MESSAGE CENTER

Maureen Konschnik, Davidsonville, Md.

WE WERE pleasantly surprised to read the article on Hampton Bays. It is quite accurate, and the photographs are fine. Here are a few observations to add to Ambrose Clancy's great story:

· Sunwater's restaurant and Oakland's restaurant are right at Shinnecock Inlet and provide delicious eating and great views.

· The Catholic Church, St. Rosalie's, was founded in the early 1900s. The current church, built in 1996, has unique stained-glass windows that portray the natural beauty of the surrounding land and sea, along with various activities: farming, commercial fishing, recreational sailing.

We drive from Fairfax to Hampton Bays about four or five times a year. It takes about 6 to 6 1/2 hours. The possible traffic bottlenecks are the Capital Beltway, Staten Island Expressway and the Belt Parkway in Brooklyn. We avoid most of these by leaving Fairfax about 9 a.m. and arriving in Hampton Bays about 3 p.m.

Thomas M. Cassidy, Fairfax

Traveler's Checks

CONCERNING YOUR comment about problems with traveler's checks in Italy [Travel Q&A, Oct. 22]: I just got back after trying to convert some to euros in a large bank in Naples. It would not take them. My credit card and debit card worked every time.

Monday, I am cashing the traveler's checks at my local bank since I can't use them for traveling.

Eric Weiss, Alexandria

WE RECENTLY returned from China and found that an additional reason traveler's checks are not widely accepted outside of banks is that the counterfeit problem has grown so great that the risk is too costly. Additionally, many places do not accept credit cards that are not Chinese; for example, a Visa card issued by a Chinese bank. ATM transactions were reliably done only with the Bank of China; many others bounced us off.

We traveled with China Focus Travel ( http://www.chinafocustravel.com/ ) and found the pricing to be something we could not have done on our own. Because of the company's established relationships, it got us into places that others might not have.

Jim Meehan, McLean