Atlanta Family Rhythm Section of Trip

Aug 20th
Arrived in Atlanta and drove home in style courtesy of Bruce Turry BMW Limo service!
Mom and Dad were kind enough to allow yours truly to make a home cooked pasta that was evidently a raging success. Unfortunately, the pot was the only victim of my cooking expertise.
Aug 21st
Shopping today with mum and dad to get Zachipoo some shoes....thanks for treating guys!!!! Rather quiet on the event front today.
Aug 22nd
Went to a Bat Mitsvah today-caught up with a ton of friends and felt like I had never left home.
That nite danced the nite away with Marie enjoying live music courtesy of Randy and Sari Alifeld.
Aug 23rd
Hung out with the family all day and chowed on BBQ at Mom and Dads-PT got to get the grilling skills going baby....ha.
Aug 24th
Chick fil A finally on the menu- without a doubt the most delectable chicken sandwich ever invented by man!
Hooked up with Rick and Deb Leeson for dinner to catch up on their lives...Mareezy was a little under the weather, so we packed up early.
Aug 25th
30th anniversary of my bar .
Paul and I went golfing and proceeded to kick my butt....was alot of fun.
Afterwards, went to the Bravos game with Dad, Zach and Adam.... The seats were amazing and managed to enjoy all the trappings of VIP life thru the amazing tix that Dad managed to get us!!! Awesome and Zach managed to get some batting practice while we were hanging out. Next time, want to go old school and snack on the hometown chik fil a while rooting on the flagging Bravos.
Aug 26th
Marie, Zach and I got on our tourist caps and headed out to the Fernbank Science Center- enjoyed a 2 mile hike behind the building although we were almost eaten alive by the mosquitoes in the forest. Afterwards, headed to Watershed for some southern home cooking. I thought my high school buddy Leslie Zweben still owned a share of the restaurant, but it seems like she didn`t have an amicable break-up with her Indigo Girl pal and sold her stake. Nonetheless, food was excellent and my chicken salad sandwich was awesome....
Moseyed on over to the Fernbank Museum of Natural History-nice and the exhibits on Georgia`s past were top-notch(recommend it to anybody visiting Atl). Finally finished at about 5 pm and met up with mom and dad at a restaurant called Repast.
Meal was good for Dad and Marie(Trout and Halibut), but mom and I were disappointed by the steaks we ordered. The owner happens to also be married to a Japanese woman and it showed in some of the dishes we ate-octopus carpaccio smacked of Japanese influence. Dad discovered Karlsson`s Gold(did u find it yet?) a flavored Swedish vodka....
Again, spoiled rotten by the parents who won`t allow their son to pick up nary one check...
Aug 27th
Woke up late again! Finally got out and headed to the Coca Cola Museum- I hadn`t been since 1995 or so and was blown away by the exhibits-4D movie and the various other things. Zach had his first Coke and needless to say probably his last!
Thurs nite Mom and Dad hosted a lovely meal to welcome in some of the out of towners-was good to see everybody and my how the nephews and nieces are growing!!!!
Aug 28th
We meandered over to the Center for Puppetry Arts to see a show that Marie and I both enjoyed immeasurably! Zach loved the interactive exhibit that followed the show-especially the Jim Henson related exhibit. Ate at Houstons, which is also another huge fave of this comfort food-starved expatriate!
Friday nite brought the first of the big Adam and Suz Bnai Mitzvah weekend events. We hosted(will be making payments on this one for awhile ; )) along with some others a Friday Nite Dinner at a restaurant called Greenwoods...once again, it was great seeing everybody and Adam and Suz seemed so poised while giving little speeches.
Aug 29th The Big Bnai Mitzvah day!
Adam and Suz both did magnificent jobs reading from the Torah and giving their respective speeches. Big brother, you have to be proud of the job you and Andrea are doing! The brunch that followed finally allowed me to partake of the need lox and bagels that were so lacking the weekend before!
Saturday nite party was a blast with great food, awesome DJ and overall good time for Marie and myself(thanks again mom/dad for arranging/paying for the babysitter!).
We got to catch up with some friends/relatives and will have some great memories from the weekend.
Aug 30th
Brunch in the morning (finally the weekend of activities came to a close). Hardcore- I mean its like a wedding with events starting on Friday culminating with the brunch on Sunday.
Hung out at Pauls til we had to catch a flight. Thanks for the ride to the airport big bro.
Mom and Dad were such incredible hosts! They let Marie and I sleep in while they took care of Zach downstairs....all the toys, clothes and various things were appreciated more than you could ever know!

