Bermuda update

Deidre,

What can you tell me about the overall state of the island? Scheduled to
come to Stonington Beach last week of October for my honeymoon. My fiancee
wants to be able to do thing like the forts, dolphinquest, railway trail, St
Georges, etc. Are many of these attractions closed indefinitely? It's
difficult to find this information anywhere on the internet.

thank you
Patrick

"Deirdre Saoirse Moen" wrote in message
...
From work, I've got some encouraging news:

Transportation:

- airport is open for departures, but won't be open for arrivals until
Wednesday. There's some water damage, but the airport is clear and flights
are departing
- customs area of airport was flooded, so customs & immigration will clear
in the US rather than Bermuda.
- airport causeway is open one way during daylight hours (the causeway
walls were washed away).
- buses will start running on a test basis as of today. Unfortunately,
with so many traffic lights out and roads blocked, they won't be back to a
full schedule immediately.

Hotels (that I know about):

Suffered minimal damage and open:
Grotto Bay
Elbow Beach (two restaurants of theirs are lost however)
Stonington
Cambridge Beaches (foliage damage only)

Suffered damage:
Fairmont Hamilton Princess -- not accepting new bookings until 9/22,
but will still accommodate all people scheduled to arrive as well as those
in-house. They will probably have fewer available rooms for a while.

Suffered extensive damage:
Ariel Sands -- will accommodate in-house guests, but will not accept
new arrivals (as I understand it, this means including people already
scheduled to arrive) until 9/22.

Fairmont Southampton -- severe roof damage, closed until 11/1, possibly
longer.

Sonesta -- ::sigh:: closed until at least 4/30/04. They had the most
extensive damage.

--
_Deirdre http://deirdre.net
"Dogs may have kept us company on the hunt, but it was the cats who
insisted we invent houses and discover fire." -- Khiem Tran

On Thu, 11 Sep 2003 23:09:48 GMT, plcougar wrote:

What can you tell me about the overall state of the island? Scheduled to
come to Stonington Beach last week of October for my honeymoon. My fiancee
wants to be able to do thing like the forts, dolphinquest, railway trail, St
Georges, etc. Are many of these attractions closed indefinitely? It's
difficult to find this information anywhere on the internet.

Patrick,

Will knowing these answers make a difference as to whether you will go or
not? I presume not, so just go and find out when you get there. Your week
will be about seven weeks after the hurricane. 100% of electricity will be
back. I'll speculate that all tourist sites will be open. The railway trail
will most likely still be closed. I can't see them giving it a high
priority. The causeway most likely will still be one-way day light only. So
a pain to get to St. George.

Don donwiss at panix.com.

In article , Don Wiss
wrote:

On Thu, 11 Sep 2003 23:09:48 GMT, plcougar wrote:

What can you tell me about the overall state of the island? Scheduled to
come to Stonington Beach last week of October for my honeymoon. My fiancee
wants to be able to do thing like the forts, dolphinquest, railway trail, St
Georges, etc. Are many of these attractions closed indefinitely? It's
difficult to find this information anywhere on the internet.

Dolphinquest: Currently open for business.
BermudaTourism page doesn't say about the other two.

--
_Deirdre http://deirdre.net
"Dogs may have kept us company on the hunt, but it was the cats who
insisted we invent houses and discover fire." -- Khiem Tran

(Deirdre Saoirse Moen) wrote in message ...
In article , Don Wiss
wrote:

On Thu, 11 Sep 2003 23:09:48 GMT, plcougar wrote:

What can you tell me about the overall state of the island? Scheduled to
come to Stonington Beach last week of October for my honeymoon. My fiancee
wants to be able to do thing like the forts, dolphinquest, railway trail, St
Georges, etc. Are many of these attractions closed indefinitely? It's
difficult to find this information anywhere on the internet.

Dolphinquest: Currently open for business.
BermudaTourism page doesn't say about the other two.

Call your travel agent or the hotel to investigate what's what. In 7
weeks the infrastructure will be back to shape but the floral and
fauna and many other aspects are vastly changed, I am sure for months
and months. Having lived in the Caribbean and seen many storms I can
say that it takes a long time for men/women and Mother Nature to
repair after such a storm of this magnitude.

I am flying there for business in a few weeks if plans do not change
so will post if I get there.

