A wonderful experience

This was sent to Tourism Director Billy Griffiths and was copied to The Royal Gazette.

July 9, 2010

Dear Sir,

I just wanted to e-mail a short note to let you know what a wonderful time my family (all 12 of us) had last week in Bermuda. My wife and I celebrated our 40 years of marriage with our daughters (and their spouses) as well as grandchildren and an aunt.

If I may just point out some of the outstanding experiences we enjoyed.

Since we have a handicapped granddaughter and because there were so many of us we needed to set up transportation from and to the airport. Needless to say Judith Simmons, from Unique Vacations, provided a wheelchair van that accommodated all twelve of us as well as all our luggage. The real treat was Mr. Robin the driver! He was such a gracious man and provided information on specific sites as we passed them. He is a great ambassador for Bermuda.

Delta Airlines was wonderful. They made special accommodations for our handicapped granddaughter and sat us all close to one another. The flights were on time and quite surprisingly short!

The Fairmont Southampton was fabulous. John Crellin the General Manager for the Fairmont Southampton made all the arrangements for us and did a great job. The Fairmont Southampton is so family-oriented my wife and I just kept talking about what a wonderful facility with cordial staff. It is handicapped accessible and my daughter's family was provided a handicapped room. We had a wonderful stay and the restaurants were outstanding in décor, milieu, food and beverage.

My sons-in-law and I played Riddell's Bay and Port Royal and had a great time. The courses are beautiful and challenging. Andrew Brooks the manager at Port Royal was most gracious to us. He spent time with us and provided us with small gifts. We certainly enjoyed our golfing experience.

My son-in-law Chris LaCamera (Chris works for NESN and was involved in the arrangement with Bermuda Tourism for the Red Sox which I am sure you are already aware) scheduled a tour of the Gosling Rum facility. Malcolm Gosling was an affable host and we had an insightful visit as well as a little tasting. We were educated by Malcolm on the history of Gosling's and the making of rum. We had a delightful time and he was truly a kind host.

We ate at several restaurants i.e. Bacci, Ocean Club, Hog Penny in Hamilton, Jasmine, Mickey's at Elbow Beach and Tio Pepe. The selection of restaurants offered is unique and we thoroughly enjoyed our meals.

The ferry to Hamilton provided wonderful sights and gave us a little time on the water.

In conclusion, I would like to thank you for the overall experience my family had in Bermuda. The fact that it was our 40th anniversary celebration made it that much more eventful and joyous. My wife Christine and I will certainly be back and hopefully with our extended family. You have a beautiful island and the Bermudians are a lovely people.

GEORGE DHIONIS

Andover, Massachusetts