A Lady in London

I wasn’t planning to go back to Bermuda this year. Having just taken an impromptu weekend trip to Jamaica in June and a vacation to Colombia in July, it seemed a bit over-the-top to go west on another long haul flight. But after the epic adventure of last year’s trip, I couldn’t turn down my friend’s invitation to return to Bermuda for Cup Match 2009.

Aside from arriving one day later, the weekend was a fabulous reenactment of last year’s Bermudian epic. We saw the same friends from the prior year, and it felt somewhat like returning to a members-only weekend retreat at an island club.

My boyfriend and I touched down in Bermuda on Friday evening. Our taxi arrived at the Fairmont in Hamilton just in time for us to get a text from our friend that this year’s Friday night party was right down the street.

At a house with a private peninsula right on the water, the party was complete with volleyball, slip n’ slide, croquet, and American frat party drinking games. It was the epitome of Bermuda: a little bit English, a little bit American, and all laid back island goodness.

On Saturday our friend picked us up from our hotel in his boat and took us out to his island for a lunch with his family. Afterward we boated over to a sand bar that extends from one side of Bermuda for about a mile. We met up with two boats of friends and spent the afternoon hanging out in the gorgeous crystalline water about a quarter mile out in the ocean. Once we had our fill, we went wakeboarding until sunset.

Saturday night featured a great dinner on our friend’s island. Rather than the traditional Thanksgiving-style dinner party from last year, this was a family dinner. That said, the meal featured the same turkey, stuffing, and fixings that we loved so much. Along with some tasty Bollinger, the ’76 Chateau Margaux made another guest appearance and we wafted home on the waves happy and full.

Sunday once again stepped things up a bit. With all the fun of last year but none of the horrible sunburn, Non-Mariners was the highlight of the weekend. After anchoring in the cove there were over 30 other boats tied up alongside ours. We witnessed every kind of craziness from a $900 double-magnum of red wine being funneled by a guy who won the bottle in a golf tournament to people diving off the boats to catch drinks in mid air.

Monday was our final day in Bermuda. I woke up with a massive allergy attack, so we decided to take it easy. Camped out under an umbrella at the beach at the Fairmont Southampton, we spent the day reading and sipping tropical drinks.

As we made our way to the airport that evening, we dreaded returning to rainy London after so much Bermuda sunshine. However, the blow was softened by a surprise double upgrade to Club World on the way home. It was the perfect end to an over-the-top weekend.