Travel is . . .

. . . A section of the Sunday paper.

Granted it is a slimmer section than it was once, ads are fewer and far between, and stories are often syndicated not created out of unique content for the publication. Sunday Travel Sections still own a large piece of my heart and back in the days when papers paid for publication of assigned stories, it was always a thrill for your story to appear on the first page.

Last week I saw the Travel sections of both the Orlando Sentinel and the Miami Herald feature front page stories on the new cruise ship sweepstakes. It was a vital story as these new ships debut this week and will serve as vacation destination

That same week the New York Times Travel section featured the Caribbean. These were once my stomping grounds. About 20 years ago I wrote guidebooks to the region and updated them for a few years afterwards. I got to know the islands - at the time . Everything changes so drastically in tourism in two decades.

A piece on St. Martin/St. Maarten brought back fond memories. I spent a lot of time on that island that is half Dutch and half French - and the best halves of both, I might add.

The French side offers some of the finest cuisine in the Caribbean and used to be home to a sprawling, quiet Orient Beach where clothing was optional. Now, Orient Beach is all built up with timeshares, condos and hotels. Marigot, the capital of the French side of St. Martin provided ferry service, so a quick visit to Anguilla for lunch was fast and easy and elelgant.

Philipsburg, capital of the Dutch side of the island, had great beaches as well - although clothing was always a necessity - and gambling casinos. Hotels across the island were great and shopping quite charming.

I haven't been to St. Martin/Marten in a few years. The last time I took a couple of grandkids on a yacht race and from the sea, the island looked the same.

The Times article include a picture of a plane taking off from Princess Juliana Airport (on the Dutch side) right over one of the most populous beaches. I remember being scared by the noise and the draft. That seems to be the same.

Good memories.

And good travel sections. Keep reading them.

Yesterday's Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel offered a delightful geography quiz compiled by A; Borcover, the former travel editor of The Chicago Tribune.

It was clever and smart and the kind of things newspapers used to do. Components included a match-the-currencies section, a true and false section and one in which readers were supposed to fill in the blank. Borcover has always been a bright guy and kudos to Tribune Newspapers for utilizing his talents so well.