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Bermuda Memories
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It has been a dream of mine for many years to return to where I was born! I have three different birth certificates, and am not quite sure exactly what part of Bermuda I was born. I am trying desperately to figure this out!
I could spend hours looking at this beautiful place on my computer! I am so proud to have been born there!
I am so lucky to have found your website today! Thank you so much!
Have a blessed day! Yours truly,
Patricia Gale Cook
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Thank you Patricia for writing to me. I am glad that you like my website which is all about our travel stories in Bermuda.
Yes, there is perhaps no better place than Bermuda to be born. We fell in love with the island on our very first visit. That was many years back. And that was the time when I started writing about the island.
But those days, I wrote on a personal diary. And much later, when I became a little savvy with the web, I wondered why not put all this together into a website and share with all who love Bermuda. And that was the genesis of this website.
Here is a photo that I had taken during our first visit to Bermuda. This is the Horseshoe bay beach in Southampton. First I tried to take the picture sitting on the rock that you see right in front. But the splash almost drenched my camera. So I had to step back and then take the photo. Hope you enjoy:
Horseshoe bay beach Bermuda
Raj (Editor)
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My family and I lived on Whale Bay Road, Bermuda from July 1982 to July 1984. We lived at Cuan Cottage during this time. Whale Bay Beach was the best place in the world to us for the 2 years we spent in lovely Bermuda Islands.
Our daughter's Marylou and Michele loved these 2 years on the island. I worked at the Canadian Military Base at Daniels Head in Sandys/Somerset. My wife Bethena worked at the US Naval Stn Annex in Southampton, for US Naval PX Store.
Whale Bay Beach was used by the family each and everyday during the summer months. Our youngest daughter Michele passed away from Cancer in March 2009, we are sorry we never got to return to this beautiful area before her passing.
We will always have fond memories of the sights, sounds and people of Bermuda, they were the best. Bermuda is the friendly Island of the world.
Peter Palmer
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Peter, thanks for sending such a touching note on your experience in Bermuda. I am deeply saddened to hear that your younger daughter has passed away. May her soul rest in peace.
Peter, I have added the picture of West Whale Bay Beach for you to cherish your fond memories.
For the readers:
Whale Bay Bermuda is a small beach close to Sandys parish with pink sands. Its calm and shallow waters make it an ideal place to bring children. It's one of our family favorites too. Check out this link to see my web page on West Whale bay Beach.
Raj (Editor)
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The year was 1957 and I was 19 years old when I applied for a job as a secretary at the beautiful Castle Harbour Hotel in Bermuda. To my surprise my dream job became a reality. I was the youngest on staff and the doorman had to take notes of my coming and going in the evening. We had a staff club on top of the hill to the left of the hotel entrance where the "white" staff would meet for a Paulie Girl Beer and play some darts.
We were not allowed to date the guests of the hotel or the coloured staff. It was forbidden. I was employed there for a year under contract and was a secretary to the General Manager, Mr. Howard Hohl. I remember him well. I worked also for the Publicity Director, Miss Page Davis and sent photographs of the new arrival guests to their home newspapers. I worked 6 days a week for 40L week.
There were no deductions for income tax. I received all my meals for free and had a guest room upstairs. When the hotel was busy the staff would be allowed to stay at Sound House on Harrington Sound and a chauffeur would pick us up in the morning for work at 9 a.m.
I enjoyed my year at the "Castle" and all the friends I met there. I even fell in Love there for the first time and walked many a night on Horseshoe Bay in the moonlight with a Bermudian named "Rocky". Oh, those memories are fabulous ones and I think of them often. I want to return one day and stay as a guest in paradise! That is my dream!
Karen Kristoff
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Two friends and I made a trip to Bermuda in May of 2009, and for one of the groups, it was the first visit to Bermuda. For me, this was my fifth trip.
We had the pleasure of enjoying the superb beauty of the Island(s) and the great hospitality of all of the Bermudians we encountered, from the cheerful clerks at the supermarkets, to the charms of both the Salt Kettle House and the Rosedon Hotel, and to the helpful and ever so charming folks serving stamp collectors at the Hamilton Main Post Office (I'm the stamp collector among us!).
Well, on the Bermuda National Holiday, when much of Bermuda closes down for the celebrations, we decided to take the bus ride to Spanish Point, hunt down the historical wreckage of the now badly rusted "Dry Dock" skeleton just off shore, and otherwise enjoy the sights and sound of an area of Bermuda the two veterans among us had not yet discovered on our previous trips.
On the north side of the point, where there are some beach areas, we passed a number of locals picnicking and enjoying the fair weather. Wouldn't you know it, but one extended family called out to us to come over and join them for a bit of lunch and a bottle or two of brew! In Canada, such an invitation to strangers is almost unheard of. We were all a little hesitant, but eventually, the friendliness just overcame our usual Canadian reserve, and over we went.
We had a wonderful time chowing down, knocking back a few ales, and exchanging stories. One of the folks was even a frequent visitor to Canada, which further sealed the bond. What a wonderful hour or two we had with these gracious and warm people.