LM

Bermudatourism.com says the golf courses are reopening on 9/13 or 9/15.
"LM" wrote in message
m...
(Deirdre Saoirse Moen) wrote in message
...
In article , Don Wiss
wrote:

On Thu, 11 Sep 2003 23:09:48 GMT, plcougar
wrote:

What can you tell me about the overall state of the island?
Scheduled to
come to Stonington Beach last week of October for my honeymoon. My
fiancee
wants to be able to do thing like the forts, dolphinquest, railway
trail, St
Georges, etc. Are many of these attractions closed indefinitely?
It's
difficult to find this information anywhere on the internet.

Dolphinquest: Currently open for business.
BermudaTourism page doesn't say about the other two.

Call your travel agent or the hotel to investigate what's what. In 7
weeks the infrastructure will be back to shape but the floral and
fauna and many other aspects are vastly changed, I am sure for months
and months. Having lived in the Caribbean and seen many storms I can
say that it takes a long time for men/women and Mother Nature to
repair after such a storm of this magnitude.

I am flying there for business in a few weeks if plans do not change
so will post if I get there.

LM

x-no-archive:yes
(Deirdre Saoirse Moen) wrote:

In article , Don Wiss
wrote:

On Thu, 11 Sep 2003 23:09:48 GMT, plcougar wrote:

What can you tell me about the overall state of the island? Scheduled to
come to Stonington Beach last week of October for my honeymoon. My fiancee
wants to be able to do thing like the forts, dolphinquest, railway trail, St
Georges, etc. Are many of these attractions closed indefinitely? It's
difficult to find this information anywhere on the internet.

Dolphinquest: Currently open for business.
BermudaTourism page doesn't say about the other two.

The railway trail may be more strenuous than usual, but it isn't the
kind of thing that can be 'closed' IMHO. It's just walking along the
old track bed. There's no admission fee.

I think it unlikely that St. Georges (the town) would be closed
either. Some of the buildings might not be open, but I'm sure you can
walk around the town if you can get there. The same for the Dockyard.
A lot of that is outdoors.

grandma Rosalie

In article , Rosalie B.
writes
x-no-archive:yes
(Deirdre Saoirse Moen) wrote:

In article , Don Wiss
wrote:

On Thu, 11 Sep 2003 23:09:48 GMT, plcougar wrote:

What can you tell me about the overall state of the island? Scheduled to
come to Stonington Beach last week of October for my honeymoon. My fiancee
wants to be able to do thing like the forts, dolphinquest, railway trail, St
Georges, etc. Are many of these attractions closed indefinitely? It's
difficult to find this information anywhere on the internet.

Dolphinquest: Currently open for business.
BermudaTourism page doesn't say about the other two.

The railway trail may be more strenuous than usual, but it isn't the
kind of thing that can be 'closed' IMHO. It's just walking along the
old track bed. There's no admission fee.

I think it unlikely that St. Georges (the town) would be closed
either. Some of the buildings might not be open, but I'm sure you can
walk around the town if you can get there. The same for the Dockyard.
A lot of that is outdoors.

grandma Rosalie

Check with Fairmont Southampton Princess (or whatever they call it now)
about the Dolphin Quest facility. It's well worth it. Your nearest
Fairmont office should have news - but I blv the hotel will be closed
until end November for roof repairs.

Tom W.
--
Tom W
Dorset/UK

On Fri, 12 Sep 2003, Rosalie B. wrote:

The railway trail may be more strenuous than usual, but it isn't the
kind of thing that can be 'closed' IMHO. It's just walking along the
old track bed. There's no admission fee.

On most paths the limbs that block the way have been cut. Ones over one's
head were left. Parts of the rail trail are blocked, but one can climb over
and continue.

I think it unlikely that St. Georges (the town) would be closed
either. Some of the buildings might not be open, but I'm sure you can
walk around the town if you can get there. The same for the Dockyard.
A lot of that is outdoors.

Nothing in Dockyard is closed, except the scooter rental place. With no
cruise ships there is no business for them. There is a problem with getting
employees to show up on the weekend, so no glass blowing. No doubt people
preoccupied with house issues. The only place closed in St. George is the
Carriage House. And that is gone for now. They plan to reopen upstairs in
the Carriage Museum.

There was a cruise ship in Hamilton this morning. The first one back. I
gather in the next few days they will all be returning.

Things closed: Palm Grove Garden is closed until further notice. The
Historical Society was closed on Friday, possibly due to staffing issues.
Par-La-Ville Park is closed. Gibbs Lighthouse was closed on Saturday,
though no apparent damage. The St. David's lighthouse is open, and is free
and a shorter walk up. The Botanical Gardens were closed. Then South Road
at Gravelly Bay is closed, but one can walk a scooter through under power.
Not easy, but can be done. Everything else was open.

Don donwiss at panix.com.