This is the first installment of Bryant Backyard Border Bouncing.  See our “About” page for details.

Our first country….Korea!  We were fortunate to find multiple books on North and South Korea at the library.  Some were more for younger kids and some for older, but we got something out of each.  We learned a few simple phrases, but they weren’t easy to remember!  We talked a bit about the war between the two countries, and the differences between them now.  While going in to about as much detail as one would with small kids, we explained that some parts of the world do not have the freedoms and luxuries that we do, while those living in the bordering country actually have lifestyles much like ours.

While there are several options in the surrounding area, we chose Bando Restaurant, on the far northeast side of Indianapolis.  The goal was to try as much as possible, but at the same time, find dishes the kids would eat.  Possibly my favorite part was the assortment of appetizers set out for each restaurant patron upon arrival.  I could have just snacked on them all night.  Some were more savory, with some being quite spicy.  I particularly enjoyed the fish cakes and the various varieties of kimchi.

Here’s what we ordered:

For the girls:  Gyoza – dumplings filled with meat and veggies with dipping sauce, and Kimbap, a Korean variety of sushi

For us:  Ttok Bokki – spicy rice cake with fish cake and mixed vegetables (very spicy, which I loved), and bulgogi – broiled marinated tender beef with green pepper and onion, both dishes that Korea is known for.  Ours came with shrimp and vegetable tempura.

The girls enjoyed some things more than others.  The oldest did pretty well with all of it, and the youngest really enjoyed the Kimbap.  Unfortunately, the middle daughter slept from the time we left the house until the time we got home, over two and a half hours.

What we really loved about the experience was the service.  We had multiple people (I believe many were family) helping us throughout, and they all loved the girls, were really good with them, and were very tolerant of and helpful with their messes.

On the way home, we stopped at Saraga, an amazing large international grocery store on our side of town, to pick up a few things for Sunday’s dinner.

Sunday dinner was also delicious, if I do say so myself!  We made another dish that Korea is known for:  Bi Bim Bop.  I used marinated mushrooms, green bean kimchi, and seaweed salad from Saraga, and made my own pickled carrots, sautéed spinach with garlic, seared tofu, cucumber and sprouts doused with sesame oil and seeds, and homemade sauce, made of tamari, brown sugar, rice vinegar, honey, and gochujang, a chili pepper paste that can be found at Asian or international grocery stores, and has recently been spotted even at major grocery stores in town.

Bi Bim Bop, literally translated, means “mixed rice.”  Cooked rice is topped with all of the ingredients, a fried egg, and sauce, then mixed together before eating.  I was personally a huge fan, and will be making it again.  The girls did well eating some of the elements, but not necessarily all of it together.  We also came across a YouTube video of a kid’s book called “Bi Bim Bop!” by Linda Sue Park, which the girls have requested to watch several time since.  It really tied it all together.

While I would like to have done a bit more exploring on YouTube and reading to them about the country, it was a trial-by-fire for this first go-round, and we’ll add on more for our next country.  Coming up next:  Brazil.  Stay tuned!

As those who know me are aware, I’m much more of a cool weather, pine tree and mountain man than a hot and humid, palm tree, and beach bum.  I don’t mind a couple days on the beach, but I like to spend time exploring new places and being active.  I do this some on the Florida trips, but it’s so uncomfortably hot for me, it’s not always the most pleasant.  As Laura is aware of this, she gave me the “green light” to take a quick “vacation from my vacation” (the in-law’s annual Florida trip) and head elsewhere for a few days.

So after flying/driving to Florida on Saturday, on Sunday morning, I took an Uber from the condo to the Panama City Beach airport for a 0710 flight to Atlanta.  I’d like to have gone later in the day, but seats were pretty full after this flight.  But, it gave me some time to explore Atlanta, and time for my friend Anthony, my companion for the trip, to get from Dallas to Atlanta, where he spend the night after flying straight from Seoul, South Korea to Seattle and then Dallas to spend the night with a mutual friend.  Our original plan was to meet in Tokyo, but my flights there were filling up, and the flight he wanted to take form Seoul was full, so Plan B it was.

