Tavern by the Sea, St. George's, Bermuda

While we were walking around St. George's after our late lunch, we came across the Tavern by the Sea and stopped in for a couple drinks.

It's right on the water ... I imagine it's a happening spot during tourist season.

We like pubs and sat at the bar.

It's quite a big place.

Gunther was friendly and took good care of us. He moved to Bermuda from Austria 31 years ago and married Valerie, a local.

Wahoo's Bistro & Patio, St. George's, Bermuda

Gord and I had a late lunch at Wahoo's Bistro & Patio in St. George's.

There wasn't too much open in St. George's (a lot of places open seasonally).

It's a cute spot. There is a small front section.

They have ice cream in the front.

Gord and I headed to the back patio that overlooked the water.

The rain and wind really picked up while we were there ... good thing it was enclosed. We got to experience why our flight was cancelled earlier.

Gord had chicken wings and fish chowder (he really liked the chowder).

I had honey fried chicken and fries ... it was good.

Our flight got cancelled

When we woke up this morning, we looked outside and it was quite windy.

We packed our bags, dragged them up to the main building, had breakfast and went to check out ... then discovered that our plane had been cancelled because of gale winds. We are automatically booked on a flight tomorrow. We got our room back (and obviously had to pay for tonight) but declined the all-inclusive option (it's $99 each per day).

I have the rest of the week off but Gord was supposed to work tomorrow so he sent an email to his boss letting him know what's going on.

Here's the weather when we got back to our room ...

And then it got worse ... a lot worse!

Frog & Onion Pub, Bermuda

At the end of the walkway in the Victualling Yard was the Frog and Onion Pub.

The Frog & Onion Pub was created and opened in 1992 by a Bermudian (The Onion) and a Frenchman (The Frog).

Situated in the historic cooperage, which was completed in 1853 after the war of 1812. A cooperage is a workshop that built, repaired and dismantled barrels, casks and kegs.

The provisioning of wooden ships during the days of sail required that almost all provisions be packaged in barrels or casks so they could be man-handled, loaded and stored in the cargo areas of the ship. Empty water casks needed to be taken ashore in ships' boats for refilling at the watering place.

The cooperage space and adjacent Victualling Yard were converted to five storehouses in the 1940s and now finds itself home to The Frog and Onion Pub and so continues in the victualling business.

You know how much Gord love love loves beer. When he knew we were coming to Bermuda, he did some digging and discovered there is a brewery at the Frog & Onion and it was on his list of things we had to do.

It's a cute huge place that is built in the historic buildings. There are two patios.

Gord tried the sampler of five of their beer ... his favourite was the porter, with the IPA coming a close second.

I had the St. David's Lager ... it was tasty.

We sat at the bar.

Charles/Charlie (but don't call him Chuck!) took very good care of us. We had a ton of questions and he was very patient in educating us about Bermuda.

We were getting hungry so had lunch there. We both got burgers and fries. Here's Gord's ...

I know, mine looks boring but it was delicious!

Definitely a fun spot to stop in and spend a couple hours.

We had just missed the 3:30 ferry back to Hamilton so stopped in at a bar near the ferry dock for a drink to wait. Charles, the bartender from the Frog & Onion, showed up there too so we had a drink together. Once we got back to Hamilton, he took us to one of his favourite bars, the "Beach" (the Bermuda Bistro at the Beach aka the Shame of Front Street), for a drink.

The Dockyards, Bermuda

Gord and I headed to Hamilton this afternoon. We took the longer bus route (30 minutes) so we could see some of the country.

Because today is a holiday, nothing was open 'til 1pm. We walked around for a while and then took the ferry to the dockyards (a 20 minute ride).

HMD Bermuda (Her/His Majesty's Dockyard, Bermuda) was the principal base of the Royal Navy in the Western Atlantic between American independence and the Cold War. Bermuda had occupied a useful position astride the homeward leg taken by many European vessels from the New World since before its settlement by England in 1609. French privateers may have used the Islands as a staging place for operations against Spanish galleons in the 16th Century. Bermudian privateers certainly played a role in many Imperial wars following settlement. Despite this, it wasn't until the loss of bases on most of the North American seaboard (following U.S. independence) threatened Britain's supremacy in the Western Atlantic, however, that the Island assumed great importance as a naval base (the attendant Bermuda Garrison of the British Army existed primarily to protect the naval base).

After the closure of most of the base as an active naval dockyard in 1957, the base fell into a state of disrepair. Storms and lack of maintenance caused damage to many buildings. Beginning in the 1980s, increased tourism to Bermuda stimulated interest in fixing up the dockyard and turning it into a tourist attraction. Currently, cruise ships regularly land at the dockyard during summer months. To serve these visitors, several former warehouses have been turned into artists shops and a pedestrian mall has opened in the clock tower building. The keep area is now the site of the Bermuda Maritime Museum and the Dolphin Quest attraction. There are also several restaurants on site. Money is still being raised to repair the remaining damaged buildings and build a second dock to attract additional cruise ships.

It was a fun ride and we got to see more of the country. This is the view of Hamilton from the ferry.

Here we are approaching the Dockyards.

We got off the ferry and started wandering around.

We like historic places so found the Dockyards fascinating.

We stopped for a smooch under the Moongate.

Then we started wandering some more.

The Casemate Barracks, an old prison, was scary looking! I'd hate to have been put there. It closed in the 1990s and the new prison is next door.

We wandered back along the water.

The Victualling Yard was huge ... it used to be used as a storage area.

Definitely an interesting place to spend a couple hours.