Closing out Seattle like a Seattleite

8/16 Sunday
Sunday morning we woke up and ran over to a farmer's market held in Barrett, which was the town next to Wallingford where we were staying. The market was just like we had experienced in San Fran in the past with a bunch of fresh veggies and other foods coupled with a few local restaurants serving things like gyros and pizza. We had a blast and felt like locals checking out the scene.
In the afternoon, we had planned to go to Olympic National Park today, but our plans were de-railed by a 90 minute wait to get on the ferry. We ended up wandering into the next closest town called Edmonds. They were doing a taste of Edmonds that day, so we headed over to the festival, but soon left after feeling like it was just way too commercial in regards to shops and what not. Walked around the town and felt once again that Seattle was brimming with quaint little places to visit. Headed to the beach so Zach could run around-he managed to make a natural fence using wood that was strewn about on the beach.
Ended up eating a very average meal at a local Italian restaurant that was not even worth mentioning...
Finally headed to our next place, which was a fully furnished 2 bedroom loft near Alki Beach. Had all the amenities we needed including a huge grill so this guy could get his grill on!!
8/17
Today was probably the most enjoyable day of the trip. Why pray tell? Well...this is the day that we drove to Mt Rainier to get in touch with nature. Mt Rainier was known as Mt Tacoma or "Mother of Waters" to the local Indians of the area. It also happens to be an active volcano with lava formations dating back 840,000 years ago. It is the 21st highest mountain in North America and to us it was absolutely breathtaking.
We stopped at a place to pick up picnic supplies before we paid our 15 dollars to get into the park. Once inside the park, we were amazed at how many things you could possibly visit and knew that one day was not going to be enough. We raced up the mountain at 15 miles per hour(speed limit) stopping at some places for the requisite pictures. Took a break at Narada falls to check out a really nice waterfall. However, our final destination was Paradise Valley- my god it was incredible! Once we started our hike, the first thing you noticed is that the area is festooned with wildflowers ...they must have at least 100 different varieties...enough to warrant having a pamphlet devoted specifically to the subject. You have flowing streams, amazing vistas and all with a backdrop of this tremendous glacier behind you....you have to see it with your own eyes. We hiked for about a mile and a half or so and decided to head back since it was getting late. That nite, we had our first home-cooked meal of baked salmon (a dish my wife concocted with the bare minimum in cooking accoutrements) and boy oh boy it was delicious.
8/18
We were thinking that today we would go to Olympic National Park, but the fact that it was 3 hrs one way put the kibosh on that plan. Instead, we headed to the Flight Museum, which was only 15 minutes away and Zach was so happy we did. He got to go inside Air Force One(that was used up until the Nixon Presidency) and he also was able to go inside the Concord, which was amazingly narrow and very little legroom for the passengers on board-the fact that people paid 15 grand a pop to save 3 hours on a flight still mystifies me.
There were other exhibits like the lunar landing exhibit that let you feel firsthand what it was like trying to repair a satellite in space- incredibly tough if you asked me. Zach loved every minute of it and was difficult to extricate from the building when it came time to head out.
Once again, we had home cooking courtesy of both myself and Marie. I grilled some chicken, halibut and corn on the grill and enjoyed every bit of it.
Almost forgot that we jumped into the car after dinner to take in the sunset at Alki Beach(4 minutes from our place). We were blown away with the view, sunset and the twilight illumination after sunset-driving further down the beach we came across views of downtown after sunset that were magnificent. Felt like I was in Brooklyn looking at the the downtown skyline of NYC.
8/19
Wanted to take it slow today since it was going to be our last day in Seattle, so we hopped in the car and headed to Bellevue, which was possibly a place that we may consider moving to in the future if it was to our liking.
We arrived and were pleasantly surprised by the cosy feel while offering all of the trappings that mid-size city could offer(museums, malls and other things of that ilk). Had a nice lunch a nearby cafe then headed to the mall to beat the heat(hottest day of the trip so far hitting 88 degrees at mid-day.)
That nite, we grilled and chilled feasting on a huge ribeye and baked potatoes that we packed up in a bag so we could watch the sunset by the beach. Unfortunately, certain mishaps didn't allow us to see the sunset, but at least we got there in enough time to see the post sunset afterglow.
8/20
Woke up at 5:49 am to catch a flight to Atlanta. Met by momma and dad at the airport with open arms and made it back to their abode with enough time to allow yours truly to make a decent pasta dish to impress the rents. Its great to be back home and look forward to catching up with friends and loved ones over the next 10 days in Hotlanta.

Lions, Tigers and Bainbridge Island Oh my.....

