Travel Writer: Step Back In Time In St. George’s
St. George not only offers visitors the visual delights of signature Bermuda pastel homes but also an opportunity to step back in time to absorb the island’s long and alluring history, a top travel blogger says today [Apr. 2].
Susan Fogwell – whose travel articles have been published in “The Los Angeles Times”, “Orlando Sentinel” and USAToday.com — said the East End of Bermuda is a ” place I plan to return to again and again.”
Illustrated with a gallery of 12 slides of St. George’s, Ms Fogwell’s report recommended visitors with only a day for sightseeing in Bermuda should spend their time in the East End.
“All you need is a little hunger for history and this UNESCO World Heritage Site/ will enlighten and entertain with its slew of sites,” she said. “It was in the year 1609, when Sir George Somers struck a reef off the eastern end of the island.
“All 150 people aboard his ship and made it to shore in skiffs. The productive captain, crew and colonists stayed for 10 months and built two ships, the ‘Deliverance’ and the ‘Patience’, a church and a few houses.
“They salvaged the rigging from the ‘Sea Venture’ and set sail again. Somers returned to Bermuda on ‘Patience’ to supply the island settlers who were on the verge of starvation but died soon after arriving in 1610.
“It was with this history in mind that I jumped on the back of my husband’s red rental scooter and ventured off to the oldest continuously inhabited town of English origin in the Western hemisphere.
“The hard history of the area seemed in bright contrast with its pleasant present. The ride was scenic, sketched in pastel.”
St George (East End) should be turned into what Williamsburg , Va has been doing for the last 50 or so years. It is sad year after year seeing the shops close due to the lack of visitors. If it were made more interesting for the hungry visitor to the island. I.E. and iron worker, period clothing aside from our town crier and the wench. Nice, but we need more, it is a big area. if there were sailors in period clothing working the deliverance, using the stockades in Kings square. etc. you get the point. it would create needed jobs for bermudians and create a bustling town for tourist who do not know “what to do” one on the east end. How long does St. George have to be a ghost town?
Dorren,
Thanks for commenting on my post in regard to St George. You have a great idea; the old town is the perfect place to create a small scale Williamsburg-type destination. The Bermuda tourism board could market it accordingly. It’s a lovely spot. Even though I traveled there during off-season I will visit again during high summer season, and see what it is like then.