positive news on the tasty subject. Apparently, when it comes to dining out in Bermuda, the popular Collectors' Hill diner the Speciality Inn is the restaurant of choice among America's famous set. Movie star Clint Eastwood , in search of some home cookin', brought his Fist Full of Dollars there a while back. And who should show up last Friday but former US president Jimmy Carter , perhaps in search of some Southern-style cookin'. Mr. Carter and his lady Rosalynn along with his son Jack, who lives in Bermuda and works at the bank, and a few others, caused quite a stir when they showed up for dinner, accompanied by a rather large dark-suited security detail. But no one was more surprised than waitress Vina Outerbridge. Having served Jack Carter many times before, and totally unaware her unassuming regular was the ex-president's son, her eyes popped out when he showed up with his VIP dad, who cordially shook hands with surprised customers on the way to his table.

"I asked him why he didn't tell me who he was!'' Vina told Hester over a bowl of white bean soup this week. "he said, "Was I supposed to!'' The group dined on pizzas and some of the Inn's popular spaghetti, before heading out.

"He was so friendly and down-to-earth. A real people's person,'' said Vina, who had her photo taken with the Georgia native, whose humanitarian work and Habitat for Humanity charity, incidentally, is the subject of a feature in the latest People magazine.

Still on the subject of Mr. Carter, there's nothing like an ex-Prez, clearly.

For -- when President Carter arrived in Bermuda for an unofficial visit, onlookers naturally assumed the huge white whale of an official car, complete with flying flags, used to transport the US Consul General around was waiting conspicuously at the Airport to meet, greet and transport Mr. Carter. Alas, no. The car and American CG Larry Owen were quite coincidentally there for entirely different reasons. Perhaps to pick up someone more important? But Mr.

Carter, known to be a decent, unassuming sort of chap, gave it no more than a cursory glance and stepped straight into a Mitsubishi space wagon taxi on arrival, cruising past Mr. Owen's fancy mobile on the way out. (Not an over-size Peugeot in sight, either!) Folk west of the bridge might roll their eyes at St. Georgians moaning everytime one of the cruise ships miss a scheduled stop in the Old Town. But Hester well understands their plight. And perhaps she needs to point out a few things so folk can see just what the big deal is all about. You may recall last week that Hamilton docks were cleared to make way for the visiting Tall Ships . This of course meant that the Dockyard cruise ship could not shift as usual to Hamilton. Where was she to go, but St George's, of course. And funnily enough, on that particular day, Hester's sources reliably inform her, the winds were gusting up to 30 knots, well past the range considered safe for ships to pass through narrow Town Cut. A certain captain of a certain cruise ship (who Hester hears is now in hot water) has missed as many as three stops in the Old Town this season so far supposedly because winds have been higher than 18 knots. So how was it that an even larger cruise ship, the Nordic Empress was able to get through Town Cut in winds higher than 18 knots quite safely? The ship appeared to glide in and berth no problemo at all! Rather suspicious, Hester thinks. Was it pure luck, or is it because there was no room for her anywhere else? Hmmm.

President's choice: Former US president Jimmy Carter addresses Parliament during his unofficial visit last week.