I HAVE VISITED the Bahamas around 10 times in the last 25 years, beginning in 1998, for a company retreat.
That year the Royal Towers of the Atlantis resort on Paradise Island were just opening, more than doubling the room count to 2,300 and making it the largest resort in the Caribbean at the time.
For a young adult experiencing the West Indian islands for the first time, that manicured enclave just off the main Bahamian island of New Providence felt like paradise.
But that year also marked the completion of the Sir Sidney Poitier Bridge, connecting Paradise Island to Nassau, the Bahamian capital and largest city on New Providence island.
Though I spent that first trip giddily contained in a resort bubble, seeing my godfather’s name on the road signs made me wonder if a more authentic version of the Bahamas lay across the bridge.