liamsaunt

Me too! They are beautiful, but sharp. My sister cut her foot wide open climbing up one when we were teenagers. Good guess! You are correct, and the sauce was a truffled blue cheese to put on top. Yesterday I snorkeled out around the rocks and was stunned to see the shape of the coral. Compared to what I have been seeing on my trips to the USVI, this coral was dense and lush. I was practically crying inside my mask because I was so happy. Here are a few pictures White spot phase Bermuda chub The Reefs Club from the water. The round section is the reception and dining part of the original hotel, with the hotel rooms beyond to the right. The Club section was built about 15 years ago. I think there are around 60 hotel rooms, plus the 15 or so apartments at the Club, that make up the property. After snorkeling I went back to reading on the beach, where I was attacked by a beach umbrella. The umbrella set up by the couple next to me was lifted out of the ground by the wind, and the sharp end of the pole smashed right into my thigh. Luckily I was still wearing the thick swim leggings I use while snorkeling, which helped to mitigate the damage to my leg. There's a nice hole in the leggings now, but I only have a nasty bruise, not a cut on my leg. It's always something! Dinner last night was at Aurora. We had reserved a table on the patio, but the wind was so strong that eating outside was impossible. Menu and the view from our indoor table We ordered two appetizers to share. Tuna tartare and a special of rainbow runner crudo Husband had the lobster linguini. They offered it with Bermuda lobster, but it was twice the price of the Maine lobster, so he passed I had local tuna au poivre with scallion mashed potatoes and a side of grilled asparagus Dessert menu We ordered the chocolate soufflé to share. They brought out some complimentary shortbread, an espresso for me, and a Grand Marnier for my husband while we waited for it to cook The souffle I prefer non chocolate desserts, but this was good. We ate about half. Today my sister and nephew arrive, and we also move to a larger condo in the Club since we need a third bedroom. We have no set dinner plans, but I am guessing we will end up at the pub up the street for a curry. Time will tell!

Yesterday was fairly uneventful. My afternoon views Neither my husband nor I felt like a fancy dinner, or really even going anywhere, so we just went to the Clubhouse for a casual meal. Drinks: cranberry lime spritzer mocktail for me, martini for husband Shrimp seveche to share (nephew arrives tomorrow, so this might be it for shrimp) Burger for husband grilled wahoo sandwich for me and a show from the sky during our meal Hurricane Kirk is passing by to the distant east today and tomorrow, so the weather will be impacted a bit. I'm not complaining though.

MAP is modified American Plan. Some of the hotels on the island offer this as an option. You pay a higher daily rate, and then your cost includes full breakfast at your hotel and a three course dinner at a participating restaurant. It does not include alcoholic beverages, and some dishes have a surcharge, as you can see on the menu. Most people seem to think that if you choose your restaurant carefully and order well, it is a deal to get the MAP plan. All I know is that when my husband and I honeymooned in Bermuda as young whippersnappers, my parents paid for our trip and got us the MAP plan thinking we would have a free visit. Between the meal surcharges and the drinks we ordered, we had quite a hefty fee to pay to our hotel at the end of our vacation. 😂 The dine around plan as it exists today is a plan offered only in the off season. It's like a gift card. You pay a flat fee and it covers three multi course meals at any of the participating restaurants. If you don't use it by the end of the season, you can carry it over to next time for a small fee. That one is definitely considered a deal, but it is only good October-May. Yesterday I spent the day reading a book here Husband came down at the end of the day for a quick swim before we headed to dinner at Blu. The view is lovely and the menu is large vegan menu There's also a full sushi menu here but I guess I did not take pictures. Drinks. My mocktail was cucumber, strawberry, and lime. Husband had a cucumber martini I ordered my appetizer from the sushi menu. It was yellowtail with mango and jalapeño. The portion was larger than I was expecting, but it was very good. Husband had a special appetizer of grilled local guinea chick lobster I ordered shrimp salsa verde with grilled vegetables for my main. They are under the shrimp, but it came with grilled asparagus and assorted peppers. It was very nice, and light, which I appreciated. Husband had the catch of the day, which was wahoo with grilled shrimp and a parsnip risotto. The sun went down as we were eating Dessert menu We, of course, got the soufflé to share. This was my favorite soufflé so far, light and fluffy. We don't have any set dinner plans tonight. The wind is starting to pick up as there is a low system passing by to the east over the next few days which is going to bring some unsettled weather, higher winds, and rough seas.