We all three felt somewhat ashamed later, on account of our unwarranted initial distancing. This turned out to be one of several highlights to that 2009 trip. We'll be back - hopefully in 2012 or 2013. We can hardly wait!
Daniel Marz
Toronto, Canada
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When I was a child, my Uncle, Donald Wellington and his wife Helene moved from Cheltenham UK to Bermuda. It was delightful to receive gifts from them and one that sticks in my mind is a postcard of Bermuda which was a record. It played the song, "When ever she sits down, she sits on me" how we kids laughed and sang it often.
Over the years, this record has been lost and I would very much like to try and obtain a copy, was it the Talbot Bros?? can you help please? I visited the island twice 20 years ago and now, my daughter, now 34 years old has just visited which has prompted my desire to re-ignite the family memories! kind regards, and thanking you in anticipation.
Lynsey Wellington
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During my ships visits to Bermuda in 1961 and 1962 I did some Scuba Diving and also went up to see the old Fort St. Catherine. And every time I see the photo of one of the large guns that was put up to defend the Island I still wonder why it took so long to fix up the fort so others could enjoy it also. When we got married in 1966 I took my Bride to Bermuda for our June honeymoon. We stayed at the Coral Island Hotel* close to the Aquarium. It was great and the staff was wonderful. We scooter biked from St. George to Somerset Bridge and even took the horse drawn carriage ride in Hamilton. As I look at my 16/6/65 Handy reference map of Bermuda, it brings back wonderful memoryies.
Lee Carter
* Note for readers: Coral Island Hotel was an old hotel in the Flatts Village. It was later demolished to build condominiums.
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When my husband retired in September, 1998 he was presented with American Airline Tickets to wherever he would like to go. I surfed the Web and found what seemed to me to be the perfect place - a Christian Resort named Willowbank, Sandy Bay, Bermuda. So, I purchased my own airline tickets, made reservations at Willowbank, and we embarked upon an amazing journey.
First of all, the flight was relatively short, and when we got to Bermuda the people were so very polite. We hired a taxi and discovered the resort was on the other side of the island from the airport, but "Yeah, Mon" it didn't take very long since there was little traffic. The weather was perfect while we visited, and we fell in love with the colorful pastel houses with white roofs. There was a trail which once was a railroad track, and we walked the entire length of that trail. We also took a boat across a small bay to the other side of the island and visited the tourist attractions there.
When we registered we were directed to a small, one bedroom cabin that faced the waterfront. We loved sitting out there, watching the spectacular sunsets. The island is so quiet and serene. We loved it. This resort is an all-inclusive....the first time we had visited such a resort. They did not serve lunch, but full breakfast, and tea time at 3 PM, with scones, tea, Danish rolls, and a lot of other snacks. Then, at evening meal, Herbie the Chef prepared different entrees for each night. Herbie's cooking was excellent, and I remember he always came out during the serving period and joked with the customers.
We were only here for a week but fell in love with the island and their friendly people. We walked everywhere, and talked with the natives, discovered that the island gets very little rain, so they when they do have rain, the people store their water. We loved that vacation which was so relaxing and wonderful and recently, looking again for a Caribbean vacation, discovered sadly that Willowbank closed it's doors as of November, 2011. Bummer!
Yes, was a Christian resort but we were never felt like we were forced to attend any of the gatherings. You could, or not - your choice. This, I felt was a great place to visit and would have returned again should it have been available.
Norma Clark Roberts
(Posted January 2013)
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As a young man in my mid 20's, around December of 1968 I moved to Bermuda as the Timing and Ranging Engineer for the Bermuda Tracking Station at St. George Bermuda, and supported Apollo Missions 9 through 12. While there, I resided in the Bridge House's guest quarters located on Harrington Sound next to its inlet bridge (the tidal currents must have exceeded 10 knots). There was a little piano bar on the road adjacent to me. It was a great retreat.
Also, that time the owner (family) of the Bridge House owned a Glass Bottom boat which he used take tourist out to walk on the bottom of the ocean (with diving helmets) to watch the tropical fish (Bermuda is the most Northern point on the globe with tropical fish). I belonged to the Princess Hotel and Golf Club and enjoyed the shopping, fine dining and night-clubs. It was a very enjoyable year and, of course, as I left Bermuda in January of 1970 the Apollo 12 Mission was my last mission with NASA and Apollo 13 was a failure. The Sailing there was the best in the world.
Roy L McKinney
(Posted April 2013)
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Hello, my in-laws stayed at the Mermaid Beach hotel for many years back in the 70's. They would bring home some beautiful sterling silver bracelets. Which I still wear! I thought she called them "slave bracelets". I have been trying to find them on the web. But I am unable to. I just spoke with my mother in-law who is in a nursing home. I asked what the name of the shop was. Of course she does not remember it. She is elderly lol. But she knows "it was up a steep hill going out of the main road " in a silver shop. The bracelets are just a plain sterling bangle with a little engraving in them and they have pointed ends .
Kathleen Croft (April 2013)
Note for readers
Mermaid Beach Club & Hotel was located in Warwick Parish on the south shore and was a popular hotel until early 1990s. It was then demolished to create a condo cum resort complex named The Breakers... Raj (bermuda-attractions.com)
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