Customer Reviews

A Trip to the Beach: Living on Island Time in the Caribbean

5 star:		(56)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Thank goodness that, in addition to Free-Range Chicken Breast with Wild Mushrooms, Melinda and Bob Blanchard can turn out a great story too. No two dimensional, "my struggle to success" fluff piece, A Trip to the Beach is a rich, spicy broth blending the Blanchard's determined efforts to establish a culinary toe-hold in beautiful Anguilla (British West Indies) with the beautiful, determined Anguillans who helped them make it happen. Anguilla is no "Disney World" stage set of all-u-can-eat buffets, blender drinks, and canned calypso. Rather it is a fiercely independent, sophisticated island culture struggling hard against pressures of the fast-buck, big money outside world to preserve and protect its astoundingly beautiful physical and cultural assets. The idiosyncracies of the culture are the attraction for the Blanchards to Anguilla and, at the same time, the source of the sometimes excruciating obstacles to executing their modest plan to open a pleasant resaurant with a good wine cellar in a place they love. With an intimate, forthright voice, Melinda Blanchard takes the reader through a highly personal journey from their Northeastern roots to the realization of their dream - feeling like a "belonger" in their beloved Anguilla. A Trip to the Beach will appeal to both beginner as well as the seasoned Anguilla "expert". I have enjoyed 6 visits to the island (and to their divine resaurant) and the Blanchard's richly portrayed characters, and colorfully detailed experiences took me that much deeper into a people I already love. Enrich someone's life by giving them this book. Or better yet, give it to your spouse or significant other (as my wife did) as bait for a longed-for trip to this special place. Or just buy it for yourself, put your feet up and lose yourself for a while in a story with a lot of heart, a lot of humor, and some really yummy recipes. You'll feel like a "belonger" too!

Along the "Provence" and "Tuscany" genre of books, this anecdotal book takes the reader through a year of dealing with natural and human challenges as the Blanchards try running a restaurant on the upscale island of Anguilla. Having been a visitor to the island many times, I suppose I was somewhat inclined to be predisposed to enjoy the book, but then again I could also have been more critical. It's a pretty quick read, full of local characters, and makes you realize what kinds of things you're up against when you try and do something like this. You'll want to make plane reservations to see the island for yourself when you've finished reading it. It's light reading, perfect for a cold winter day as it transports you to an island paradise that is so idyllic in the midst of today's hectic urban world.

My husband and I have been lucky visitors to the gorgeous island of Anguilla and we have eaten at Blanchard's. The restaurant is gorgeous and the food was wonderful. After reading the book and visiting Anguilla 3 times in the past year, it was interesting to meet the people in the book. Anguilla is a very close knit island of approximately 9000 people. When I read the book and talked to the "belongers" in Anguilla they told me a different story about the Blanchards. The book leads the reader to believe that the Blanchards were walking on these gorgeous beaches and just decided to start a restaurant. The truth is that the Blanchards owned a restaurant called Mangos on the island and sold it!! They made a lot of money and then came back to open Blanchards. Shabby Davis is a wonderful Anguillan who was kind enough to do several things for the Blanchards. In fact, the whole Davis family is remarkably kind and sweet. Many of the people in the book were never asked first if they opposed their names being used in the book. Unfortunately, this was not good PR for the Blanchards. They should have been honest about what really happened on the island and understood the cultural and language differences between Americans and Anguillans. I was disheartened after I found out several things about what really occurred during the Blanchards opening and running their 2 restaurants in Anguilla. Anguilla is a terrific island with wonderful people. We need to be considerate of them and not spoil their island. I found that I was viewing the Blanchards in a totally different way.... as true capitalists!!! They seem to be only out for money and themselves.

a must read for anyone who has been or will go to anguilla, the island where they have there restaurant. an enchanting and warm tale about a husband and wife who move to paradise to live out their dream. it is full of great recipes from the restaurant, but also just a great story!!!!

