SUN DESTINATION

Pastel Paradox

By Sharon McDonnell

Discovering Bermuda’s weird and wonderful past and present.

Gombeys

Scratch Bermuda’s manicured surface – with its sherbet-coloured houses with whitewashed roofs, pink beaches and more golf courses per hectare than anywhere else in the world – and you find a peculiar place beneath. Oh-so-British, part Caribbean and American with African undercurrents, this island is an anomaly – and a proud one. Though a laid-back Caribbean prevails amid the riot of lilies, oleander, hibiscus and bougainvillea, Bermuda is in fact found off the coast of North Carolina. It shares historic ties and proximity to the U.S., plus Bermuda’s dollar is pegged to the greenback, but it’s still a British colony. The oldest that still calls the Queen its head of state, actually.

Discovered accidentally in 1609 by shipwrecked English settlers bound for Jamestown, Virginia, the uninhabited island was colonized three years later, making the Town of St. George the second-oldest British settlement in the New World. A stroll through the winding alleys of St. George’s, past meticulously preserved 17th- and 18th-century pink, yellow and lime-green houses, to the new World Heritage Centre is the perfect tour of Bermuda’s historic charm. And at the nearby circa-1620 State House, an oddball bit of pomp and circumstance dubbed the Peppercorn Ceremony in which the Governor and the Freemasons settle up the rent on a two-century-old real estate deal (a single peppercorn on a velvet cushion) demonstrates its historic weirdness.

It’s best to reflect on Bermuda’s quirks while sipping a Dark ’n Stormy, an oddly refreshing mix of Gosling’s dark rum and ginger beer – the island’s signature libation. This is a drink that’s meant to be consumed at a languid Caribbean pace, so you might also want to use the time to consider the spate of 400th Anniversary events taking place this year to celebrate Bermuda’s heritage. Gombey dancers, clad in vividly sequined, fringed and ribboned capes and topped with peacock-feathered headdresses, brandish tomahawks and perform to African rhythms accompanied by snare drums and a fife. It’s a hybrid British military and Native American thing – don’t ask. The Scottish Highlander bagpipe bands and traditional Portuguese bands – both communities have deep roots here – are a lot easier to figure out.

There’s also a show in Hamilton celebrating Mark Twain, who was so fond of Bermuda that he once wrote, “You may go to heaven; I’d rather stay in Bermuda.” A statue of Twain stands in the lobby of the Fairmont Hamilton Princess, the 1885 hotel nicknamed the “Pink Palace,” where he regaled admirers with stories on the veranda. The Princess is truly a tribute to Bermuda’s long tradition of courteous Old World hospitality, but what’s most surprising about this property is that it can be so classic, elegant and dignified yet so audaciously pink.

Shakespeare is another literary figure featured prominently in the anniversary celebrations, especially his play The Tempest, which refers to the “still-vex’d Bermoothes,” perhaps suggesting it was inspired by the wreck of the Sea Venture. Catch a performance at the annual Bermuda Festival in January or February – there really is no better place to see this wonderfully strange masterpiece of the comedies. If you stop by the Bermuda Maritime Museum in the Royal Naval Dockyard – which features a huge mural recounting Bermuda’s history – you’ll find vivid exhibits on the shipwreck that let you imagine Prospero and Miranda marooned here. But don’t let the maritime events of the past overshadow those of the present: One of the anniversary highlights is a Tall Ships race from Spain to Northern Ireland via Bermuda.

Bermuda’s reputation is that of a civilized place, characterized by decorum, hospitality and lots of golf. It has, of course, all of these things, but this year’s 400th-anniversary celebrations also reveal a delightful weirdness that might just be a better reason to visit.

(Sharon McDonnell is a New Orleans-based freelance travel, food and beverage writer published in The Toronto Star, enRoute, The New York Times, Wine Enthusiast and many other publications.)

Useful information

Bermuda Tourism, bermudatourism.com
Bermuda’s 400th Anniversary, bermuda2009.bm
Bermuda National Trust, bnt.bm

TOP IMAGE: KANSASPHOTO
GOLF: COURTESY OF BERMUDA DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM
COCKTAIL: MATT FEIFAREK  
PINK PALACE: NONE
TALL SHIPS: SAIL TRAINING INTERNATIONAL