8/12
One of the great things about our B&B is that we are located right across from the Woodland Zoo(aka the Seattle Zoo}. We headed over there around 12pm after having some delish Cuban Subs from a place nearby(Paseo). First impression of the zoo: Was very impressed at how well they were able to re-create the habitat for some of the main attractions like zebras, lions, jaguars and the like. Zach was able to enjoy the surroundings while getting a little education on the habits of the lemurs, cockatoos and his favorite, the hippo. For those who don't know, the hippo is actually the king of the jungle - known to crush huge alligators in half with their powerful jaws. When I did the safari at Kruger National Park in South Africa, I learned that the locals were more fearful of the hippo than the lion.
Finished our day at the zoo around 5pm and decided to get an early dinner at an organic restaurant called Tilth...more aptly described as Filth since the food just didn't impress us at all.
8/13 Snoqualmie Falls and Waterfront Cafe again!
Woke up early around 8am. Got out of the BB around 10 to head over to the aquarium since the weather wasn't looking to forgiving(drizzling rain all morning}. Have to say that the aquarium was tiny and unimpressive. When you have seen the best in Atlanta, its hard to compare to the rest...
From there, we made an executive decision to head to Snoqualmie Falls. Turned out to be a wonderful choice since the weather cooperated and the falls were absolutely beautiful. We hiked a total of a mile up and down the mountain and actually broke a decent sweat on the ascent from the falls. Zach managed to plug along quite well - not that we were worried or anything and managed to find various things along the way to keep himself occupied.
On the way back from Snoqualmie, we ended up heading back to our favorite seafood
haunt, the Waterfront Cafe for some fishes and other good dishes. Perusing the menu, I came across a rib-in 18 ounce ribeye that sounded fantastic and indeed it was! Cooked to perfection and probably one of the best steaks I've had in the USA in quite some time- marie didn't like her halibut, but exchanged it for a crab salad that seemed passable at best.
8/14 Bainbridge Island was a blast!
Got up and out around 11am and headed to the ferry to hitch a ride(car and all) on the ferry to Bainbridge{ferry ride was about 25 minutes on smooth water for those land lubbers}. It was the first time for me to drive across via ferry and I have to say it was really not that big a deal. Zach on the other hand, was mesmerized by the fact that daddy was driving his car into the mouth of the ferry monster!!!
Once we arrived on the island, we scooted over to a restaurant with a beautiful view of the harbor. Lunch was decent at Doc's -Marie liked her grilled halibut sandwich and my chicken sandwich was a yawner. As far as the scenery, just being right there with a birds-eye view of the harbor and Puget Sound was definitely soothing to the soul. I ran into this elderly old lady who happened to run a B&B nearby who was kind enough to give us a few tips on where to go on the island.
We jumped in the car and headed to two spots: 1) Bainbridge Winery for a wine-tasting, which was boring to say the least. 2) Bainbridge Island State Park that had sweeping views of Puget Sound and the surrounding areas. Zach got to run around looking for seashells and riding on the slide/swings nearby.

We returned to the center of this lovely bucolic town for a quick bite before jumping on the ferry. We ended up stumbling upon a nice little bistro-like cafe called Cafe Nola. We didn't expect much, but were pleasantly surprised by Marie's Halibut and my salad and souvlaki - would happily recommend it to anybody visiting Bainbridge Island.
Going to bed early tonite after the full day...

Ichiro is Zach's Hero!

8/9 Sunday
After having way toomuch trouble getting Mariners tickets, the hotel was kind enough to treat the Turry family to three 3rd base line section seats. The weather was the most ideal you could imagine for viewing any sporting event- sunny 75 degrees and little or no wind. Game time was 1pm, so we had to hustle out - managed to catch Ichiro's first at bat, which happened to be a double down the 1st base line- Zach was freaking out {not sure if he has any idea yet about what is happening}. Nevertheless, we had a ball at the game(sorry} and munched on a decent Turkey sandwich. It staggers me that the only coke available is in this huge 22 ounce cup!!! Mariners spanked the Tampa Bay Rays 11-2, so all was good in Seattle....

Checked out and shuffled over to Avis to get our rental car. Was able to get upgraded to a Chrysler Nitro{Or downgraded if you were looking for fuel economy!}.
Hopped into our Nitro and drove towww.chelseastationinn.com((206) 547-6077) for the next 8 days, which happens to be located right next to a huge park and the Seattle Zoo, so Zach should be a happy camper.  

