Date: Sunday, 05/29/2011
Location: St. Georges, Bermuda
Weather: Light breeze, Sunny
Title: Day 2 Ashore

I decided that I was going to find a Protestant church and attend services. Barry took us to shore and I walked to town. I eventually found the Methodist Church in time for the 1100 service. I was surprised to find how similar the services were. They even had a "praise band" but let's just say that it paled in comparison to Marion Christian. I knew every one of the songs and could have joined right in.

After church I went down to the deli and bought lunch and took it over to the harbor and was amused by a bunch of local boys jumping off the wall into the water and having a great time.

Then I made it over to the Tavern By The Sea to check my email and work on my blog. I think I finally got it all caught up. While I was working on the blog, I listened to a great Reggie duo. One guy playing the guitar and the other the bongo. Both sang and they put on quite a show.

All caught up on the email and blog, it was time to make it over to the mini yacht club. I spent the whole afternoon listening to some great Motown and watching the locals dance and have a good time.

I talked to a man named Spencer and he explained to me that the local economy had really suffered when the Navy base closed down and then the cruise ships stopped coming. You see very few "tourists" in town. It's mostly boat people or yachtys and they don't consider themselves tourists. Likewise, they don't tend to spend a lot of money on tourist type merchandise.

So the place seems to be clinging on to hope that the tourists will return. Meanwhile, they don't seem to know how to cater to the boat people who have a whole different set of needs and wants.