Our first excursion was at 9:30 am, so Mom and I got early this morning. We then had breakfast and went down to Deck 4 to get off the ship. There we ran into my friend Jacob, AKA Spider-Shark, and his mother.

The first stop on our excursion was Bermuda's famous Crystal Caves. We had to walk down eighty-something slippery steps which were a trek to walk back up again. The limestone stalactites dripped water onto us in what are called "cave kisses," which are said to be good luck. Lucky days are in store for me, since I was kissed at least seven times. We were brought across the pontoon bridge which spans the cave's tidal lake. The tour guide put out the lights to show us how dark the cave gets and used a flashlight to show us different rock formations such as the the Sleeping Dragon. The climb back up to the surface nearly killed me.

Our next stop was the Bermuda Aquarium and Zoo. Out front, a pair of sea turtles swam up in their pool to say hello to us. It was nice to be inside the airconditioned aquarium and watch the fish peacefully swimming around. Outside was the zoo. My favorite creatures I saw were galapagos tortoises, green parrots, and scarlet ibises. At quarter past one, our bus left. As we drove to Hamilton, we went through an area known as Smuggler's Bay, which was frequented by pirates in the early days of Bermuda's history and an island known as Hanging Island, which was where they used to hang rebellious slaves. In Hamilton, there is a statue to a slave woman named Sally Bassett who was burned at the stake for supposedly poisoning her master. Whenever it is extremely hot in Bermuda, they say that it is a Sally Bassett Day.

I have become a little bit obsessed with Bermuda's pink sand beaches and they were the theme of my shopping. In St. George, I bottle a bottle of the pink sand at the gift shop of the Crystal Caves, I bought a piece of rose quartz. During the shopping seminar Mom and I went to, we learned about a shop in Hamilton called Alexandra Mosche, which sells jewelry made from the famous pink sand. I bought a heart shaped ring in this pink and pretty shop. We also learned about a store called Lili Bermuda, which has a similar blush color scheme. There a bought a bottle of a perfume called "Sun-Kissed" which smells like peaches and vanilla ice cream. Mom and I got ice cream and waited at the terminal for the three o'clock ferry to take back to the Royal Naval Dockyard. From the ferry, we were able to take pictures of our ship.

I had wanted to see the National Museum of Bermuda. Our goal was to get back to the Dockyard with enough time left to see it. By the time we got there, Mom was not up to it, so we decided that I would go into the museum while she went into the craft market. I discovered that the museum was not in all one building. I did not feel like walking from one building to another in the heat, so I went and poked around this one gallery about the colonization of Bermuda and then sat by this pool and watched dolphins swim until I decided to go join Mom in the craft market. In keeping with the theme of pink, I bought a tub of foot scrub made from the pink sand of Horseshoe Bay. We then went to Diamonds International to collect the free stuff we had vouchers for. I was disappointed by the tanzanite earrings we were given, since they were of a very cheap quality and were not the stunning blue color of tanzanite I have seen before. In fact, the stones were fairly pale with only the faintest hint of blue.

After looking around Diamonds International at jewelry we could not afford, we took the tram back to the ship. We had our dinner by the pool and then went for a swim. After a long day in the sun and chugging down a strawberry daiquiri and while floating, weightless, in the water, I have never felt more giddy and carefree.

We left the ship again around 7:30, just as the sun was beginning to set. Our final excursion of the day was a night time glass bottom boat tour of the Bermuda Triangle. On our way there, the tour guide told us the facts. What is known as the Bermuda Triangle is a vast expanse of ocean, which for centuries has been one of the most frequently sailed areas of the world. With those statistics, there is bound to be a higher than normal concentration of shipwrecks. The island of Bermuda is also surrounded by a coral reef that is notoriously difficult to navigate through, which is reason why Bermuda is the shipwreck capital of the world. Through the ship's glass bottom, we were able to see the reef and the fish swimming around and through it. We were also shown the the wreck of the HMS Vixen, a ship that sunk in the nineteenth century and because it was made of iron, which is beneficial to coral, a reef has sprouted all over it. On our way back, we were treated to complimentary rum swizzlers. Mom and I talked with this sweet old Indian lady who introduced us to her family.

Once we got back on board the ship, Mom and I turned in for the night and ordered a late night snack from room service.