-Took us all of 15 minutes to get to this place-nobody was home and had a tad bit of trouble trying to let ourselves in. Alas, when we finally got into the place it was actually really nice and spacious-we would recommend it to anybody who have children. 900 square feet 2 bedroom/2 bath and only remodeled 2 months ago, so all the furnishings were great. Headed out to grab a bite at Ponti's Grill nearby-definitely not worth linking you up-average meal in every way.
8/10
Outlet shopping day- I needed some shoes since my 9 yr - old Nikes had given out on me before we left. Got Zach some PJ's and other stuff/Marie was able to find some good walking shoes too...Pizza at nite at a place called Tutta Bella http://www.tuttabellapizza.com/ - good Neapolitan Pizza and salad...
8/11
WOke up rather early at 8am to our first rainy day...after cloudy/sunny up until now.
WE decided to take Zach to the Pacific Science Center{http://www.pacsci.org/} for a couple of hours-ended up staying for almost 5 hours because it was easily the best place we have ever taken Zach for interactive learning and fun!
Did you know?
-That cows are one of the gassiest animals on Earth?
-The dung beetle is nature's living pooper scooper
-Scientists are studying slug and snail slime production for clues in treating cystic fibrosis.
-In Columbia movie theatre patrons feast on fried Ant bellies with salt...mmm mmm
goood!!!!

There was a butterfly house with 1000's of exotic butterflies...zach tried to touch all the butterflies, but they managed to escape with their lives.
Zach got scared when asked if he wanted to hold Madagascar Hissing Cockroach...

Would recommend this place to any family!!!
Had sushi in a cute little neighborhood near Lake Washington - was probably the worst sushi we have had in some time - avoid Nishino Sushi at all costs! It was awful.
Heading to the zoo tomorrow and will have more for you viewing pleasure...

Seeing Seattle for the first time! Part1

Quick post - starting off the Seattle leg of our journey at a downtown/close to the action hotel called the Hotel 1000(206 957-1000). I thought that we do lots of touristy stuff the first few days and then try to spread out to places like Mt Rainier and Glacier National Park. Why Seattle? I love coffee is the best reason( the eponymous coffee shop Tully`s coffee began in Seattle although Starbucks is much better) along with Alice in Chains, Stone Temple Pilots, Pearl Jam and my other favorite Jimi....all through my brain Hendrix.

8/7
We had a fantastic day today....got out of the hotel around 11am and literally stumbled across a live show of some local folksy rock group. We sat around and listened to the bluesey sounds for a bit taking in the views while doing so.
Hunger began to set in so we headed to a churrascuria for some meat and veggies brazilian style- wasn't expecting much but (http://www.ipanemabraziliangrill.us/)
was fantastic. Fresh veggies/waitresses fawning all over Zach bringing him strawberries etc... it was a sight to behold. Another funny moment was when a complete stranger sauntered over to our table to say how she was so amazed at how well our son was eating and wondered how we did it...we said Zach does it on his own!!!
After lunch, hopped on a monorail(Zach was the honorary co-pilot during the return home) to the Seattle Center for a day meant for Zach-Experience Music Project(http://www.empsfm.org/), which happened to have a special 3-month Jim Henson(Sesame Street/Muppets) exhibit which allowed Zach to participate in a puppet show and learn a bit about the Muppets etc. The whole venue was very interactive/stimulative to the senses, which made our son a very happy camper. Finally, we let him jump on a few rides(bumper cars/carousel/yaddayadda)- you could've lit up the night-time Seattle skyline with all the electricity pulsing thru Zach!!

-After walking around the Seattle Center for a bit, we ended up hiking over to an outdoor museum(http://www.seattleartmuseum.org/visit/osp/) that was a tad smaller in scale than we thought. Thats ok...we traipsed thru quickly then headed to the pier 70 for some great views. On the way, Zach managed to faceplant after falling off a sculpure-like bench a little blood and crying treated with ice and napkins helped to ease the pain.
-Once again the hunger pangs hit, so we moseyed over to a nice restaurant looking out onto Puget Sound(http://www.waterfrontpier70.com/waterfrontpier70/home.htm - needless to say, this place was an epicurean epiphany for us. Started off with a shrimp cocktail that rocked our world, next came a ceviche that was accompanied with these huge tortilla chips wow!!! Finally we ended it with a halibut that was sublime to say the least! We will probably head back there one more time, because not just a great view from our table, but some great seafood!
- Walked back to the Seattle Center to climb up the needle since the weather had cleared up nicely...Zach was excited to check out the views from 65 stories up...

