Postcard: A French Creole Island Feast in Martinique

I enjoyed the most amazing French Creole island feast at Mango Bay restaurant in the harbor in Fort-de-France, Martinique, a stop for the cruising yacht Wind Surf: stuffed crab, spicy salt cod and salt cod fritters, soft and savory boudin noir, spiny lobster tail in a tangy sour orange sauce with peas and fava beans, and an incomparable bowl of moules a la creme, with steak fries and aioli. Good stuff. The only hitch: I left 20 gorgeous, aromatic vanilla beans, purchased at the town market, in the bathroom at the restaurant, went back for them, and they were gone. I am mourning them now, my dreams of making the world's most fragrant creme brulee dashed. —Betsy Andrews