davesact was great, just like it was on the Princess cruise. The only bad thing aboutthe show?? Drink servers seemed to avoid the upper level and we both wanted

a drink!! Back to the room to get a little shut eye, since we were leaving earlyfor St. Georges.

Recalcitrantdrink servers

feeling ignored


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Wednesday, Day Four


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We got up early and went to the buffet for breakfast. Scrambled eggs, toast anda bowl of fruit were enough for us! We made our way downstairs to wait in lineto board a ferry for our trip to St. Georges. We purchased a three-daytransportation pass, $56 for both of us, and we figured it was a pretty good

deal. It covered the ferries and buses on the entire island.

The trip to St. Georges took about 45 minutes and the former mayor of St.Georges gave a little spiel about the history of the island. It was interestingwhen you could actually hear him. With a map and tour guide in hand, we setout to do the town after disembarking in St. Georges. Our first stop? ThePark where Admiral Sir George Somers heart is buried of course. Why just hisheart? Legend has it that he loved Bermuda so much that he wanted his heartburied there. The rest of his body, it seems, was returned to England for aproper Christian burial in his hometown of Lyme Regis. It is a beautiful park,

filled with tropical flowers unlike any I had ever seen! We walked completelyaround the park and headed up the hill overlooking St. Georges. The view fromthe top of the hill was awesome! The turquoise ocean made a wonderfulbackdrop for houses painted yellow, blue, mint green, pink and every other colorimaginable. Somehow, in Bermuda, it looked right!

Houses of everycolor imaginable

Bermuda rainbow

Continuing on our walk, we ended up at Alexandria Battery Beach. Battery

Beach was one of our required stops! Jim sat on a wall, while Linda went seaglass hunting in the water. This beach is recognized as one of the top five mustsee beaches for sea glass hunters. We stayed at this beach for several hours,had a snack and headed back into town. We had lunch at the White Horse Puband Restaurant ~ fish and chips with a diet coke for Linda and a Sam Adams for

Jim. $55 later

After lunch we visited the historic St. Peters Anglican Church. St. Peters, theoldest Anglican Church in the western hemisphere, is still used for worshipservices today! The cemetery surrounding the church is divided into two parts,

white and black. My pictures were mainly taken in the black part of thecemetery. From there we walked down several back streets and alleys, hard todistinguish one from another since they were both very narrow!

In deathas in lifesegregated

We caught the bus back to Hamilton and had a most interesting ride. The scenicisland looked different through a bus window as we traveled the roads withresidents of the island who were going home after work, shopping and school.The busses were clean and the people friendly. From the bus station we walked


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down the street and caught a ferry back to our ship. We were tired and ready toget back to our cabin.

Back at the ship, dinner was a stir fry from the buffet. That sufficed and we

retired to the room where we watched Its Complicated. I had seen it and Jimhad not. I knew hed enjoy it, and he did. We ordered room service and got ahamburger and tuna fish sandwich. We decided were not going to pay $55 foranother lunch so we packed the sandwiches in Ziploc bags, put them in therefrigerator and voila! Lunch was ready for Thursday! The sea glass zip-lockbags sure came in handy!

Planning aheadlunch

in a zip-lock bag


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Thursday, Day Five


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We decided to sleep in so we got up at 7AM! We needed the extra rest as thisday was to be devoted to everything we had not seen in St. Georges the daybefore. Breakfast was at the buffet, and Linda had cold cereal, fruit and anEnglish muffin and Jim had two poached eggs and an English muffin. Since the

ferry to St. Georges was not running this morning due to high winds, we tookthe ferry to Hamilton and caught a bus to St. Georges. The bus system onBermuda is incredible! The service is punctual and arrives at the bus stops justabout every 15 minutes.

We got into St. Georges and toured the historic town square, took the obligatorypictures and headed back to Alexandria Battery Beach. Linda is addicted

Jim found an electric crew working right next to the beach so Linda dove in toher new passionliterally! Once a wave hit me in the rear, I thought, what the

heck? Why not sit down? And I did! After all, Ill never see these people again!

Two women from Florida showed up and I found out that they flew in just forthe sea glass. They were so excited! The three of us went over to the cavearea and I decided to actually go swimming. No beach combing. I was divingunder rocks where the sea glass was more prevalent than in the sand! I wasactually throwing pieces back because they werent big enough or green enoughor I had too many of that color. Jim had to take a picture of me sitting in thewater pulling out handfuls of sea glass. I had a ball! I found the elusive cobaltblue, a lot of milk glass, a purple and a peach colored one. Lots of my treasurescame from this area.

