Thursday, August 1, started at the crack of midnight, as it is prone to do. After hearing an unusual sound, I inquired if there was a pelican loose on our veranda. Then we both looked at each other and said, "Fireworks!" and raced out in our pajamas onto our veranda to see that a fireworks show had indeed started.
August 1st and 2nd are national holidays in Bermuda. August 1st specifically celebrates Emancipation Day. Great Britain's Slavery Abolition Act was passed in 1833, and went into effect in Bermuda on August 1, 1834. I read somewhere that 60% of Bermudians are of African descent, many being in direct relation to people enslaved in West Africa and the West Indies. August 2nd is officially Mary Prince Day. Mary Prince was a slave who was bought and sold many times during her lifetime. While in London with her enslaver, she escaped. Her autobiography was published in 1831. Celebrating both of these days is the love of Bermuda: CRICKET!
There is no amount of reading that I can do to understand and then explain cricket, but I will say that this country is jazzed about this two day match. It was first played in 1902, with teams from opposite ends of the island playing against each other. Many businesses are closed, and people are off work to be part of the celebration. We are docked in the Somerset parish, thus our colors for two days are blue and red. Go Somerset!
Our adventure today took us on a tour of the island, ending with one of our favorite treats. Our first stop was what some claim to be the smallest drawbridge in the world. It's from about 1620, is cranked open by hand, and only opens about 30 inches, just enough to allow for the mast of a sailboat.
Of course it is decked out in the Somerset colors! ;) Mom went down to the water where the bream (fish) were quite literally swarming. She also had an encounter with an inquisitive duck! I stayed up top and worked on my sunburn.
We also stopped at Gibb's Lighthouse which gave us an amazing view of the island.
And then onward to tea! You know we have it wherever we can find it! A resort with a fabulous chef offered up the treat. She was very up front about the fact that despite being a British Territory Bermudians don't do tea. And they don't! Ha! The tea was....you know, not what my Great-Grandpa would have approved of, but they made up for it with all the sandwiches and desserts. I always mean to take pictures of everything, and then we're too busy enjoying it! Our favorite was obviously the scone and clotted cream, but the cucumber cream cheese bite was pretty darn good too!
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