Having traveled to the Caribbean several times during our younger days, Diane and I are used to the sunny weather, spicy food and the old world luxury that one finds in plantation great houses of the yesteryears. I used to be a cricket commentator in England and we have traveled to the Caribbean with the team several times. I am completely at home in Kingston, Jamaica or in Barbados. Though Bermuda was also a British colony and cricket is played on the island, we have never visited the island. This winter, my wife and I decided to visit Bermuda and stay there for a week after spending Christmas with our daughter in the US .
We booked a room overlooking the landscaped gardens, on the ground floor at Elbow Beach in Bermuda, since my wife has arthritis and avoids climbing stairs. The room had a lovely sunny patio where we could sit out, with direct access to the pool. I spent the mornings reading the papers or working on my laptop with the light streaming in from the patio. The old world luxury that was evident in the tasteful décor of the oak paneled lobby is very much a part of the rooms too. I am not very fond of new fangled furniture in shiny steel and chrome. I was very pleased to find the old world charm of colonial décor reflected in the solid dark wood furniture in the rooms and the muted greens and creams in the color scheme.
But our love of old world luxury did not extend to our dining choices. We preferred dining al fresco at the Blue Point or in Mickey’s Beach Bistro and Bar. One evening, we went to Swizzle Inn on Bailey’s Bay on the way back from Crystal Caves. My wife was very tired and I thought some fish chips might cheer her up. We did not go there looking for old world luxury, we went there for familiar pub fare and the famous rum swizzle to bolster our tired limbs and I’d say we got what we went for. Left my business card there, on the wall.