Sea glass cabalnew friends

digging in the sand

I finally pulled myself away from the beach and my new friends so we couldcontinue on our journey. We took a different route back to town. We passedroosters sitting in trees along the side of the road and when we decided to turn,we found a cemetery! It was an old Military Cemetery dating back to at least1824. It was well kept with readable headstones. More pictures!

Everywhere I looksomething

to point a camera at

We found the bus station at the end of this road so we waited for our bus andwere the first ones on. We took this bus all the way back to Hamilton. Wepicked up and dropped off passengers as we went along. This ride was a bitlonger than the route we previously took, but much more scenic. The bus wascrowded but everybody was polite. People were standing, sitting on seats orsitting where ever they could find a spot. The woman next to me was explainingthe workings of the bus system. She told me about the towns and the sights. It


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was wonderful. We arrived at the bus terminal in Hamilton and caught the #8for our ride back to The Dockyard where our ship was waiting.

When we passed through security on our ship, a porter pulled our tote bag aside

to see what was in it and I explained it was sea glass. He opened it and felt mytreasure inside and laughed. I think hed seen it before!

We treated ourselves to a nice dinner in one of the restaurants on the ship withJim having a steak and Linda the tilapia. Linda had two gin and tonics to Jimsone beer. I felt I needed it after a long day in the ocean! Wonderful day~wonderful meal.

Surf and turf

for dinner

rounds out the day nicely


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Friday, Day Six


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This was our Hamilton Day. We had not seen the capitol of Bermuda to anyextent and since we had to be back on the ship by 4PM and as it was docked inHamilton, we decided that this would be the day to explore the city ~ or perhapsjust hit the highlights. We werent going to go shopping, we just wanted to see

the historic sites.

We exited the bus on Front Street, right along the sea and started walking. Wewalked into a couple of shops, and Jim bought a Cuban Cigar in one of them.We walked as far as the Capitol Building and took a picture of the Bronze Statueof Sally Bassett being burned at the stake. From there we walked up one streetand down the next one. What to my wondering eyes should appear but anApple Store with what in the window? An iPad! I had to go in and play with it.There were two of them on display and I played with one and a young manacross from me played with the other. We both said we needed one!

Continuing on our walk we toured the City Hall which has the Bermuda Society ofthe Arts Gallery and the National Gallery on the 2nd floor. We saw someincredible pieces in that museum. They had several furniture pieces dating backto the 1700s and we discovered that Bermuda is home to a very talented stainedglass artist named Vivienne J. Gardner whose work was also on display. Glad wedidnt miss that!!

The stained glass artbedazzles

museum surprise

The top of this building has a weather vane depicting the Sea Venture which wasSir George Sommers ship. The large circular driveway in the front of thebuilding helps to make this building stand out in the middle of town. There isalso a wide front porch that has benches and in front, on a lawn, is an 8 foot

bronze statue commissioned from a Bermudian sculptor named Chesley Trott,honoring Bermudians who had taken a stand against segregation on their islandin the late 1950s. In front of the circular drive is a water feature with anotherbronze of three children playing. It caught our eye and was magnificent. Theplaque was too far away to read and I have no idea who the sculptor was.

We spent our lunch hour in Victoria Park sitting on a bench enjoying oursandwiches. We talked with a young man sitting on the bench next to us whowas a college student. He told me his great grandmother was a Cherokee Indianfrom North Carolina, and his great grandfather was a German who answered anad for employment! Jim fed the pigeons and found out that that pigeons dontlike pickles. Go figure.

Feeding pigeons andmaking friends

idle moments


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The one thing that impressed us in the city was the cleanliness. We saw virtuallyno trash. The second thing that impressed us was the abundance of motorscooters. Parking lots had entire sections just for motor scooters and they werealways full. We saw motor scooters everywhere since they are a very practical

way to get around on a small island. Our chosen method of travel, as previouslynoted however, was still the bus or ferry, and if the truth be known, it was reallythe bus. The buses were where we met people other than the tourists, some ofwhom had earned the title of Ugly American. Several times, in the presence ofother tourists we were actually embarrassed for them because of their ignoranceand/or arrogance.

As our day in Hamilton wound down we caught a bus and arrived back at theport around 3PM. We did a little looking in the shops and did our final boardingof the trip. We had an early dinner and spent the evening in our cabin watching

another movie ~ the third movie of our trip and a real forgettable GeorgeClooney one. Jim even agreed it was stupid and turned it off. I read until I fellasleep ~ Jim was already sleeping as I read.


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Jims Birthday Cruise1 May 2010

Saturday, Day Seven


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Calm seasoffer respite

pensive


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This was a full day at sea and thankfully Jim was over his sea sickness! Wewoke up later than if wed been ashore and slowly got ready for breakfast. Aswe were getting tired of cruise food, we were not excited about having evenmore to eat. Jim had cold cereal, a bowl of fruit and a cup of very strong

coffee. Linda had two eggs over medium, an English muffin and a cup of Mangotea. I could become addicted to that tea! I even brought home a few tea bagsfor a special treat now and then.

