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PHOTOS: The Conch Hunters

Kass, the boys and I had a great time yesterday on the water off Provo. We took a boat from Turtle Cove to the great reef. The fish were abundant and colorful, as the pictures show. We also dove for conch (which we then ate raw and fresh!) and visited one of the most gorgeous beaches I have ever seen.

Conch are interesting little animals. I can't say I love the taste (not bad, but not in love with the taste). They spend their first 8 years growing this massive shell that has come to symbolize all things caribbean. They then have their shell bashed in and eaten.

The creature itself is a really ugly thing. One leg. Two tiny eyes. And a hunk of soft flesh. Think giant oyster and stone crab mate and deliver inside a nuclear reactor.

Stay tuned for Episode 3 of the video series, which will feature this trip.

PHOTOS: Vivi Likes Sand!

Everyday while we've been in Turks we've taken Vivi to the beach. Vivi's first reaction to sand was fear and loathing. We have slowly evolved to peaceful coexistence. So, yes, I may be stretching the truth a little in the headline. But as these pictures show, Vivi has come to terms with her fear of the sand.

PHOTOS: Sunday in Turks

Another amazing day in paradise. Enjoy! Hard to believe we've been down here for 8 days already. Time flies when it's this nice out.

Redskins at Hill Country

One of the benefits of owning your own restaurant is that you can pick what's on the TVs. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that Marc showed the Skins game today on the main projection TV at Hill Country. The DC crew -- plus wives (Kass, Chloe, Kristin), kids (Ava, Myles, Cole, Austin) and parents/grandparents (Epsteins) -- got together to watch the Skins beat the Dolphins.

Hill Country is a great place to watch the game. The BBQ is awesome, as you all know already. There are TVs everywhere (upstairs and downstairs bar and downstairs stage). And Marc makes BBQ wings in the smokers that are out of this world. The ones with sauce are great. The plain ones are even better.

I plan to spend many Sundays and Monday nights there this NFL season. Please join me.

Viva la Vivi!

Why do kids need to take dumps at the worst times

Warning. I am posting this directly from Riverside Park.

Why is it that kids only go to the bathroom when the available facilities are at their worst? It's like kids' bowel movements are inversely related to the cleanliness of the world's bathroom. Why can't they be mutually exclusive? Nasty bathroom, no dump. Instead, the closer the bathroom is to Iraq outhouse, the more they have to go.

Case in point: we're having a wonderful time at Riverside Drive. My friend Eli shows up. Myles needs to take a crap. Come on, Myles. We live in a beautifully clean apartment thanks to Kass (and Erica). Why don't you use those bathrooms? Why now?

Please send toiletpaper if you read this. There's none here. Oops.

A beautiful Saturday in NYC

Red Bird

Myles and I took a little adventure yesterday afternoon. The impetus was to pick up contact sheets and negatives of portraits Renny took of Vivian. But as is the case so often, the adventure spun in a whole new direction.

We headed via subway to Duggals at 23rd and 6th. We were walking on 23rd and ran into Dave Linn and his wife, Jen. Dave is a friend from NU. Great guy. (The strange thing here is that I didn't connect with Dave for the first 17 months that I have lived in NYC but just connected via email last week and then ran into him the following weekend. Strange.) Anyway, he was walking to the Madison Square BBQ Festival across the street. I had forgotton about the festival. Hill Country, Marc Glosserman's amazing tribue to Texas BBQ and music, had a booth.

So Myles and I decided to hit the festival after Duggals. We briefly watched a blues band on the main stage and then walked toward the BBQ pits to see if we could find Marc. On our way, Myles noticed this bright red bird that is pictured above. (I walked right by.) He was mesmerized. He tried to touch it but the owner said it might bite. I incidentally told birdman the same about Myles. The birdman didn't believe me as Myles was wearing his favorite Phish tshirt.

Marc was not at the Hill Country stand. He was a few blocks away at the restaurant. So Myles and I walked to the restaurant. We walked in. I told Myles this was Marc's place. His reaction? "Are they going to have video games." Marc and Michael G were there getting ready for night #2 (opening night was a huge success and Kass and I went back Saturday night and it was packed. We hung out with Marc and Kristen, their families and friends. Great band. David Byrne, former head man of Talking Heads, showed up at around 10:30 pm, which was super cool. David runs a great blog that can be found here).

Anyway, this is why I love living in NYC. Spending time with Kass and the kids. Running into friends on the street every day. BBQ. Random bands I have never heard of but rock.  Wandering  knowing its the adventure that matters and not where we're going. Meeting random people, and birds, with the added danger that they may just bite (or eat) my kids.

What a Day

Walking home from park with Mama Kass.

Nice ... Kass is back in action