Mike Hanna and Kathleen Russell at Hanna Hill, Eight Mile Rock, where they got engaged. (BIS Photo/Vandyke Hepburn)

EIGHT MILE ROCK, Grand Bahama –The saying "It’s Better In The Bahamas" is a fact according to Ontario, Canada, natives Kathleen Russell and Michael Hanna, who got engaged and decided to buy a second home on Grand Bahama.

The two have been in a relationship for better than seven years and on Tuesday made that first step towards marriage when Mike, as he is affectionately called, got on his knees and placed an engagement ring on Kathleen's finger at -- of all places -- a small, quaint, settlement called“Hanna Hill,” in the town of Eight Mile Rock on Grand Bahama.

Eight Mile Rock is so called because of its eight miles of solid rock along the Grand Bahama shoreline, comprising the largest town outside of Freeport, embracing a number of settlements with family names.

Mike was surprised to see there is a "Hanna" Hill community in The Bahamas. Kathleen was also joyful over the fact that there is a "Russell" Town in Grand Bahama. The couple have travelled many places in the Caribbean and Latin America seeking a second home and have decided on buying one on Grand Bahama Island, where they have met many local friends at a private club, "Buddies By The Bay" in Lewis Yard.

They arrived on the island on Sunday past for a one-week stay. It was their third visit to Grand Bahama since October of last year, and the second in less than a month. Also joining them for the second time in less than one month was Patrick Scott McKenzie and his lovely wife Sharon.