There’s not much happening at Government House these days. The monogrammed soup tureens, fancy china teapots, and crystal wine glasses are permanently locked away in mahogany display cases. 

White-suited dignitaries no longer hobnob in the drawing room or puff on cigars around the game table. Prim ladies in straw hats have ceased to order rum punches at the portable bar, and the wicker furniture sits empty on the veranda.

This whitewashed colonial wooden mansion was erected in 1814 and served as the governor’s residence when Belize (then called British Honduras) was a member of the British Empire. In 1970, Belize moved its government inland to Belmopan, away from the hurricane prone coast.

However, the Union Jack flying over Government House’s manicured grounds was not replaced by the Belizean flag until 1981, when Belize celebrated its independence and joined the Commonwealth. Government House eventually became a museum and cultural center, but it remains the most obvious symbol of former British rule in this tiny Caribbean nation.

For most of its early history, Belize City languished as a colonial backwater. It began as a community of hard-drinking former buccaneers who had settled along the banks of the Belize River to harvest logwood, which was used in Europe to make dye. The rough-and-ready town quickly gained an unsavory reputation, which persists to this day. Most tourists, fearing the worst, still avoid Belize City and head directly for Belize’s idyllic offshore keys.

Although sweaty and ramshackle, Belize City is not the seedy den of iniquity that it once was. During the mid-1990’s, the Belizean government and private businesses spent millions of dollars rejuvenating downtown and cleaning up the crack cocaine trade which had flourished during the previous decade. Open drains were covered up, and a new waterfront walkway was built. A special Tourism Police Unit has also been established, along with stiff sentences for drug offenders and muggers.

Today, Belize City is a quirky and intriguing legacy of British colonialism that deserves more than a nervous glance. With a population of only about 80,000, the town is easily negotiated on foot, and it lacks the endless traffic jams and choking air pollution of larger Central American cities.

Life in Belize City revolves around the Swing Bridge spanning Haulover Creek. Built in 1922, this narrow manually operated bridge is rotated twice each day by a team of nine men to allow sailboats to pass. Placid Haulover Creek separates downtown into two distinct neighborhoods: the dignified northside Fort George residential area and the funky southside or "Old Town."

The Fort George District occupies a peninsula jutting out into the blue Caribbean Sea. Brightly painted colonial mansions with gingerbread trim, picket fences, and spacious verandahs line its wide streets. On the peninsula’s tip, beyond characterless modern hotel developments, stands a small candy-striped lighthouse plus a memorial to Baron Bliss, considered Belize’s greatest benefactor.

Legend has it that Henry Edward Ernest Victor Bliss, an eccentric Englishman with a Portuguese title, sailed his yacht Sea King to Belize in 1926 and fell in love with the country’s balmy waters. Unfortunately, the Baron died of food poisoning without ever setting foot on Belizean soil. Before he passed away, Baron Bliss changed his will and left almost two million dollars to Belize. This money has been used to build community centers, health clinics, and markets throughout Belize. His good will is celebrated every March 9th on Baron Bliss Day, a national holiday.

South of the Swing Bridge stretches Albert Street cluttered with banks and eclectic shops, many run by Chinese and East Indian immigrants. Facing Battlefield Park, on Regent Street, stands the gleaming white Court House along with other spic-and-span former colonial administration buildings. Nearby, in a squat modern structure overlooking the harbor, is the Bliss Institute which hosts art exhibits, plays, and concerts.

Mansions built by Belize City’s colonial elite still border the seafront. Behind them run narrow streets crammed with simple wooden houses once occupied by slaves and laborers.

The southernmost end of town is home to Government House and St. John’s Cathedral, the oldest Anglican cathedral in Central America. Completed in 1820, the cathedral was built by slaves using bricks brought over as ballast in British ships. With its boxy tower and plain facade, this compact building would look at home in a rural English parish. During the 19th century, the so-called "Mosquito Kings" were crowned amid much pomp and ceremony in St. John’s Cathedral.

These flamboyant Miskito Indian leaders from Honduras’ and Nicaragua’s Caribbean coasts wished to remain loyal to the British rather than to the Spanish who had conquered almost all of Central America.

Perhaps the most poignant reminder of bygone days is Yarborough Cemetery, kitty-corner to St. John’s Cathedral. Unfenced and overgrown, this now-derelict burial ground was used between 1781 and the late 19th century. Its tumbled monuments bear the faded names of prominent citizens and adventurers, most of whom had probably set out with hopes of finding their fortunes in Belize. However, dates on the tombstones reveal that colonial life was not always a bowl of cherries, as many of those buried here succumbed at an early age to fevers and other tropical afflictions.

Colton House, a Caribbean-style mansion built in 1928, is a pleasant place to stay in the Fort George district (about $60-$75; Tel. 501/24-4666; coltonse@btl.net).

A welcome addition to Belize City’s hotel scene is the new Trends Guest House on Freetown Road, about a 20-minute walk from the Swing Bridge. The comfortable, air-conditioned rooms all have cable TV, and owners Edward and Sandra Felix run a tight ship (about $35-$40; Tel. 23-6066; Fax 23-6065, e-mail edsan@btl.net).

Although Belize City is safe for strolling during the day, it is best to take taxis after dark. Drivers charge a flat rate of about $3 per trip. Belize City is hot year-round. January to May is the dry season.