Upon arriving in Atlanta, I got a MARTA (Metropolitan Atlanta Regional Transit Authority) day pass, and hopped on a train into the city.  In the meantime, I was texting my friend Joy from grade school to see if she had insight on places with good brunch and or/beer in town.  I was able to find a place called Bread & Butterfly, a “stylish all-day café & bistro serving seasonal, French-inspired fare made with local ingredients.”  The walk from the train station through the Inman Park neighborhood was pleasant.  The neighborhood is full of huge mature trees, and the houses were beautifully historical, all with front porch swings and fans overhead.  Very charming.  I wasn’t terrible hungry, so I ordered a peach and mint salad along with delicious frites for my meal.  As they say, when in Rome!  I then made my way a few blocks away to the Krog Street Market, and urban market full of shops and restaurants of many varieties…just my kind of place.  I met with Joy there, where she had a quick bite, as she was going to a lunch party later in the day.  We then walked along some newly finished portions of the Eastside BeltLine Trail, which is a pedestrian path that will eventually circumnavigate the whole city.  If I lived here, I’d bike it often!

After this we parted ways, and I slowly meandered south through the city, stopping at some historical sites where Martin Luther King, Jr. lived as child and an adult, and is memorialized.  I then took the train from the King Memorial Transit station across town to visit with my mom’s cousin, Grant, who lives in town and works as a recruiter for the Peace Corps.  He gave me a tour of his home (which he had decorated and arranged beautifully, which he moved into just a few years ago after spending two years with the Peace Corps, and living in Fort Collins and Los Angeles previously.  After a couple hours of great conversation, he took me back to the train, which I took back to the airport, and met with my friend Anthony at The Club Atlanta, a Priority Pass lounge which I have access to through my Chase Sapphire Reserve card.  After a lot of walking in humid weather, the ability to take a shower in a private bathroom, eat light sandwiches and snacks, and enjoy a couple Sweetwater 420 pales ales was just what the doctor ordered.

After a few hours of lounging, it was time to board our flight to Buenos Aires.  We were fairly nervous throughout boarding, not because seats were tight overall, but because seats up front were tight, and that’s what we wanted!  However, we were able to score the last two seats in Delta One.  As I was pretty tired and wanted to sleep as much as possible on the overnight flight, I opted for the “Dine and Rest” option, which allows all of your meal to come at the same time, instead of by course.  Dinner included Serrano ham with grilled apricots, summer tomato caprese salad, and corn and green chili bisque for everyone, and I chose pan seared halibut with gingered cream corn, sugar snap peas and red bell pepper sauce as my entrée, along with a glass of Crios Torrontes white wine from Argentina.  As always on Delta One, the soup stole the show.  As I still was awake by the time the dessert cart rolled around, I ordered the obligatory cheese plate with a glass of port, my favorite part of any flight on Delta One.  After a couple melatonin, setting up some relaxing music on the headphones, reclining the seat to lie flat, and arranging the fluffy pillow and duvet, I was off to sleep for a solid 7 hours.  After waking, I enjoyed a frittata and turkey sausage and fresh fruit for breakfast just before landing in Buenos Aires.  As always, the Delta One service and product was fantastic.

