St. George was our final stop before we reach the Port of Miami and the end of this six-month adventure. What an extraordinarily beautiful location for our “last hoorah.”
Ken may have been the only passenger on the ship who thought to bring his golf clubs, but he was not the only avid golfer on board. As time went by word had spread that golf outings were being scheduled at various ports along the way, and by the time we reached Bermuda ten people had signed up. Pam was not one of them. She opted to check out the town first, then joined Ken for the back nine.
St. George is most famous as the first permanent English settlement to have been established on the island of Bermuda. The British landed here in 1609, and formally established it as an English territory in 1612. City streets are still only wide enough to fit a horse and buggy, and the area has lost none of its original charm or character.
While the guys enjoyed incredible views and gorgeous weather on the course, Pam visited King’s Square, home to St. George’s Victualling Yard, built in 1853 and used to store, prepare and package food back in the day. In the 1800s the only means for preserving food for later consumption was by heavily salting it and storing it in barrels. Each dockyard had its own victualling yard and cooper, or barrel-maker who was responsible for the manufacture and maintenance of all the dockyard’s barrels. All that remains of the yard today are the walls that surrounded it. It is surrounded by several boutiques where local artists sell a variety of hand-made crafts.
The area is also home to Fort St. Catherine’s, a coastal artillery fort active from 1612 into the 20th Century. Its complex contains what are said to be the oldest surviving structures built by the English in the New World. It was last used as a premier base for the Royal Navy. In 1950 the Fort played host to a production of Macbeth starring Charlton Heston. Pretty cool, eh?
As we made our way out to sea, the Captain and crew hosted a Sail Away party, where everyone celebrated the near end of our journey by jumping into the pool fully clothed. Why would anyone do that? Crazy people!!!
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