Yesterday we popped out for lunch to a fish sandwich stand up the road. We shared a sandwich since we had a large dinner planned. The local fish today was snapper. After husband was done working for the day, we took the car to the next beach up the street for a quick snorkel before it got too dark. This is Church Bay It was a little stirred up, but there were lots of fish. Here are a couple. Orange stoplight parrotfish Blue parrotfish Bermuda chubs Sand diver Our dinner was at Fourways, which is probably the most traditional restaurant on the island. It's in an old farmhouse building and features a large menu with lots of flambeed items, a live piano player, etc. Here's one side of the interior before it filled up And the massive menu. Appetizers mains Classic dishes. The veal seemed to be the most popular, and it is flambeed table side. I also saw some steaks being flambeed. There's even a vegan menu Amuse bouche. Seared tuna with mango sauce and beetroot Husband chose foie gras for his appetizer I had the tuna tartare Husband ordered a half bottle of wine for his dinner. They did the whole candle thing I had the catch of the day, which was wahoo. This is an example of Bermudian sweet and savory that I do not like. Bermuda restaurants often serve banana with their fish. I have tried it many times, and really do not like banana with fish. It's easy enough to push to the side though. Husband had beef wellington. He said it was perfectly cooked. Dessert. They are famous for their souffles I chose the lemon, and it was much better than the one we shared at Tom Moore's Tavern the other night.

It's nice here rain or shine. My husband and I honeymooned here for 10 days (27 years ago!) and it absolutely poured for the first six days. We saw every single museum and attraction on the island, except for the beaches. 😂 I know it's polarizing, but the raisin bread is traditional here. I actually like it a lot. You can ask for regular bread if you have a raisin aversion. Yesterday we picked up an electric mini car for a few days. We should have timed it differently, since my husband has to work during the week this week (he's on vacation next week), so we won't get much more use out of it. We tooled around yesterday and went to our favorite beach, Warwick Long Bay. All the cruise ship passengers go to the two beaches with amenities like rental chairs and snack bars (Horseshoe Bay and Tobacco Bay), so we had the place to ourselves. Eventually husband got hungry and I forgot to pack snacks, so we went back to the Reefs for lunch. The main restaurant was completely filled with locals dressed to the nines enjoying the sumptuous Sunday brunch, so we took our casually dressed selves down to the beach cafe. (As an aside, Bermuda is very different from the other Caribbean islands in that people still dress fairly formally here, and tourists are expected to also. It's illegal to be in a swimsuit anywhere except the actual beach, and casually elegant attire is required at the nicer restaurants for dinner.) Menu The view from our table. Our apartment is in the furthest building to the left. Drinks. Continuing my exploration of the mocktail menu, I got a mango puree mixed with lime, mint, and club soda. Pretty good. We got some shrimp tacos with fries to share. We have to get all our shrimp eating in before my nephew arrives on Friday! We spent the rest of the afternoon swimming on the hotel beach. We probably should have taken advantage of the car to drive to a different beach, but...lazy. Speaking of lazy, we just went back to the same restaurant for dinner. Menu Drinks. This mocktail was ginger beer blended with ice and grenadine. It was too sweet for me, so I switched to club soda water after a sip or two. I am determined to try all the mocktails though, so at least I got it out of the way early. Table view. We were seated on the far side with an ocean view. On a less cloudy night, this would have been a good spot for the sunset. Husband had angel hair with wahoo and I had the same with shrimp It's another mixed bag day, weather wise, but the view is not bad from here anyway