Although the authours of the book are listed as Melinda and Bob Blanchard, it appears the entire piece is written by Melinda, speaking for her husband as applicable (although I'm sure he approved). I read this book after having read Solomon Time by Will Randall, and I probably should have read them the other way around because while the Blanchard's book is all about creating their own successful business on an island paradise (kudos to them), Solomon Time is about a man who travels to the Solomon Islands to help the islanders start their own business and become self sufficient. The whole tone of the latter seems a bit more noble and more palatable. Mr Randall does not evoke any sense of 'me' and is not on the island to meet his own personal ends. It's much more selfless. Depending on who you are, you may prefer his book. Because in the Blanchard's, there is a persistant air of, well, American-ness (you may like that, or you may not). It's also interesting to note that, as informative and telling as the book is with regard to opening a restaurant on a tiny island (as well as a genuinely warm account and in-depth profile of the islanders - by far the best part of the book), there is constant reference by Melinda to rather silly trivialities, eg reports on everything she's eaten every day (which is usually some form of meat) and apparently growing increasingly fatter, or as the locals say, "coming nice", and it just reads a touch like a spoiled, wealthy and shielded housewife who doesn't want the real version of the island but who craves the five star hotel existence (she runs back into the car during a business negotiation because some little bugs are biting her ankles). You also get the faint impression that everything they do, every action they take, every involvement and favour to the islanders is rooted in the end goal of making their business a success rather than a genuine interest in helping out for helping's sake. It is also a touch ironic that Melinda considers herself a 'belonger' to Anguilla and to bemoan the loss of innocence on the island, and when she speaks in local talk (eg bad english), sorry, but I couldn't help but feel a bit queasy. What was also a bit unnerving was not once, but twice a reference by Melinda to making a business out of the local elections (eg selling campaign buttons and other unnecessary junk to the islanders). Makes you wonder when Bob will run for office. Money makes money, no matter where you are or what you do. And when you have a quarter million plus at your disposal, is it that surprising to make a success of anything? Just, erm, food for thought.
bwhiskey

Here we have an older couple that decides to move to their favorite vacation spot, Anguilla, located near St Martin in the Caribbean. Melinda and Bob Blanchard decide to open a restaurant on the island in what is supposed to be spur of the moment decisions. After a takeover in their last business (selling salad dressings nationwide), they are avoiding partnerships with others and must deal with the island etiquette of renting land, dealing with the meticulousness of claims at duties, and finding a place to live. We get a look into living on the island through the eyes of Melinda Blanchard, self styled chef and owner of the restaurant and meet a variety of characters in the employees that quickly assemble to form the Blanchard's staff. Throw in some recipes, a boat race, and Hurricane Luis which destroys the restaurant the first year and you get a nice quaint little travelogue that will be a quick and interesting read.

Still, after reading the book and enjoying it, there is something about it that makes the whole venture seem much less 'spur of the moment' and less of a hardship than it seems to be promoted as. Here we have a wealthy couple that constantly travels, runs whimsical businesses, and is willing to drop $300,000 into building a restaurant on a 16 mile long island that caters largely to tourism and is subject to possible hurricanes every year. The business is almost an afterthought to Melinda who appears to want to live in Anguilla just to stroll the beaches and read books. None-the-less, the book is a wonderful break into island life and should you find yourself on Anguilla, you will want to stop at Blanchard's to meet the crew and enjoy what sounds like delicious dinners.

One last thing, keep in mind, the authors aren't telling you the whole story of their experiences, past and present, which would affect your view on their "dream come true" story of this restaurant.

Reading this book, you are taken to the world of Anguilla, a small Carribean island where it is so beautiful that they don't need a weatherman. The Blanchards started up a restaurant bearing their name years ago on this island heaven and it became one of the highlights of the Western Antillies. In this book, you are taken through their journey, their lives together, of building a restauarnt of a fine reputation.

I MUST ADVISE: The book is cannot be fully appreciated unless one actually travels to Anguilla to experience the happy and peaceful mood of the entire island and to actually meet the Blanchards to see how lovely people they are.

It can be seen that at the beginning of the novel, it is pointed out that although, yes, the Blanchards had already started a restaurant, Mangoes, before their current one, it would not be discussed for the means of telling the story. Also, just because Melinda and Robert's name both appear on the cover, and just one is the narrator, it does not mean that they both didn't write the book together, sharing their experiences and building the structure for the book.

This trip to the beach will be one you never forget....

I could hardly put this book down and I enjoyed it thoroughly. The writing is good but not, by any means, poetic or inspiring. The story is not compellingly constructed. In fact, it is pretty simple: an American couple, having sold their business in Vermont, thinks it might be great to open some sort of small beachside restaurant on Anguillia in the Caribbean. They take the plunge, Complications follow. Bigger complications (a hurricane) follow early success.

The seductive allaure of "chucking it all", going where it is always warm and almost always beautiful, of leaving behind the urgencies of the States and living closer to the beauty of nature, is something that, I would guess, many people have considered and a few have tried. Just what is it that people, in particular the Blanchards of this tale, are trying to leave behind? What do they expect to find? Are they fleeing unhappiness or chasing a higher level of satisfaction in life?

This is not the story of two people fleeing the too closeness of relatives, of getting burned out on work or turned off by commercialism or violence in our culture. It is, simply, the story of a dream of owning a restaurant in the Caribbean paradise and trying to make it work.

