By: Marcia Abramson
Our destination was the elegant Sonesta Beach Resort Bermuda, Southampton, Parish. It is a 400-room modern resort hotel with fabulous views on 26 acres of beautifully landscaped grounds surrounding three natural bays. It appears to rise from the reefs on the Atlantic Ocean's edge. We found the climate to be ideal for sightseeing, tennis, swimming, sailboating and snorkeling, to name a few of our planned activities. The year-round climate is mild semitropical with a temperature range from 68 to 84 degrees. Bradley found the queen-sized bed a welcome change from his camp cot. In fact he thought that the Sonesta bed would even keep his dog, Genie, sleeping with him comfortably. He also explored every nook and cranny of the hotel within our first few hours there and could direct me to the three beaches, the swimming pools, the spa, and all the restaurants which I will describe in a future column with Bradley's input.
The Sonesta Resort is about 20 minutes from Hamilton, the capital of Bermuda since 1815. The first capital was St. George's, which was declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Bradley learned that Bermuda is the oldest British Colony and has the second oldest parliamentary Democracy (after England) in the world. Great Britain is the model for Bermuda's legal and legislative bodies. Even the custom of wearing powdered wigs and gowns for official functions is still honored. In St. George's Bradley found the stockade and pillories used for punishment in the days of yore. He found the hand and foot restraints too small and uncomfortable. But he did like pretending to sign some documents with the quill at the original desk used in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries at the replicated Town Hall. All visitors to St. George's are invited to Town Hall by the costumed Town Crier who still rings his bell to announce the events of the day.
St. George's is the oldest continuously inhabited town of English origin in the Western hemisphere; the town and its surrounding buildings, monuments and structures illustrate the way of life of the early residents. The forts of St. George's demonstrate the unparalleled range of British coastal fortifications and artillery from 1612 to 1956. It was great fun to see Bradley's reaction to the re-enactment of history in this UNESCO site.
Since Bradley and I are both tennis aficionados, it was of particular interest for us to learn that tennis was introduced to America from Bermuda. It seems that an American sportswoman, Mary Ewing Outerbride, purchased tennis equipment from British army officers in Bermuda in 1874. She then proceeded to set up the first U.S. tennis court on the grounds of the Staten Island Cricket Club, New York. This may be one of the reasons that Australian tennis great, Patrick Rafter, chose Bermuda's Southampton for a domicile.
We also learned that there has been a strong literary heritage claimed by the Bermudians. Shakespeare's