Upon landing, we were able to clear customs quickly, and set out to get cash from an ATM at the airport.  After multiple tries with multiple cards each, we had no luck.  So, we decided to Uber to the city and go from there.  The streets and curbside outside the airport were very busy and crowded, but once we finally connected with our Uber driver, it was a pleasant half hour ride to the city.  He spoke English well, having lived in the US for years, and gave us some good tips.  He dropped us off at Casa Rosada, a large pink building which houses the presidential office.  After walking around that area for a while, we decided to venture around the city a bit and see what we could see.  We found Florida Street, a pedestrian only street lined with shops, restaurants, bars, and vendors.  After a quick, cheap Argentinian beer at a bar and finding an ATM that would take my debit card, we continued on to find lunch.  My friend Brian who attended Purdue with me and is now a pilot for a major airline recommended lunch at Parrilla Pena, a steakhouse.  Though there was a bit of a language barrier, we were able to fairly quickly  order a bottle of the server’s favorite Malbec and a bife de lomo (tenderloin) for myself and bife de chorizo (rump steak) for him, at the recommendation of our driver.  Our meal came with empanadas.  My steak was tender, rare, juicy, and very flavorful.  Possibly the best steak I’ve had.  I’ll admit I’m not much of a steak eater, so the odds were pretty good.  His was a bit fatty and chewy, but still had good flavor.  The Malbec paired well.

From there we walked a bit toward the ocean, but gave up when we realized it was a bit further than expected, and not easily accessible from the area we were in.  We then deciding to take a cab to La Boca, the area famous for Argentinean tango.  We didn’t have an exact destination in the area, so our driver dropped us off on a street corner in what seemed to be a not-so-great part of town, but we walked a few blocks and found a small neighborhood bar and had a quick beer before Uber-ing about a mile away to where it looked like there was more going on.  We were dropped off adjacent to Parque Lezama, a very green and picturesque city park.  We weren’t finding any tango or live music during that part of the day, so we opted for the obvious choice…a bottle of Argentinian wine on the patio on the sidewalk outside a nice restaurant, La Popular de San Telmo.  It was La Vuelta, ad Savignon Blanc, and paired well with the sunny, low 70s temperatures and quaint area of town.

By then, it was time to head to the airport.  We got there with plenty of time to spare, and waited over an hour after talking to an agent, who was checking with Delta’s dispatch to ensure the flight would not be weight restricted, which may decrease the odds of us getting on.  When meeting with him again, he gave us the go-ahead to clear security and customs, which went pretty quickly and painlessly.  We again got the last two seats in Delta One, which makes all the different.  I was again tired, but opted for the full meal service this time.

Dinner consisted of grilled fennel and zucchini, salad with pesto conchiglie pasta, and carrot, ginger and orange soup, along with the seared Argentinian beef ribeye, which was unfortunately a disappointment after my lunch steak.  Again after dinner, a few glasses of wine, and a sundae and cheese for dessert, I popped some melatonin and slept 7 hours yet again.  Breakfast prior to landing was quiche caprese with fruit, potatoes and a croissant.  Customs in Atlanta went quickly, as it was not crowded at all in the early morning.  The next stop was back to The Club Atlanta for a quick shower, which is so very nice after a long day of walking around Buenos Aires and a 10 hour flight.  Soon after, I was on a flight to Fort Walton Beach to meet up with the rest of the family and resume the vacation with them and Laura’s family.

Overall, as with some of trips, I wish there had been more time to plan before reaching our destination.  I often leave a place feeling like I missed things that would have been good to see if I’d researched more.  But it’s just something that goes along with flying standby and taking last minute trips.  I wish I’d taken more pictures, but overall, it was a successful quick getaway.  It’s a beautiful city, and the people were very warm and welcoming.  Plus, it’s nice to fly overnight and wake up only one time zone off from where you started.  I’m looking forward to taking the rest of the family when the girls are older.

This trip started out a bit rough, as something happened that happens all too often:  flights look fine one day, then the next, it looks impossible.  We got very close to driving down instead of flying.  In the end, I found that it would be most convenient to fly to Atlanta and rent a car for a 5 hour drive from there to Panama City Beach.  Sure beats over 12 hours in the car with three little ones, not counting stops.  We got to Atlanta just fine, took the train to the rental car location, hopped in our SUV, and were in Florida just in time for dinner and the sunset.  We joined Laura’s parents, sister and boyfriend, and brother, wife, and their daughter in the condo for a week on the beach.  The girls got to romp around on the beach for a little bit before bed.

