a real-life pinterest board: fall break in Antigua at the Pineapple Beach Club

Ever since I did a project on it in fifth grade, I have dreamed of visiting Antigua. The spiny lobster! The beaches!And this past October, during my fall break, I finally got my chance. I somehow convinced my parents that the best way to spend my fall break was to take a family vacation to somewhere warm and involving beaches. Specifically, Antigua.

As soon as we touched down in the warm weather, I instantly regretted not going to university somewhere warm. After a relatively quick taxi trip, we arrived at our hotel the Pineapple Beach Club. Immediately, we were greeted with either fruit or rum punch, but, because I am a responsible university student, I got fruit punch, which, as a lover of sugary beverages, I really did enjoy.

Afterwards, we were ferried by golf cart (personally, my favorite mode of transportation), and headed to our room, which had a lovely porch right outside of it that was mere steps away from the beach. It was a lovely place to get some work or reading done after dinner, especially with the sounds of the ocean right nearby and a cocktail in hand.

But first, lunch. It’s all inclusive, so we went to their barbecue restaurant, which was on top of a cliff, which was quite a trek.

The barbecue was served buffet style, and was just okay.

Afterwards, I lay on the beach for a bit, before they had a rum and local snack tasting, and I snagged some very tasty pineapple, as well as some freshly made tamarind balls, which were very addictive.

After a bit more lounging around and exploring the resort, it was soon time for dinner.

I feel as if I may have accidentally captured an intimate moment

Since we just got there, we did not make a reservation for the speciality restaurant, which alternated every night between an Italian concept and a steakhouse-esque place near the check-in lodge. So we are at the buffet, which due to COVID, was served by the staff, and was…very mediocre. I will say, they were very prompt with offering to get us drinks, and they concocted some sort of sugary, sweet delicious drink that barely tasted of alcohol, which was the highlight of the meal.

The next day, after a brunch of a mediocre burger and sweet potato fries and a much tastier pina colada, my mom and I set off on a quick catamaran trip with one of the staff members. Although the entire thing probably lasted about twenty minutes at most, it was a surprisingly exciting and fun experience, involving us being thrashed about by the rough waves and me being almost completely soaked by the end. At one point, he balanced the catamaran on one side, despite only having learned how to sail one three weeks ago? And surprisingly, we didn’t even capsize.

After some more reading, lounging, and an afternoon snack, it was soon time for dinner.

This time, we ate at the Italian speciality restaurant, Chef Pietro’s, which really was just an area off the side of the main buffet. I got the eggplant Norma, which consisted of of roasted eggplant, cheese, and marinara sauce dish that was vaguely reminiscent of eggplant parmesan, and although lacking in textural contrast, was very tasty.

I then got the homemade sweet potato gnocchi, which as little too soupy and again, was all around very soft, as the gnocchi almost fell apart. My dad got the roasted salmon, which was probably the better decision.

For dessert, we got the chocolate cake, the panna cotta, and a cheesecake. The chocolate cake was kinda dry and tasted a tad weird, but the panna cotta and cheesecake were both very tasty.

The next day, once again missing breakfast, which is served buffet-style at the main restaurant, I got some meh fish tacos from the snack bar, as well as equally meh chocolate cake and a chocolate chip cookie from the resort coffee shop, I did some more work and again, did a bit of vigorous lying around and doing nothing on the beach, and went on the catamaran again at some point.

Eventually, dinner rolled around, and it was time to try the other speciality restaurant, the Pineapple Grill, which occupied its own building close to where we initially checked in. To start, we were given butternut squash and feta crostini, which was a surprisingly tasty combination.

We then shared a spread of appetizers, including pesto linguine, caprese, fried calamari, and grilled scallops. All of which were pretty delicious, especially the creamy pesto pasta, although the caprese was just okay.

For my main course, I pre-ordered a spiny lobster in advance, fulfilling a fifth grade dream of mine, as the only part of my project from then that I still remember is how Antigua is known for its spiny lobster. They had taken out most of the meat, seasoned it, and presented it back in the shell, and served it alongside some mashed potatoes and vegetables. Unsurprisingly the lobster was super flavorful, and actually went well with the sauce, although parts of it were a tad tough.

For dessert, we again got three desserts: a blueberry cheesecake, mango mousse, and apple pie with caramel sauce. Personally, the apple pie was a surprise hit, as something about the warm pie with its almost jam-like filling was addicting. In fact, it was so good, we ordered another slice. All in all, this was probably my favorite dinner during my short stay there.

The next day, after getting our mandatory COVID test, which luckily the hotel arranged for us to do at the hotel, we wandered around some more, and I grabbed a surprisingly tasty latte with caramel syrup and slice of banana bread. Would not recommend the cinnamon roll though, as it was very dry and doughy and barely tasted of cinnamon.

I also finally ate lunch at the main restaurant, which for lunch, converts to an al a carte menu.

I had the blackened mahi with rice and vegetables, which was pretty solid, and the pumpkin cake with ice cream, which was also decent, although the ice cream tasted a bit freezer burnt.

This was followed again, by some lounging around, another afternoon snack, and one final stunning sunset.

Our last dinner was at the Italian restaurant, Chef Pietro’s, and once again, I got the eggplant norma, which was just as good.

This time, I got the shrimp and vodka pasta, which was tasty but nothing special, and the seafood risotto, which was a bit more like mushy tomato rice.

For dessert, we got a panna cotta and cheesecake again, both of which were pretty good, although the panna cotta seemed to have a tad too much gelatin in it.

On our last morning there, I finally made it to the breakfast restaurant, where I had a classic hotel buffet made to order omelet, as well as some of the tasty banana bread.

Soon enough, after some final photos, it was time to depart. During another scenic taxi ride, we actually discovered our taxi driver had spent a year abroad during university in China, I had a quick airport lunch of a surprisingly decent Caesar salad wrap. But before we knew, we were back in chilly NYC and reality.