I had a reservation at the Dunmore Beach Club, which was created to cater to the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and their friends, and still has a private-club atmosphere. The cocktail hour began at 6 each evening, and an hour later the bartender signaled that dinner was ready with a blast of an antique Santa Fe railroad whistle.

At dawn one morning, I sat on the Dunmore's terrace and watched the early strollers on the beach below, which turned from red to orange to its normal pink as the sun rose over the placid ocean. Behemoth cruise ships lined up on the horizon like toy boats. A waitress brought out a pot of coffee, decorated with a red hibiscus bloom, and I drank the most beautiful cup I've ever had.

Dunmore has 14 cottages spread over eight acres. Mine had a king-size bed, a sofa sleeper in the sitting room, wicker furniture, and a vast bathroom with a whirlpool tub and walk-in shower. Out front, two lounges sat on a stone patio with a palm-framed view of the beach beyond the gazebo.

Rates at the Dunmore range from $439 to $749 a night for a suite at peak season, and that includes three meals a day.

As I walked Dunmore's winding drive that afternoon, Baron Bates of New York City was heading to town on a golf cart with his wife, Dorry, trudging behind. "I like to walk," she said.

"We come at this time every year - there's a two-week lull after New Year's when there's no one here," Dorry Bates said. "By Jan. 20, they're full again."

"We like this place because it's so relaxing; the beach is paradise," she said. "There's nothing to do. No phones, no radio, no TV. Although now there's a computer in the lobby, which distressed us."

"But then, it's 18 degrees back home."

By Tom Uhlenbrock St. Louis Post Dispatch