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A Trip to the Beach: Living on Island Time in the Caribbean | 
 enlarge | Authors: Melinda Blanchard, Robert Blanchard
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
Buy Used: $0.94
You Save: $13.01 (93%)
Rating:  72 reviews
Sales Rank: 33441
Media: Paperback
Pages: 304
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.2 x 0.7
ISBN: 060980748X
Dewey Decimal Number: 972.973
EAN: 9780609807484
ASIN: 060980748X
Publication Date: November 20, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Free bookmark with every order. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More.
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
On a vacation with the family in Barbados, Mel and Bob Blanchard (of the Vermont-based Blanchard & Blanchard specialty foods company) stumble upon a tiny restaurant/shack on a Caribbean beach: I marveled at the ingenuity of the set-up. A secluded spot, sand like flour, customers arriving in bathing suits. The guy barely lifted a finger, cleared at least $35.00, and gave us a lunch we'd remember forever.... The man had sold us a frame of mind. So begins the Blanchards' 10-year pursuit of the illusory notion of "island time." In a literary heartbeat, they abandon the "concrete jungle" that was Vermont and open a restaurant on a little-known island in the British West Indies called Anguilla ("rhymes with vanilla"). Narrated by Mel Blanchard, A Trip to the Beach dispels tired notions of the Caribbean--the steel drums, the lush landscapes, and acres of swaying palm trees--and instead focuses on the understated elegance and easy rhythms of the sublimely "flat, and scrubby" island. Though lacking the richness and finesse of Frances Mayes, and the wit and wisdom of Peter Mayle, Mel Blanchard nonetheless forges a new path in travel writing as the Martha Stewart of the Caribbean. A remarkably intuitive and inspired chef, Mel writes poignant passages on running a kitchen in Anguilla. Here she exposes the meat of the story, sharing her many outrageous adventures--how to cater to pampered and demanding guests, how to cook for a full restaurant in the darkest of island night with no electricity, how to prepare for recurring and utterly devastating hurricanes that wipe out your business. In these chapters the writing is as good as her cooking--inspiring, colorful, and easily digestible. Although she sometimes relies heavily on well-worn cliches and expresses naive and rather privileged assumptions--"Why would anyone choose to live surrounded by concrete and traffic rather than fishing boats, water and palm trees?"--discerning readers will see the true nature of this tiny island--a place of simplistic beauty that struggles to maintain its independence while it depends on tourism for its livelihood. With a strange concoction of anecdotes, island politics, recipes, and sweet memories, the Blanchards seduce readers with the allure of "island time," bringing Anguilla home to the rest of us. --Daphne Durham
Product Description
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.
Download Description
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.
"A Trip to the Beach is the next best thing to being there. The Blanchards have given us a smart and amusing tale of running off to chase a dream. It's just as tasty as their cooking."
TOM BROKAW, ANCHOR, NBC NIGHTLY NEWS "If you think it takes courage to open and operate a fine dining restaurant, just try doing it the Blanchard way. Pick a beautiful but remote island with cultural idiosyncrasies, build it from scratch, make it seasonal to assure up and down business, and subject yourself to the most powerful hurricanes Mother Nature knows how to create. Other than that, it's easy. I love the Blanchards' determined sense of hospitality and appreciate the rich texture they have woven into Anguilla's colorful fabric."
DANNY MEYER, COAUTHOR, THE UNION SQUARE CAFE COOKBOOK
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| Customer Reviews: Read 67 more reviews...
 VERY GOOD READING.....AND TRUE January 5, 2008
G. RILEY (Florida)
This book is very well written, and even better it is true about the island life. My husband and I moved to Anguilla (not because of the book but for a job offer) and when I read the book, I was amazed at how well the Blanchards made it a reality. The book is wonderful and the island is even better, if you get a chance to travel to Anguilla, you should.
 Dreamy October 25, 2007
Aime B. Dunstan (West Palm Beach, FL United States)
This book made me want to quit my job and move to the islands. I love the first-hand view of how difficult that really is when there's no major shopping options or supplies for miles. I can't wait to buy the Blanchard cookbook -- they are true pros!
Loved this peaceful interlude!!! September 28, 2007
Lisa D. (Ventura, CA)
This was a great book to escape to. If you love cooking and the beach, then this book is for you. Mel shares recipes, tells the tales of changing lifestyles, and paints an incredible picture of the island. I am ready to go pack and have dinner at Blanchards!
 Mesmerizingly Dull July 6, 2007
Sarah B. Nelson (lexington, ky)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
If you have ever been cornered by an innkeeper or B & B owner whose life contains five minutes of interesting tidbits, but who takes two hours dragging you through a poorly synthesized tale, you've already had the experience of reading this book. To make matters worse, the quality of writing and tone are comparable to a sixth grade essay along the lines of "What I Did on My Summer Vacation."
If you are looking for an interesting book about life as an American in the Caribbean, try Herman Wouk's semi-fictional "Don't Stop the Carnival."
Enticing Lifestyle, Gripping Story July 3, 2007
Peter Porcupine (USA)
Every once in a great while, you might stubble upon a truly captivating novel that is, at times, impossible to put down. Before you know it, you're submerged within it's pages, neglecting the clock, surpassing any predestinated points that you promised yourself to stop at. Bob and Melinda's "A Trip to the Beach" has justly enthralled many readers of prudent taste since first being published in 2000. For an absorbing and mesmeric account of two native Vermonters who inaugurated a simple but distant dream, born on a vacation to the Caribbean. On a whim, they move to a foreign country, and start a restaurant on the tiny, remote island of Anguilla. Entering a world of excitement, frustration, joy, and perseverance to live an anything but ordinary life. This seemingly envious lifestyle proves to be a gigantic undertaking in spite of all it's seductiveness. The romanticized notion of escaping the stresses of a mundanely uneventful New England way of life, only to become a castaway in a distant oasis of a subtropical sunny paradise is simple to swallow but nothing is as easy as it seems. The Blanchards, you will soon discover, can nearly vouch for Murphy's law. Coupled with their persistence and immortal ambition sets the stage for a charming true story and notably enjoyable read.
Stemming from this innocent yet simple vision of opening a small lunch stand on the beach, an ebullient dream quickly turns into an venturesomely enterprise of a posh dinning restaurant serving everyone from wealthy vacationers to renown movie stars. A logistical nightmare, the Blanchards are forced to balance building a ritzy eatery from scarce island materials, importing supplies, while establishing a whole new life in a completely different foreign culture far from the plentiful civilization we've grown accustomed to. Many things we might take for granted prove to be a troublesome liability- even freshwater must be delivered to them on the island. Unlike a Hollywood film or a glamorized Nora Roberts novel, the story of Bob and Melinda `s audacious and adventure filled life in Anguilla is real. A reader will be charmed by the local characters, smell the freshly grilled lobsters, and hear the sounds of the benign calypso music without ever leaving home. It soon becomes easy to transport yourself to their situation, asking yourself, what would I do?
Overall, an authentically inspirational tale of willpower, surmountability, and fortitude in a bold stride towards a deviating but enchanting new life. Some have mistaken the Blanchard's drive and intrepidity as egotism. If your literary appetite hungers for some disgruntled hippies' tale of soul-searching while living a primitive lifestyle in an exotic location, then look elsewhere. If the Blanchards for any instance took the reality of chasing their dreams during such a pivotal time in their lives lightly, they most likely wouldn't have a book to fill let alone embracement of such luscious success. The only melancholic fervor encountered is ending the book itself. If only it were longer!
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