Ruth's Travelogue on Willowbank

We left Charlotte on the 11:25 a.m. US Airways non-stop flight, set our watches over the Atlantic up an hour to local time, and slowed by rain and fog, arrived in Bermuda 20 minutes early. Our pre-arranged taxi waited at the airport entrance. An hour later we registered at Willowbank in time for tea. We savored hot tea with cake, cookies, and sandwiches, slipped on bathing suits, and refreshed our memories strolling across Willowbank's six acres of beautifully landscaped grounds on down to their private Harbour Beach, dock, and Ocean Beach.

Bermuda faced an unusual cold snap, bringing humidity comfortably down to air temperature (highs near 70º). And the water? How I loved our enjoyable swims after teatime on our September 1997 visit! A blustering wind and ominous rain clouds blanketing the sun persuaded us to test the sheltered bay waters we remember as being warmer than the gentle slope stretching out to the coral reefs and open ocean we preferred. We flunked the test. Tiptoeing to ankle depth, gasps added to goose bumps, we gave up on swimming that day, though the following afternoons we did tackle invigorating waist-deep windy wades while bracing choppy waves.

I packed one long-sleeved blouse and a turtleneck shirt--just in case--and ended up wearing them every day except our last, which dawned calm and sunny, when we did enjoy one super swim before we had to leave.

We ate our picnic lunch on a bench overlooking brilliant blue bands of turquoise water and the lowest tide we had seen at Willowbank, then meandered out front. At 1:10 a taxi brought in guests. We asked the driver if he could take us, since our 1:00 taxi had not showed up yet, and he did. We took four taxi rides on this visit and learned more from these courteous, friendly, knowledgeable taxi drivers than from anyone else in Bermuda.

Willowbank fed us well, and we loved the friendly folks, immaculate grounds, sunsets, and evening concerts.

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