Melville and Birtha Elliot cruised to Bermuda in the 1970s, not realising it would be their legacy to their family.

Both have since passed away, but their love for the Island has lived on through their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Granddaughter Tara Paxton believes the family has visited the Island more than 30 times since that first trip.

Her parents, Kathleen Elliot Bogajevski and Vladimir Bogajevski, picked up the mantle in the 1980s and their cruises to Bermuda spanned more than 30 years.

“My grandfather retired in the late 1970s and took my grandmother on a cruise from New York to Bermuda,” said Mrs Paxton, who lives in New Jersey. “They weren’t rich but scraped together enough money to do it and loved it. They always wanted to go back.

“I suppose the tradition continued when my grandmother passed away in 1986.

“My grandfather took his three daughters on a cruise and showed them all of the places where he and Grandma visited. They’d sit on one of the benches at Point Pleasant Park [at Albuoy’s Point] and watch the ships come in and out of Hamilton Harbour.

“[My grandmother] loved the ocean and Horseshoe Bay cove and would drag [my grandfather] there. He continued that tradition with his daughters.”

Mrs Bogajevski and her husband began visiting the Island shortly after that introduction.

“My mother is the oldest of the three [sisters] and my father and she came back year after year on cruises and carried on the tradition of visiting all of the places my grandparents loved, including Point Pleasant Park, where we call one of the benches Grandma’s bench,” Mrs Paxton said.

She and her husband Gary chose Bermuda for their honeymoon in 1997, and stayed at the old Sonesta Beach Hotel.

The entire family returned in 2002 to celebrate Mr and Mrs Bogajevski’s 40th wedding anniversary.

“My father and mother decided to take us — my husband, my brother Alexander and my 18-month-old toddler Larisa, who’s now 14,” Mrs Paxton said.

“We have fond memories of that trip. My father, who passed away ten years ago, danced with Larisa in the street during the Gombey parade at Harbour Nights.

“We have a picture of that day posted on her bulletin board in her bedroom to remind her of her PopPop. We’d go to Par-la-Ville Park because we wanted a place where she could safely run around and pick flowers.

“We spent one afternoon chasing her around the park as she smelled flowers. We have a picture of her bending down to pick flowers and had an oil painting made of it. It is one of her most cherished memories.”

Mr and Mrs Paxton stayed at Grotto Bay Resort for her 40th birthday celebrations a few years ago, and the entire family travelled to the Island last month on board the Celebrity Summit.

“Generation after generation, our family continues to enjoy the tradition that Grandma and Grandpa began on their first vacation to Bermuda,” Mrs Paxton said.

“We always visit the Frog & Onion as it was [my father’s] favourite place to sit and have a cold brew while watching football or cricket. I have such a sense of his spirit while there.

“My mother and I have fallen in love with the Island’s artists and have many paintings and prints.

“We also love St George’s and its history. My daughter Larisa and I were walking through the streets shopping when she asked me if my husband and I would send her and her future husband there for their honeymoon.

“It was a very sweet moment and one request we will definitely try to deliver.

“My younger daughter, Reanna, also loved visiting and can’t wait to return.

“It’s different than any other island. First of all, it’s a connection with Grandma and Grandpa but also the people are so nice. It all makes me feel at home.”