The next morning, Sunday, I took the advantage of extra help with the girls and open flights to escape the oppressive heat and humidity of the Florida Panhandle (many love it, but it’s a bit much for me) and vacate to Buenos Aires for a short trip, but that’ll be another post.

I returned on Tuesday morning, flying into Fort Walton Beach, about an hour away, as the flights to Panama City Beach were full.  Laura and the girls came to pick me up, and we had brunch at Summer Kitchen Café, a nice little joint in the upscale beachside town of Rosemary Beach.  We then ventured on to the condo.

Most of the week consisted of taking the girls back and forth between the indoor and outdoor pools, the beach, and the condo.  All three girls loved the indoor pool, and went back and forth between jumping in to us, floating around on their own, riding on our backs, and being thrown around in the water.  When not at the beach or pool, we spent time in the condo playing games and watching movies.  A nice place called The Craft Bar stocks a nice list of taps and fills growlers of them, making the week very enjoyable for me!

One nice break was on Wednesday, when we the guys (myself, father-in-law, brother-in-law, and sister-in-law’s boyfriend) took a chartered boat into the gulf for some fishing.  The captain set everything up for us, and our only job was to reel the fish in when they were snagged.  The king mackerel were biting in force, as we caught 7 over the course of an hour and a half or so.  About that point, a large storm system started moving in, and the captain decided it was best to head back in.  As soon as he did, lightning started striking nearby, and the skies opened up.  The captain navigated the boat back at full speed, all while the four of us bounced up and down on our seats, and were soaked down to our britches.  It wasn’t amusing at the time, but looking back, it was quite an adventure.

We dropped the fish off at a seafood market that also filets and cleans fish for the general public.  After dropping that off, we were returned to the dock near our car.  As we were all soaked, we agreed to head back to the condo to change clothes and have the ladies meet us afterward at J Michael’s, a restaurant that would grill our fish for us and provide multiple side dishes for a per person fee.  And of course I had to have some Apalachicola oysters.  We put a dent in the 39 pounds of King Mackerel, but we also ate it throughout the week as a hash with eggs and peppers for breakfast, and as sandwiches.

On Friday, we got the obligatory family and group pictures on the beach.  That night, Laura’s parents and sister started the drive back, with her brother and his family leaving soon after.  Even though we only had the condo until late Saturday morning, we stayed the night and decided to stay one more night in a hotel, as the flights were much more open on Sunday than they were on Sunday.

Saturday we had a nice day together as a family, first stopping for an early lunch at Finn’s Island Style Grub, where I had delicious seared tuna tacos.  We continued on to Idyll Hounds Brewing, where World of Beer was on site filming a feature on the brewery, the brewer, and their beers.  I first checked them out last year, and still feel they make the best and most unique beer in the area by far.  There were games and a Jenga set for the girls to play with while Laura and I sipped on beer (mostly me) and talked.  We made our way back into town and checked in to our hotel, the Hampton Inn and Suites Panama City Beach.  I booked it using partial points and partial payment on my Chase Sapphire Reserve.  It was a beautiful property, was right on the beach, and had a nice pool, so the girls could get in one more afternoon of swimming.

The trip home via Atlanta was mostly uneventful, and the ability to spend an hour or so eating snacks and letting the girls move around a bit at The Club (a club lounge), also available through my Chase Sapphire Reserve card, made it a nice layover.  They were also very excited and happy to see my mom, “Nana,” who had spent the night in Atlanta on the way home from a week in the United Kingdom.  We were split up a bit on the last flight and the girls got cranky with having to rush on the plane and determine seats, but eventually calmed down.  We were home with plenty of time to relax a bit before going back to work Monday, only to have Tuesday of for Independence Day.

Overall, a successful trip with Laura’s family to the beach!