St. George’s Parish, the original settlement, explorers came here first and often left.
Here I am on Ordinance Island in St. George’s Harbor. This is a replica of the Deliverance. This is one of the two ships the British built after being shipwrecked here to help them sail on to Virginia.
This is King’s Square. It’s right in the center of St. George and this is the town hall where a couple of times each week, the town crier will come out and read the local proclamations. On the other side, you have the banks, the shops and plenty of restaurants. It’s all right here.
On this day, he said, God save the queen and he blessed the United States of America. In a nearby park, Summer’s gardens and the memorial to Sir George Summers. His heart is said to be buried here. Summers apparently told his nephew he wanted his heart buried in Bermuda where he said it belonged. Along Duke of York Street now to St. Peters Church, the first in Bermuda. Parts of it date to 1620 making it the oldest continuously operating Anglican Church in the western hemisphere. Everybody comes for a look because of its living history.
St. George has been around for 400 years. It has narrow streets with names like Nea’s Alley, Silk Alley and Featherbed Alley. The homes are older here. This old rectory was built 300 years ago. The town has been designated a world heritage site by the United Nations.
Up the road to Tobacco Bay, it’s a quiet place now but bustling in the summer. People swim and snorkel here because the coral reefs are just off shore. Fort St. Catherine’s is close by. It once protected Bermuda from pirates or possible invaders. Now, it’s a museum. You’ll come here first if you fly in. It’s the home of the airport. Most of it used to be the American naval air station but now that area is being redeveloped by the Bermuda government.
At the other end of this island, St. David’s Lighthouse. Built in 1789, one of the earliest on the islands. It’s situated on the highest point on Bermuda’s east end. Come for a view of the smaller islands and the town of St. George but remember the lighthouse isn’t always open, so call before you come.