Our first trip was 16 days for Christmas, 1989. We were young,, had Pan Am miles to burn, and looked for the most exotic place we could get to with those miles. SXM it was. We stayed in one of five rooms behind the (long mourned) restaurant, Hevea in Grand Case. Fodors had described it as perfect for "self-sufficient, art- loving types. The room was very rudimentary with no meals included, and no laundry. You could send out items to be laundered, it was $5 per tee shirt. We became expert at washing stuff out in the sink.

We had each brought a big bath sheet for the beach. They were big and cozy. Everyday we went to a different beach. Every day it rained for 30 seconds and soaked our towels, which we then tried to dry out by draping them over bushes. Repeat again the next day. We really couldn't afford to keep having them laundered.

One day we stopped by a tourist kiosk in Philipsburg and asked them what to do for one nice "fling." They suggested going on a boat trip to Anguilla on a gorgeous boat, The Gandalf. She was a beauty with a black concrete hull and terra cotta sails. She only took 12 couples. Cost was $75 per person if we listened to a timeshare presentation for Pelican Resort. No one ever worked harder for a timeshare sale. We spent the whole day there debating the pros and cons, and finally signed on the dotted line--a deluxe studio in January for $12K.

The Gandulf trip was fabulous. We laid out our soggy towels on the deck and they dried in no time. Had a blast, talking about how we would get to come back to that beautiful place every year. On the way back from Anguilla, wrapped in our cozy towels, a big wave came over the side and soaked us and our cozy towels.

The Gandalf sunk in Simpson Bay during hurricane Luis.

We finally bought cheap beach towels in Philipsburg which were so thin the dried in short order.

We never missed a year in SXM until Hurricane Irma.