The People Have Spoken

At least some of them have. Hot on the heels of yesterday’s post about whether or not to build a beach bar on Bermuda’s Warwick Long Bay comes thoughtful critique from a number of sources both on and off the island. First an insightful comment from RumShopRyan, the self-proclaimed Mr. Beach Bar who runs a Caribbean-inspired website called The Coconut Connection (A.K.A. RumShopRyan.com): “If I were the entrepreneur looking to build a beach bar and really wanted it to get done I'd probably just choose a different beach instead of the iconic Warwick [Long Bay]. Then I would also say to the island regulatory boards that a beach isn't evil! It will bring tax dollars in and give people another way to enjoy the island. It's all about compromise.” Here, here! Next comes an eco-friendly perspective from Steve Bennett, one half of the Crucian duo behind Uncommon Caribbean, a website devoted to offbeat island culture: “My affinity for beach bars is well-documented but I’ve gotta say this one sounds like a bad idea. The ecology of the island must come first, always! Seeing as how the same developer with the same idea has been denied before, I can't imagine it's in Bermuda's best interests to green light this now.” Agreed. Now let's turn our attention to Twitter, where I received these two gems yesterday. First a Tweet from @Blonde_In_Bda, an English ex-pat living in Bermuda “experimenting in being a computer geek but lacking all necessary skills,” according to her bio. Her take on the proposed beach bar? “It will just lead to litter, fighting and shooting. I don't trust the Ace Boys not to ruin anything at the moment,” that last bit alluding to a surge in island gang violence and a valid point at that. Finally, my favorite comment of the day and another collected from my casual Twitter poll. This from @p_brady, a travel writer and former colleague who recently visited the island and had this to say when asked if the beach bar should be approved: “Nope. I prefer the canned (‘tinned’?) beer on Horseshoe Bay to a relatively fussy bar setup.” Tinned it is! Like any good beachside cafe, that beer sits until it sells. In the meantime, it looks like our intrepid entrepreneur better find a new place to set up shop.