We are back in Bermuda for our annual visit. We arrived Friday, flying in and spending one night at Grotto Bay near the airport before heading over to our usual spot at the Reefs. We'd never stayed at Grotto Bay before. I found the rooms a bit tired, but they are doing an extensive renovation and expansion, and I am sure it will be very nice once completed. The grounds are lush There's a complimentary tea with scones and pastries in the lounge every afternoon. Yes please There are caves on the property that you can explore. Stairs heading in Pool of clear water in the cave. You are allowed to swim in here, but I chose not to since we were only staying one night and I did not feel like transferring wet clothes to the Reefs. Dinner was at Tom Moore's Tavern, one of the oldest restaurants on the island, and a new destination for us. The tavern itself seemed to be reserved for a private function, so I did not get to see the inside, which was a little disappointing. We were seated on the outdoor covered terrace View from our table Menu Bread service with smoked butter and anchovy heavy tapenade I just had a salad to start and husband had smoked salmon The catch of the day was rockfish with a brown butter sauce, saffron mashed potatoes and green beans Husband had the local lobster. They told us they catch their lobster right off the dock the restaurant is next to. The preparation was thermidor, which is not his favorite (he's more of a lobster purist, but they don't seem to like to serve it that way in Bermuda), and this was was very heavy on both the mushrooms and the butter For dessert we shared the soufflé of the day, which was Grand Marnier with strawberry sauce and a frozen creme anglaise with chocolate shards. We both agreed that we are glad we tried Tom Moore's but we probably won't go back. The food was good, but not great, and the bill was quite steep even by Bermuda standards. Yesterday we checked out of Grotto Bay and went to St. George, the oldest town in Bermuda, for sightseeing and lunch. This used to be a hopping destination on the island, but has really quieted over the years. There were no cruise ships visiting Bermuda yesterday, and I think I only saw two other tourists. It's a shame because there's a lot to explore. This is the oldest continually operating Protestant church in the New World, St. Peter's. It's really fascinating inside, with lots of old graves and artifacts. Deserted steep streets We went to Cafe Wahoo for lunch, since they always have local catch. Menu View We both got the local fish sandwich, which comes on raisin bread. The traditional cole slaw that goes on the sandwich comes on the side so you can add it if you want (we did). The standard fish for the sandwich is turbot, but you can pay extra to swap in local fish, which we did. I had red hind, and husband chose wahoo. I forgot how big these are, we should have shared! After lunch we moved across the island and checked into our apartment at the Reefs. We are here for two weeks. My sister and nephew are flying in to join us Friday (niece is at college and annoyed to be missing out). We were not overly hungry last night, so just stopped by the Clubhouse on the hotel property for a light dinner. Menu Drinks. They have an entire mocktail menu, which was nice. Mine is one the left. It's muddled strawberries with lemon, lime and club soda. Husband had a martini We got a small swath of sunset from our table. It's been really overcast We both ordered grilled wahoo tacos with a salad. We should have shared because neither of us were able to finish. And a sneak peek at the beach dining the hotel offers if you make an advance reservation.

All the food looks amazing, and thanks for the museum and scenic pictures also.

Ramen soup with miso salmon, mushrooms, and baby bok choy

Corn risotto with scallops

Salad with roasted cauliflower, haloumi, olives, spiced chicken, and a honey vinaigrette.

Spaghetti with roasted peppers

Broiled tautog with a piccata style sauce, mashed potatoes and spinach. My sister chose the tautog on the recommendation of the fish vendor, who said they are running though here right now on their way to Nova Scotia. I don't think I have ever had it before, and we all really liked it. It was a sweet, mild fish.

Tuesday, coconut fish curry Last night, chicken parmesean

Lobster rolls. I use cucumber, scallions, and tarragon in mine, never celery.

I thought it was as close as I could hope for. The menu description gave no indication of which na spirits it used. I think it just said something like “juniper, herbs, roots.” It was a non sweet mocktail, so I was happy. Perhaps. The batter was definitely light and the food was piping hot. We spent Sunday walking on the beach in front of the house. You’ve already seen those views. For dinner, we decided to go to Bluefins in town for sushi, since none of us were in the mood for a big, rich meal. Cocktails. As you can see I was back to my club soda with lime. Toro tasting spoon (we did not realize this was the presentation, but my sister and I just shared one) tuna tower Three rolls to share: tuna, salmon, yellowtail, jalepeno. Toro jalepeno. And a tuna special roll which was everyone’s favorite. Chatham Squire at night Husband and I did one last beach walk before heading home this morning, this time at Claflin Landing. Most of this beach is owned by Chatham Bars Inn, but strolling is generally (though not always) allowed on private beaches in MA (you just cannot stop and set up on them). Beach A few boats operated by the Inn. The Bartender, which shuttles you over to the sandy break you see in the background for a beach day or picnic Sailboat A very large house on the far side of the beach and a fishing boat. That’s it for this visit.