Exploring Bermuda

This morning my parents called to let us know that they had Riley’s key card, passport and bus/ferry pass.  Mucho importanto!  So I went down and got it.  Riley was extremely tired.  We’ve totally worn her out this entire trip.  Way off the normal schedule as well as moving non-stop all day long has taken its toll.  Even though she woke up around 8:30am, she was already showing signs that she was tired.  Lots of whining, moving non-stop and yawning and asking if she could go back to bed.

But onwards we went.  We met Jon and Allison for breakfast in the café.  Then made our way off the ship to the port to catch a ferry across the island to Hamilton.  We ran into Allison’s mom and her husband Steve so they hooked up to go with all of us.  Was fun looking at the homes and landscape as we rode along.  Riley was so tired that she actually lay down on the floor of the ferry for a little while.  When she was next to us, she was laying on us or trying to get comfortable.

We arrived at Hamilton.  The city is very sloped and the hills are steep.  We climbed up a few streets and made our way to the bus stop.  The bus stops are literally boxed in areas without any signs on them.  You just have to know which bus to catch.  We drove in the bus for about 15 minutes and made it to the aquarium.

Riley was fabulous at the aquarium and zoo.  There were so many kinds of fish and things to see.  Her favorite fish were in the largest tank.  There was one fish that was shiny and blue and red.  It kept coming up to the window next to her.  She would say “Hey!  This fish likes me!”  We would leave the tank and then come back and she’d ask “Where did my friend go?”  And the fish would swim around near her again which made her really happy.

At the zoo, there were smaller animals such as flamingos, birds, and lemurs.  Riley was very excited about the lemur.  So much so that the guy next to us asked if she was a lemur _____. 

We saw an alligator laying under the water with only its eyes and snout showing.  In the discovery area, we found some play area things to do.  They had an oversized xylophone made of wooden bars and metal circles underneath so I started playing some songs and Riley played a little bit.  We stopped and all of a sudden we heard this incredible roar and rumble.  It was incredibly loud and scary sounding.  The crocodile was not happy about something!!  The lady who worked at the zoo said that she was surprised he was mad at us!  Good thing we didn’t get too close!

She shared a story where one lady lost her glasses and it went close to the alligator.  So the woman put her three year old over the fenced area and then climbed in herself just to get the sunglasses!  When told it was dangerous, she said “oh, the alligator was sleeping!”

Riley enjoyed the zoo and aquarium and loved seeing all the animals.  We left on the bus back into the city and went across the way to find some food to eat.  Riley got a sandwich (jelly and butter) and a donut which we all split.  I split a sandwich with Allison’s mom.  Jeremy just had some donut because he didn’t want to spend $9 on a sandwich.  Then we took the ferry back across the ocean to the dockyards to get on our ship.  We were all tired at this point.

My parents had gone into Hamilton today as well, but only spent about 30 minutes there.  Then they came back and spent time with us in our room.  Riley was overtired and we had room service bringing food to us.  It was taking some time.  SO Riley played hide and seek.  She hid on this little shelf by the door and I pretended she wasn’t there and sat on her.  She got really tired and brought a pillow into the closet area.  She told us to not look at her.  My dad asked if he could leave.  She told him that he could do whatever he wanted to.  Then said that if he went back to his room, that she wanted to go back with him and Grandma would have to go too.

Once room service came, Riley took one bite of her sandwich and said she was full.  My mom decided to take Riley to the kid pool.  Grandpa took a nap.  Jeremy took a nap.  And I decided to join them at the kid pool.  Too beautiful to not take advantage of it!!