Why I come back

July 7, 2004

Dear Sir,

As a regular visitor to the Island for over 40 years, I was most interested to see how the Island had recovered from the horrific storm of last year. I was greatly relieved to see first hand how well the various buildings had fared in 140 mph winds. Your building codes were indeed worth the paper they were printed on!

I am disappointed that the Island has gone condo crazy. Every time I drove past the former Palmetto property, I had to turn away from looking at it, for the replaced structures in my opinion certainly did not have the features that made it "look" Bermudian. While there are certainly some tasteful projects underway, I regret that this one doesn't represent Bermuda very well

Parking in Hamilton is a joke, but it isn't funny. I think I used a tank of fuel driving around trying to find a spot. Only by luck did I find a gentleman pulling out of a spot, and managed to beat three other bike riders to get it. I don't know if there's any thoughts about putting in a satellite spot (perhaps in St. George's where you can find a parking spot 24/7) but every year it gets harder to find a place to park.

Speaking of customer service, I've always felt Bermuda represented the model for acknowledging and taking care of customers. When I enter a store and can walk around for over ten minutes and no one even says 'hello" to me, I feel that something was left out in the training manual (or that they've taken a hint from K-Mart). While this only happened twice during my week of shopping in various stores, I was disappointed by the lack of attention, and simply left the store to find what I wanted at a competitor (is that a hint?).

I do not want to be labelled as the president of the 'B and W Club" otherwise known as the 'Bytch and Whyne Club' for I do love Bermuda ? the tree frogs, the Dark and Stormy's, the long drive at night where you can smell all the flowers, the first time you make that long curve and see the South Shore beaches and it still takes your breath away, and numerous other personal events that keep me coming back. In the middle winter when it's 20 here in Kansas City, I can look at my Bermuda calendar and think that there's only six months to go before I return. It doesn't get any better than that.