2024 the best beach in caribbean review

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(as of Nov 14, 2024 06:18:08 UTC - Details)

This is the true story of a trip to the beach that never ends. It's about a husband and wife who escape civilization to build a small restaurant on an island paradise -- and discover that even paradise has its pitfalls. It's a story filled with calamities and comedy, culinary disasters and triumphs, and indelible portraits of people who live and work on a sliver of beauty set in the Caribbean Sea. It's about the maddening, exhausting, outlandish complications of trying to live the simple life -- and the joy that comes when you somehow pull it off.

The story begins when Bob and Melinda Blanchard sell their successful Vermont food business and decide, perhaps impulsively, to get away from it all. Why not open a beach bar and grill on Anguilla, their favorite Caribbean island? One thing leads to another and the little grill turns into an enchanting restaurant that quickly draws four-star reviews and a celebrity-studded clientele eager for Melinda's delectable cooking. Amid the frenetic pace of the Christmas "high season," the Blanchards and their kitchen staff -- Clinton and Ozzie, the dancing sous-chefs; Shabby, the master lobster-wrangler; Bug, the dish-washing comedian -- come together like a crack drill team. And even in the midst of hilarious pandemonium, there are moments of bliss.

As the Blanchards learn to adapt to island time, they become ever more deeply attached to the quirky rhythms and customs of their new home. Until disaster strikes: Hurricane Luis, a category-4 storm with two-hundred-mile-an-hour gusts, devastates Anguilla. Bob and Melinda survey the wreckage of their beloved restaurant and wonder whether leaving Anguilla, with its innumerable challenges, would be any easier than walking out on each other. Affectionate, seductive, and very funny, A Trip to the Beach is a love letter to a place that becomes both home and escape.

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 060980748X
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Three Rivers Press; Reprint edition (November 20, 2001)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 295 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780609807484
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0609807484
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.17 x 0.74 x 7.96 inches
Reviewer: Inga's Adventures
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Fun read
Review: This was light, fun reading for the beach and about a beach, but imbued with all the travails of running a restaurant. I enjoyed it from beginning to end and loved all the characters they encountered.

Reviewer: lm
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Makes you want to book a trip
Review: Really fun read! You feel a part of the Blanchards life. Anguilla is now on my bucket list. Read it!

Reviewer: cajunInVA
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: What an interesting journey!
Review: I don't often read biographies or personal stories like this one, but this really resonated with me. We've been thinking of moving to Costa Rica, and this was an amazingly similar story. Melinda Blanchard really makes you feel like you're there with them, making each decision, facing each problem, making new friends. At the end, you say "Wow!".Now I'm going to get the cookbook too...

Reviewer: Anne Kivlen
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: book
Review: A great read

Reviewer: Headed 4 the tropics
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Transported to a tropical oasis!
Review: I was skeptical about this book, so I got a free sample for my Kindle. Within 10 minutes I was purchasing the full version!I am a lover of a good beach book, and have read a few lately that fell quite short. Not this one, I LOVED it!This is a fascinating story, written in an intriguing, relatable and interesting style. The Blanchards are truly fascinating people, and I have found myself desperately pondering planning a trip to Anguilla, JUST to eat at Blanchard's.The story is told, just like that..a story. Could have easily been interpreted as fiction had I not known it was a true story.The setting is obviously amazing, and she does a GREAT job of bringing it to life! You can almost feel the tropical breezes, and hear the palms swaying. The characters are brought alive and you feel like you personally know each of them by the book's end.I have been to all of the islands that neighbor Anguilla, and she made me feel like I had just taken a vacation. This was one of those books that you looked forward to snuggling up with, instantly transprting you...where you find yourself trying to carve time out of your day just to read.You will not be disappointed with this one!

Reviewer: R. Caras
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Sweet memoir about moving to a Caribbean island
Review: Enjoyable story about a talented couple who decide to move to Anguila and open a restaurant. It is a quick read. No creative writing or memorable prose. Just a first person story written by the wife. And a few chapters from the husband’s point of view written in third person (not sure how their editor let that incongruency slip through). The people they met and the food they eat all sounded wonderful and made me want to travel to Anguila to experience it.

Reviewer: K. Kline
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Realistic
Review: Good quality of writing

Reviewer: dennis wentraub
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: As Enjoyable as a Tropical Breeze
Review: Caribbean vacationers who have ever wondered what it would be like to sell everything and operate a business on their favorite island retreat will find satisfaction in this easy going account of a Vermont couple who move to Anguilla. Anguilla is a sixteen mile long thirty-five square mile patch of land at the northern end of the gentle crescent of islands in the eastern Caribbean nestled close to the flashier and better known St. Martin. Here on this quiet island the Blanchards arrive with their life savings and a dream to open a restaurant. Their story is about the embrace of the gentler life rhythms of this special island paradise. For the Blanchards the secret of "island time" is a life of breathing deeper and walking slower. Along the way we meet the locals against a background of palms, bougainvilleas, frigate birds, blue skies, and sandy beaches. We follow the Blanchards during the holidays, a local election, a demanding wedding celebration, summer boat races, an employee's dismissal, a break-in, etc. Occasionally we are treated to a recipe, for example, banana bread or better yet, "banana cabana"! The gentle trade winds that are the text of this impressionistic account build to a natural climax - a direct hit from Hurricane Luis (1995). Stow this paperback in your carry-on bag for quick relief while you wait impatiently to board your fight to the island paradise of your choice.

Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: This is such a great book - loved the story and the recipes. I felt like I was experiencing Anguilla along with the Blanchards!

Reviewer: Anne Brown
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I originally bought and read this book 20 years ago. I loaned it to someone, who loaned it to someone etc etc, (Don't you just hate it when that happens?) so I bought another copy recently and enjoyed it every bit as much this time I all those years ago. (The Blanchards only improve with time) My husband is Jamaican and we spend as much time on the island as possible, and this book is so nostalgic for me - so many similarities. I won't be loaning it out this time; it's readable and re-readable, and expensive to replace, BUT worth ever penny.

Reviewer: Paul Roy
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Enjoyable read. Makes you want to run away to a tropical island and live the simpler life. Snow is not necessary

Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Perfect! everything was as advertised and delivered on time. Thank you

Reviewer: Mr S.
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: not read it all yet