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Sanders Reunion
"It's been several years since our family went on our dream vacation to Carimar Beach Club, and we have been coming back in various groups and combinations since then. Let me explain how it all started:
Thanksgiving Dinner in 1997 set the launching pad for our dream trip - a family vacation at Carimar Beach Club. The theme was "19 for 99" 19 Sanders - 10 adults and 9 grandchildren going to Anguilla in the summer of 1999.
At each subsequent family gathering, "the trip" became the center of our conversations. Everyone was looking forward to the airplane flights that would take our family from Baltimore, Maryland to Anguilla, British West Indies, and to the twelve days that would be ours to share.
Planning some of the activities before hand got us psyched. Trying on the Lands' End polo shirts that would be monogrammed and used for our family pictures; Preparing menus and selecting foods for the family dinners to be shared on the "back porch"; Looking ahead to water activities (for example: snorkeling, scuba diving, waterskiing, swimming in Meads Bay, a trip on the glass bottom boat) - There was something for every age group and ability. Thinking about the restaurants which the small family groups might enjoy.
What fun and excitement filled our minds in the days leading up to the trip!
Arriving at Carimar, with all nineteen of us healthy and wholesome was a major accomplishment. Each of the four families enjoyed and privacy of their own unit. We, the grandparents, never knew which one of the grandchildren would be spending the night in our spare bedroom.
The children frolicked in the sun, the water and the sand. Seeing "water fears" dissolve before our eyes and watching the children "bury bodies" or "build castles" in the sand were sights to behold.
As each family enjoyed its own breakfast and lunch foods and routines, the evening meals became our special bonding time. Using the Carimar grills for cooking hot dogs, burgers and pork tenderloins, etc., etc., added special flavors to our meals.
Among the dinner highlights were the cookout on the beach and the dinner created by Kenny Rogers of the Old House. Kenny served his dinner at "Carimar Cafe", the name the children gave to the dinning area on the grounds surrounding our units. The memories of these two special evenings can never be forgotten!
The beauty and success of this experience came shortly after we came back home. The phone rang and the question was asked, "Do you think we could make it "20 for 2000"?" A new grandchild was on the way!"
NS, Baltimore
