We started our tour in Hungry Bay - Hungry Bay is the best example of a large coastal mangrove swamp in Bermuda but we were off to visit the botanical gardens and listen to our guide tell of his experiences with John Lennon.
In June 1980, when John Lennon docked his yacht in Bermuda, the former Beatles genius hadnt finished a song in almost five years. After spending more than a decade as one of the worlds greatest songwriters – from She Loves You to A Day in the Life to Imagine – the tap seemed to have run dry. He felt burned out. Bermuda changed all that.
Lennon wanted to visit Bermuda to escape the hustle and bustle of New York City, but getting to the island was a harrowing adventure.
The tiny sailing yacht he boarded in Newport, Rhode Island, was pounded mercilessly by powerful winds and terrifying waves during the journey. Things looked grim. At one point, the skipper, having been awake for three straight days, put Lennon – a novice sailor
Instead of a lazy island vacation, the songwriter quickly discovered that his muse had returned.It all started when Lennon, on one of his first few nights on the island, stumbled into a nightclub where patrons were dancing the Bermuda night away to the sound of the The strange rhythms, whooping vocals and infectious melodies transfixed him. The next day Lennon picked up his guitar.
For the next several weeks, Lennon was a fixture on the island, wandering the Towns streets with his son Sean or strumming his guitar on a secluded beach and exploring the lush Botanical Garden, the location of our tour today, it was here he encountered the lovely freesia flower that would give his final album its title: Double Fantasy.
Bermuda Sculptor Graham Foster created the sculpture. This iconic masterpiece symbolizes John Lennon with his iconic Rickenbacker Guitar, a double image of his profile with his Lennon Glasses, the Double Fantasy freesia flower and peace doves.