- Headed back home after what was probably our best sightseeing day on the trip so far.
Zonked out at around 10pm
8/8 Happy Birthday Suzanne Turry!!! Turning 12 and setting a record for the earliest Bat Mitzvah ever...nice!
Woke up at 9 ish again and proceeded to try

San Francisco Treat- We had a blast- Parts 1 and 2

Just finished 3 glorious days in San Fran - we started off with probably the worst jet lag we have ever had as a family- arriving at 1pm on August 3rd, grabbed a bite at Boulevard and then proceeded to crash from 2pm til 8pm. We were supposed to hook up with our friends Anna and Alex, but had to put the kibosh on that plan. However, we did manage to go to our favorite Greek restaurant Kokkari (http://www.kokkari.com/) and partake of probably the best lamb chops that we've chowed on in quite some time-aside from my signature rack of lamb of course(honey, u got my back on that one right?). Anyway, we get back to the hotel and finally fell asleep around midnite. Oh did I forget to mention that the flight (9 hrs and 40 minutes on ANA) was the most pain-free flight we have experienced as a family-( big shout out to Camilo and Paul(my brother) for raising our awareness on the existence of netbooks. Why? Well Zach sat still glued to his netbook watching 3 pixar movies for the first part of the voyage and slept for the rest...talk about having the ultimate high tech babysitter.

8/4 : We got up around 10am. I had a mad hankering for a breakfast (burritoeggs/salsa/cheese/chorizo - muy good muchachos) and a triple grande lowfat mocha. Marie shared the burrito, but didn't seem to the have same revelatory sensation that yours truly did.

Zach finally awoke (always in the best mood of course!) and we got outside for some exercise around 1pm or so. Met up with Dawson and son(Shiloh) at Chrissy Field( was an old air strip dating back to the days when the Presidio area was a military installation).  Good catching up with Dawson and family- Tiida was taking care of Sakura(their 2 yr-old daughter) back at the homestead.

          Unfortunately, we couldn't hang out that long, but did get to see some sea lions and crabs running around. Weather was fantastic(sunny and a high of 70 degrees-balmy Indian summer by San Fran standards. After saying goodbye to Dawson and Shiloh, the Turry Family Trio wandered over to the newly renovated area of the Presidio where George Lucas of Star Wars fame had invested about 100 million dollars to set up Lucas Arts/Films/etc and a beautiful garden and restaurant. Not to nitpick, but a nice museum with a bunch of movie paraphernalia from all the George Lucas movies(American Graffiti, Raiders of the Lost Ark etc.) would have made the area a perfect tourist destination. After chilling at the Palace of Fine arts-went to our favorite Vietnamese crab restaurant, Crustacean to partake of the requisite garlic noodles and roast crab with our friends the Seto's(Matt and Jessica). It was great hooking up with them(hadn't seen them since we left San Francisco 4 and a half yrs ago, so it was high time). They caught us up in their lives and vice versa..Zach managed to behave rather well throughout! After dinner, Marie and Zach headed back to the hotel and I went with Matt and Jess to a local card house in Berkele. Lets just say that I made enough playing poker that nite to cover lunch and dinner for the day.

8/5  Will keep it short for brevity's sake.  Woke up at 10 am and went out again for the fantastic breakfast burrito that I can never find in Tokyo- the rest of the crew finally roused from their slumber around 10:45.

Again, fantastic weather-the kind of weather you want to bottle up and sell to the rest of the world-type weather.  Met up with our neighbors/friends from our time living in San Fran, Chieko and Mike(Chieko is a part-time nurse/Mike - IT software programmer). They were kind enough to shlep all of us out to the Mission district for some delicious Vietnamese.   Afterwards, Mike and Chieko took Marie and Zach to a local park while I ran some errands. 

              In the evening we were invited to Anna and Alex's for  a BBQ.   The sausages/corn /salad and Pinot was superb-and Zach had a fun playmate in Rachel to hang out with in their beautiful townhome(would be an ideal place for us to live when we come back from Tokyo).

Thanks again Anna Alex and Rachel for the homespun hospitality.

                                                                                                                                                                        8/6 

Woke up around 9'ish and finally got going around 11 am to the Farmer's market to find a place to eat before our 3pm flight.  Found a nice restaurant called Planet Organic(?) for a great salad/pizza etc. 

I was jonesing for In and Out burger so I left Marie and Zach and cabbed it to Fisherman's Wharf to get my "Animal Style" on- needless to say I was in Hamburger Nirvana post the sojourn to my favorite Burger joint on the west coast.

- Flight was uneventful to Seattle- arrived at the Hotel 1000 and proceeded to our urban aesthetically designed mod room for some needed R&R.

-Ventured out for a late dinner and SAM(Seattle Art Museum) cafe that was shockingly good-

Marie's Cod and my scallops rocked.

Our hotel is located right downtown near a lot of touristy things which I can elaborate on in the next email