Last Friday Night!

I am humming the Katy Perry tune "Last Friday Night," as I type this.  When I say last Friday night, in this case I don't mean the one just passed, I mean THE one, the last Friday night in Bermuda.  Bermuda is a very social place, and the town of Hamilton livens up every single Friday of the year.  The entire night is dubbed "Happy Hour," as the crowds gather to say Hello to friends and Goodbye to the workplace for a few days.  Whether people are putting on a bit of Ritz at the bigger hotel outdoor courtyard happy hours, going to the local pub, taking a sunset booze cruise on the Uber Vida, or going clubbing....everyone usually saves up some energy for Friday night.  And many adventures, legends, and fond memories come out of Friday nights in Bermuda.  So, there was a bit of pressure on how should I spend the last ever Friday night of my Bermuda years?

We tossed around a couple of ideas -- should we take the Uber Vida?  A free cruise, beautiful sunset, always a great evening....but sometimes a line up and usually standing room only.  Should we do a traditional happy hour -- start at the Newstead or Princess and pop by the Lemon Tree (I love that name), Coconut Rock, Hog Penny, Port of Call, Flanagans, etc?  We had chatted about how to have a nice, fun evening where everyone could sit, relax, talk...someplace not too crowded, not louder than us, something kinda special but not too crazy.  And what we came up with was to rent another boat, "The Sally Bum Bum."

This would give us at least 2-3 hours out on the water, a fabulous view of the sunset, we had loads of room for any food and drink we wanted to bring, and it comfortable seated the whole group.  It also had a great stereo system for our tunes....you know you are doing it right when the Uber Vida gives you a cheer from all hands on deck when you go by.

And so we gathered the available crew for a final farewell.  We had aboard the faithful crew from Flanagan's.

2 parts Scotch

"no paparazzi"

all smiles here

A few people to represent BHB.

A few expats who had expatted or repatriated, plus a new guy who just landed on the island.  Meg and Marek just happened to be on the island for the farewell cruise even though the US is home to them now.

One captain, who seemed to be quite happy with his temporary fun crew.

And a toucan.  Yes, a toucan.  In retrospect, I think it's fair to say that any Friday is going to end in the category of notorious when a toucan shows up.

And so off we sailed, with an assortment of beverages, food, and some items that were a combination of food and cocktail (we call this yukaflux), and no real plan.  Into the sunset we went, past the area known as paradise lakes, and past a couple of places that always catch my eye, such as this island that houses an old military cemetery (always strikes me as strange to build a cemetery on such a hard to get to place)....

....and this other island which for some reason that remains unknown to me after years of quizzical inquiry...what I call "Sheep Island."  If anyone ever finds out why....please tell me.

There was no need go schedule any entertainment -- we tend to be the entertainment most of the time anyway.  So we had no problems entertaining ourselves.  The toucan alone kept us going for a little while, but there was also some swimming, some dancing which with one innocent leg placement on the boat railing digressed into some blackmail worthy photos for most on board (think poledance as a theme).

The not so rare McGregor fish

The Toucan Rodeo Queen Annemarie

And so the last Friday night we sailed off into the sunset with a chorus of laughter and 80's music, and that was the sunset of my Bermuda social life, literally and figuratively, among the warm smiles of Bermuda friends.  Can't ask for a better last Friday than that!

Almost.  Then the boat docked and we hit front street....although we didn't last too long!

hog penny once more

starting to look a liiiitle sketchy, like most Bermuda Fridays!