Buenos Dias.

It's one of the few Spanish phrases I can remember.

When I arrived in Mexico I was reminded I had flunked Spanish in college. So in addition to the above I could only utter "Hola" (Hello) with any true conviction.

I have been fascinated with Mexico but until a recent visit to the Baja Peninsula I had seen it only through the eye of the movie camera or a paintbrush.

Even at that, what I saw in the movies wasn't what I have seen in this plush resort area, which has become the destination of the very well-to-do.

Such people are plentiful if the number of guests at the exquisite Hilton Los Cabos Beach and Golf Resort is a measuring stick.

Wow! Is it expensive? How about $9 for a bagel and a banana? Families sit down with three and four children and munch $18 hamburgers and french fries for a casual lunch around the infinity pool. I'm often caught staring.

Of course, a fish sandwich at Tommy Bahama in Phoenix is $15, so who's counting?

This became a paradise for sport fishermen after World War II, but now it is so much more.

It has become the in spot for creme de la creme celebrities like Brad Pitt, Kevin Costner, Jennifer Lopez, Paris Hilton and...oh, and me and some friends.

The first resort was backed by American actors, John Wayne and Bing Crosby among them, in 1948. It was only upward from then to now, and it is still growing.

Ernest Hemingway came here. Arnold and Maria (Schwarzenegger) have stayed at the Hilton.

Whale watching is a major attraction but not on my watch. It seems the migrating season had just ended or hasn't begun. Who needs whales when you have beautiful people?

Los Cabos (The Capes) is at the southern end of the Baja Peninsula and includes Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo. But I'm in the resort area, somewhere in-between, about a 20-minute, $25 taxi ride to the town of Cabo from the airport.

Gray whales, giant turtles and at least 800 species of marine life have attracted visitors through the years. In addition to sport fishing there's now the many sophisticated spas, golf courses and scuba diving, no-kill bullfights in the Plaza del Toros and historic landmarks such as the 1730 Iglesia de San Lucas church that makes this such a hot vacation destination.

And yes, you might spot Jennifer Aniston coming around the bougainvillea shrubs lining the pathway to the pool. Maybe.

If she passed me, I didn't notice. Truthfully, there are many, many beautiful young women looking as great in itsy bitsy bikinis as any movie starlet. It's discouraging but on the other hand, part of the exotic package.

In four days I managed to sip at least one blue Margherita, tequila, an apple martini, a mudslide, pina colada and a Miami Vice (not all at once), while absorbing the hotel's charm.

I stretched on a chaise daily and stared at the Sea of Cortez stretching beyond the edge of the infinity (endless) pool.

I have been charmed by the small children who come to your table in restaurants, selling tiny Mexican trinkets, but I have also been alarmed they are up so late, mingling where alcohol is sold and, in all probability, giving their money to an employer who makes a profit and pays them very little.

High life of the resorts clashes with some of the poverty. You can't help but notice.

Contrary to the sad living conditions of some residents, at the Hilton the maids turn back your bed and leave different sweet treats each night with sayings such as "Give your hands to serve and your hearts to love," credited to Mother Teresa.

They also create whimsical bunnies and turtles with small white towels and wash clothes, and place them on your bed, just to make you smile. And they do just that.

If forced to reside in the luxurious bathroom, I wouldn't complain. It has everything. There are even candles surrounding the bathtub.

I don't want to go home!

Room rates range from $250 to (gulp) $4,000. No, that's not for the month.

I am not afraid to drink the tap water, but don't, and brush my teeth with the bottled water. Getting sick was never on my agenda, not on this trip.

The carved headboard on my bed is exquisite as is the armoire, and there are giant pillows and spreads in colorful weaves which decorate the bed, all made in Mexico.

The view from my deck is awesome and I have managed to catch a sunrise with my trusty 35mm camera, but not a sunset.

The beach is breathtaking but the sand is not like the Jersey shore. It is soft and deep and coarse and difficult to walk in gracefully and with assured footing. I'm a Jersey gal at heart.

The undertow at water's edge is strong and requires respect, but I just walked along the beach and pondered, and sighed, and thought about the wedding which brought me here.

My eyes were more than a little moist. Must have been the breeze off the water.

More about that next Monday.