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Paper: Banner, The (Bonita Springs, FL)
Title: Outdoor establishments offer a place where breezes, smoke blow freely;
Tiki bars becoming smokers' last stands
Date: August 27, 2003
By Liz Ernst
Rick Walsh sat quietly alone at the Best Western's outside tiki bar in San
Carlos Park, enjoying a Saturday night beer and a Marlboro. It's become a
weekend ritual that allows him to unwind from the stress of the week; the
cigarette and beer combo seems to be just the ticket for a mellow evening out.
Smoky, his friendly and equally mellow black Labrador retriever, seems just as
content as his owner, lying at the foot of Walsh's bar stool and enjoying the
pleasant night breeze that wafts through the bar without a hint of smoke in its
wake.
Walsh, a San Carlos Park resident, says he's a regular smoker and has been a
fairly frequent patron of Best Western's tiki for a while because it's close to
home. As of July 1, it may become his all-around favorite spot, now that the
opportunities to enjoy a cigarette with a drink in most Lee or Collier County
bars and restaurants are mostly gone.
In November, Florida voters overwhelmingly cast their ballots to end indoor
smoking in public buildings. While the law, which took effect July 1, is good
news for nonsmokers anxious to enjoy a guaranteed smoke-free night on the town, it is no victory for many Lee and Collier county establishments that may be
seeing less of those customers who can't imagine sipping their martini without a
lit cig in their free hand.
While advocates of the smoke-free coup are still celebrating the newly clean air
at their favorite restaurants, Best Western owners Nan and Jim Hire are celebrating the new faces they've welcomed to their poolside tiki bar.
"Our best advertising consists of two words on our sign," says Nan Hire."'Smokers Welcome.' That's all people need to see."
Hire says most of her clientele are regulars who live in the area and enjoy the
tiki's tropical ambiance and outdoor setting. Within a half hour, more than
three-quarters of the bar stools are taken. Almost everyone is having a
cigarette with a drink, but there are some non-smokers enjoying their drinks
too.
Manfred and Gertraud Reitenspiess, visiting from Germany, are nonsmokers who
were drawn to the tiki bar's atmosphere. They just dropped in for a quick drink
and to enjoy the warm evening. The smoke from the other guests doesn't bother
them, they say.
"It's so airy and open here, I can't even notice it," says Manfred Reitenspiess.
“Europeans are much more tolerant of smoking than Americans. Try eating at
any restaurant in Amsterdam and if you can't tolerate smoke, you'll starve.”
Although the Reitenspiesses admit they aren't particularly bothered by smoke, they say it is nice to enjoy the open air and not have to take in the secondhand smoke that is inescapable in some restaurants and bars.
The Reitenspiesses weren't aware of the smoking ban until they arrived inFlorida. They seem amused by the hoopla.
"I thought it was funny when I noticed our neighbors at the hotel last night
sat out on the patio all night just so they could smoke," Gertraud Reitenspiess
says. "They had their drinks, their cigarettes, an ashtray and they just planted
themselves there."
Hire says she has noticed a subtle increase in business since the ban took
place, but she assumes the real test will come with season, when visitors pour
into a Florida for swimming, sunshine and for those who smoke, a challenging
social roster.
"We're seeing some new faces, and it probably is at least partially because a
lot of people want to have a cigarette when they have a drink," she said. We'll
have a much better barometer of the law's effect when season rolls around."
Mullock Creek Marina, off Park Road in the San Carlos Park area, has an outdoor tiki bar too, and like Best Western, its clientele is primarily made up of
familiar faces.
"I haven't noticed an increase in business yet, but usually this time of year it's pretty quiet," says Frances Henderson, a bartender at Mullock Creek Marina."It will probably start to pick up after September."
Best Western patron Misty Caputo said she will probably avoid places that don't allow smoking, particularly bars.
"If you're a smoker, it ruins the fun if you go somewhere and you have to go
outside to have a cigarette," Caputo says. "It's especially irritating if it's a
bar that's only serving hors d'oeuvres and you still can't smoke."
Most of Hire's customers say they're not thrilled with the smoking ban, but
just about all of them admit it's fair.
San Carlos Park resident Catherine O'Rourke says she likes to come to the tiki
bar at Best Western because the atmosphere is friendly and everyone seems to
know each other. However, she has noticed some new faces in recent weeks, which she says can probably be attributed to the July 1 ban date.
O'Rourke says she understands that nonsmokers deserve the right to be removed from smoky environments, but thinks a sweeping ban is not fair either.
"I think there should be a choice between smoking and nonsmoking restaurants," she said. "Why not let some restaurants make provisions for smokers, and others
for nonsmokers?”
O'Rourke's friend Eddie Hall, also of San Carlos Park, thinks the tobacco
industry is being singled out unfairly. Coincidentally, the Winston Cup race is
being aired on the television screen in the Best Western tiki as Hall tries to
make his point.
"The Winston Cup is the only advertising outlet Winston has left," Hall says.
"Beer commercials can advertise freely and beer can be harmful and addictive.
How can the tobacco industry be so much worse that they're not allowed to
advertise at all?"
Although many of Hire's customers say they usually smoke only when they have a drink, Walsh admits he's a regular smoker himself. When asked if he thought the ban was fair, he said yes.
"Yeah, it's fair," Walsh said. "I don't like it, but it's fair."
When asked how his dog with a solid black coat got a name like "Smoky," Walsh
grins.
“You figure it out," he said as he reached for another Marlboro.
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