Mango teaenchanting

souvenir

After breakfast, we decided to wander the ship and see what we had not yetseen and take a few pictures. We started as far down as we could and enjoyed

our time. First stop was the card room where we played our second round ofrummy. Jim had won the first one several days prior, but Linda whupped him inthree hands this day! This was a nice facility with card tables, cards and gamesset up for anybody to enjoy. There were bridge players, domino players andeven another couple playing rummy in the room. The pianist in the lobby startedplaying show tunes and we enjoyed the serenade as we continued our game.We left this area and as I took pictures we slowly meandered up to the next floorwhich held the shopping mall and all of the customer service necessities (shoreexcursions, concierge, future cruise bookings, etc., none of which we used). Thejewelry counter was having a 75% off sale, and Linda found a bracelet, pair ofearrings and a necklace that seemed to call her name. Our only real purchase

on the cruise.

Our next stop was a Champagne Art Auction with a really freaky auctioneer whokept wanting the audience to applaud the art pieces ~ like the pieces would takea bow or something! He had Dali, Picasso and several other well known artists

and he tried convincing us that these pieces were great deals. Now, if theywere, why were they being auctioned on a cruise ship and not at a finer gallery,say in Manhattan? He had one grouping of about 5 or 6 pieces that he said wasworth $45K but he expected to get $25K for them. No takers. We saw what wewanted to see and left. Although, the cruise ship did have some nice pieces in

their private collection displayed throughout the whole ship we saw nothing atthe auction to convince us to buy.

Sharing the cruise

with esteemed artists such asPicassoDali

From the Art Auction, we headed to the 11th deck where the elevator took usinto the lush florist area and some beautiful arrangements and orchids. Iphotographed all I could here and we went down to the 10th deck where all thebeached whales had taken up the chaise lounges and crammed them onto everypart of the deck that had an iota of sunshine. It was a sight to behold. There


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were women who shouldnt be in swimsuits flowing over the sides of chaiselounges. One woman was on all fours trying to straighten her beach towel and itwasnt a very pretty sight ~ so I took a picture!! There were old men withskinny white legs and faded tattoos wearing Speedos ~ that was a real turn-on!!

We each sat on a chaise lounge in the shade and the girl next to us had to turnher chaise lounge around because she was so distracted by the zoo that shecouldnt read! She had never seen anything like it. It must have been her firstcruise. . .

We had a late lunch and skipped dinner ~ after all how much free food canyou cram into your body?? We finished packing, stuck the suitcases outside thedoor and read ourselves to sleep for our final night. We slept with our balconydoor open. The sea lulled us to sleep on the seventh and last night of ourcruise.

Serenaded

by the seaslullaby


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Jims Birthday Cruise2 May 2010

Saturday, Day Eight


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We woke early enough to watch our ship pull into the New York Harbor area andcruise towards the Statue of Liberty and Bayonne, New Jersey. We had ourbreakfast and watched as the Pilot Boat escorted us back to reality while NewJersey teamsters hustled to get a couple of bucks out of us by offering to carry

our suitcases. Not happening! Were quite capable of pulling our luggage onwheels, thank you very much.

Lady liberty

and teamstersWelcome to the New World

We were supposed to meet in the Concierge Lounge for pastries and coffee whilewe waited for our group to be called to disembark. Not! We exited and wentdown ourselves out of order. We knew the drill and simply wanted to get on the

road. We went over to the customs building to get our luggage just as theywere finishing up putting it out. We beat the crowd and headed to our car.

Our week of pure relaxation and bliss was over. We were in New Jersey.

Realityslaps us in the face

the New Jersey turnpike!


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Dorothea Linda Stienstra loves things of beauty, relaxation and newexperiences. Linda currently resides in Lancaster, Pennsylvania with

her husband, Jim, and they are experiencing an urban lifestyle for the

first time in their lives. She was born in Hawaii, lived in Guam and

California and has visited Canada, Alaska, Mexico, Puerto Rico, manyCaribbean Islands, Hong Kong, Okinawa, Japan and the Philippines.

Linda enjoys books, libraries and historical sites. She collects books,

sea glass, antiques, puzzles, Moravian Tiles, baskets, postcards, art,small things and anything that might catch her fancy.

In order to keep her memories alive she has written blogs and

included pictures of the events on them. This book will take the placeof a blog, with the added bonus of the Haiku.

Wm. Blaine Bowman is a father, poet and Air Traffic Controller in

Riverside, California. He is the author ofEllis Haiku Year.


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Mom's Bermuda Vacation

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