The dream quickly gets out of hand. They find a location, but the monthly rent will be far too high and the cost of bringing the property up to useability will be far too much. So, the dream changes and they change with it. No beach front home, just an apartment overlooking a gas station. No tiny eatery on the beach, they decide they have to do a big time, classy restaurant to have any hope of paying the rent or recovering building costs.

Why is this simple tale so engrossing? Well, if you love the Caribbean, or any southern lattitude, you'll likely enjoy this story. If you have traveled south, so much the better. It is an adventure told by two people who know how to combine hard work, skill and total dedication to making their dreams realtiy. Horay for the Blanchards!

We get a real taste of island culture and see it through the eyes of people who appreciate, and love, what they have found. As stated, it is a simple story, simply told. The lack of affectation or higher goals in the writing, however, is part of the charm. It is a quick, fun read which I recommend to anyone interested in knowing more about the Caribbean and the joys and sorrows of starting a restaurant, or any business, in the islands.

There are only two things that seriously bothered me about the book. First, the primary writer and voice of the narrator, Melina Blanchard, gives all of the island characters a kind of old fashion black dialect. The locals come off sounding like they just stepped out of "Gone With the Wind". While I don't doubt that the islanders do not speak like Vermont Yankees, I have major reservations about whether they all sound the way southern blacks were thought to sound by whites 50 or 60 years ago. I really wonder how the islanders react to this verbal protrayal. Many people in the Caribbean, of all races, speak with a lovely, improved version of a British accent, one that sounds rather nicer than that of many northern visitors.

Secondly, the most dramatic part of the story, Hurricane Luis, is given rather short shrift at the end of the book. It was husband Bob who got caught in it and, since he is obviously not the primary author of this work, we don't learn nearly as much about the whole experience as in the earlier phases of the adventure. We also are not given, even in the just released paperback version, an update on where matters stand with the restaurant and the lives of the Blanchards and their Caribbean dream. Too bad. I guess we will all have to go to the restuarant and ask them. Hope they've got a moment or two then to fill us in.

p.s. The Blachards should have added: "Don't try this at home. kids". Very few people could have pulled this off. They had money in the bank and experience from starting eight other businesses before they went south. Plus, they were willing to work and work and work some more. If you want to sit on the beach and contemplate the meaning of life, don't ever consider opening a restaurant or hotel in the Caribbean or, probably, anywhere else.

Mel and Bob Blanchard have done what I feel many wish they could...just leave it all behind for that dream of a house overlooking the unbelievable Caribbean water. Their baptism into the island lifestyle will have you giggling and crying at some point during your read because they are sharing some very amazing experiences as they follow their dream (with more than a few potholes along the way). I loved this book and really want others to realize the charm of the Caribbean, beyond the beautiful beaches and in her lovely, warm, wonderful people! Having experienced this firsthand in my life, I was so thrilled to read a book that really conveyed that message. It will captivate you! I only now must figure out when I can make MY trip to Anguilla that I have wanted to do for several years. I know the trip will have been worth the wait!

Nearly all reviews of the Blanchard's book "A Trip To The Beach" fall all over themselves with compliments. Well, it WAS a good book, but let me introduce some sense of persepective here.

First, the audio version reminded me, yet again, that authors should never be allowed to read their own work. Although it was charming to hear Melinda Blanchard's nice voice, it was equally annoying that she ripped through the text without ever altering her tone, even from one paragraph to the next. A professional reader would have made the experience much more enjoyable.

Second, it was disturbing to discover (from other sources) that Melinda and Bob actually owned another restaurant on Angulla before opening Blanchard's! They hint at this by referring to their book as a compilation of events over a ten year span - and they even said they owned a restaurant in the past (no location) but not mentioning "Mangos" (their previous Anquillan restaurant) seems unnessarily devious and has the reader wondering what can be believed.

Third, wouldn't you have thought that, after ten years on an island paradise frequented by the rich and famous, that the Blanchards would have better stories and anecdotes to tell? They had some good ones, to be sure, but one suspects that if you went out drinking with the Blanchards you'd hear some much better stories.

And, finally, so many of the stories ran on and on and on. There was a long, rather boring boat building/racing sequence, the hurricane that wouldn't end, etc. The Blanchard's would have been better advised to fill that space with more stories like the Sandra Bullock dinner party or even the tourists who ran out their entire water supply washing sand off their feet.

BUT...with that said...I do recommend this book. The Blanchard's are surprisingly good writers and you will easily fall for them and their Anguilla. Like the other reviewers, I would love to visit Blanchard's and envy those who have. And I would even read another book by this enterprising couple should they ever choose to write one. They just need to get someone else to narrate the audio version :-)

CJ