Visitors enjoyed island’s distinct slice of paradise | Letters | Dec. 17

Published 3:21 pm Thursday, December 16, 2010

We spent three months in the U.S. this summer, using Bainbridge Island as our base. We had a truly wonderful time and thought we should share our feelings with your readers.

This was our first visit to America since our student days, back in the 1970s, and we wondered what we would think of American society and culture given international events involving terrorism, recession and government change.

We swapped houses with some locals on Wild Swan Lane and were armed with a list (places to see, services, shops, cafes, transport networks), plus various guide books and the iInternet.

Bainbridge Island is a lovely place to be; wooded and quiet but with plenty of facilities for comfortable living. All the people we came across were charming, helpful and friendly.

We felt we belonged to a community that was outward-looking and progressive. And indeed, the courtesy that fellow drivers show was a continual joy. I don’t think we heard a car horn ever!

Its setting is so beautiful and there are many fantastic mountains, forests and beaches within reasonable driving distances, and there is the efficient (and in our eyes) cheap but scenic ferry ride to Seattle with the attractions of a city close by.

What more could anyone ever want? It seems to us that you have a small slice of paradise. Carry on enjoying it and continue to look after it!

Hazel and John Waite

Cumbria, England