Yokota just completed a two-week exercise in which we worked
12 hr shifts. I took night shift. It ended in such a timeframe to give us a
four-day weekend with a Friday off, the weekend, and Memorial Day on
Monday. Chris and I decided now
would be a perfect time to spend the long weekend on the beach. A few hours
South of base is the Fugisawa prefecture that houses a charming little island
called Enoshima. My friend Jen Schwartz would drive down for day trips and body
board when she was in Japan.
In Japan, the car wash comes to your car A very small tunnel for the car to go through.
Chris and I left around 4pm and had quite an enjoyable drive
with help from our google maps app. We have recently started using the ‘toll
free’ routes to save us some major cash on our trips. It has never led us too
far astray… until this trip. There was an alley that it took us down that was
actually for walkers… or motorcycles… because we got stuck for a good 10
minutes. We probably could have
made it through the first time if it weren’t for a wooden pole sitting to the
side at the end of the alley. We tried to back the car up… and broke the mirror
on another random wooden pole half way up the alley. We were just about ready
to try and figure out how to call for a tow truck or something when Chris gave
it one last try and just floored it past the wooden pole at the end of the
alley. It put a damper on our mood
for a bit but we did the best we could in the situation.
After we were free, it was only a 5 min drive to the hotel
proximity where we found paid parking then checked into the hotel. It was a
nice hotel that let us park our bikes right out front. It was located right
next to the train station too. So after we settled our baggage, we bought some
tape and yummy triangles at the Lawson’s at the base of the hotel. We nommed on
the triangles while we taped up the car mirror. Then, we hopped on the train
and went three stops down to the beachfront.
We walked up and down the waterline for an hour or so then
found a Yoshinoya that we ate dinner at.
We collected quite a few neat shells and Chris decided that
he wanted to find a sharks tooth on this trip.
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| Enoshima Train Station |
The next morning, we had breakfast at the hotel. It was a
mix of a traditional Japanese breakfast and a Japanese take on an American
breakfast. It did have a cappuccino machine that was just superb. After a good
breakfast, we got on our bikes and rode down to Enoshima. It is an island
connected to the mainland by a bridge that has a walking path. On the island,
we parked our bikes and started investigating our surroundings. On the main
strip, there were a bunch of little shops that led up to a giant temple. Off to
the left of the temple was another walking path. We took that side path up a
bunch of stairs to get to the Love Bell and the island’s caves.
A little history about Enoshima:
Enoshima used to be terrorized by a dragon that would eat
children that played in the water. Benten is a goddess. One of seven goddesses
of fortune, she also is known for being goddess of eloquent speech and music.
She could not bear to see the local people suffering so much so she sent an
earthquake to the mouth of the dragons cave and then appeared to him to make
him stop. He fell in love with her and although he was ugly, he wooed her with
speech and promised he would stop terrorizing the area if she would marry him.
So, they got married, the terrorizing stopped, and they lived happily ever
after.
On the island, there is a Love Bell. Couples who wish to
express their undying and eternal love to each other go ring the bell and can
place a lock with their names on it on a fence surrounding the bell. If you
were wondering how we got this picture of our backs… The island had
selfie-posts where you could prop up your phone and set a timer.
After visiting the Love Bell, we went down the South side of
the island. It had a path that led to the caves where the dragon used to
reside. When we went down in the caves, we were given our own little candles to
walk around with. It was wet and even I had to crouch down to walk through some
of the spots. We even found the dragon! : )
After we emerged from the caves, we decided to hang out down
by a rock surface that waves would come crashing over. It was straight out of
Little Mermaid. As fun as it was, I forgot how uncoordinated I am. I went to
step over to a different rock and it was very slick. I ended up falling and
bashing my hip and elbow on the rock then dropping my phone into a pool of
water about 2 ft deep. Chris helped
me up and got my phone… Most people pretended not to see anything so that was a
bit of a comfort.
The last picture my phone took...
After that, we got off the rock and had to climb up a bunch
of stairs that I did not remember coming down. Once we hit the main stretch of
shops again, Chris noticed a sign that was for ‘Dr. Fish’. We went to
investigate. It was a tub filled with mini sucker-fish that would come eat the
dead skin off your feet. To my surprise, Chris was all over this!. For those of
you who do not know, Chris has a fear of fish touching him in the water. That
being said, I think he did better than I did in the tank. More than anything,
the fish tickled and it was just an odd feeling. After 5 minutes of pedal
rejuvenation, we slipped on our flip-flops and headed back toward the
beach. After a while, it was
getting dark so we rode back to the hotel, got cleaned up, and headed out for
dinner at a chicken shack.
The next morning, after a good breakfast, we rode back
towards Enoshima but stopped on the mainland side. We went to the Aquarium;
which was right on the beach. They had a lot of very cool areas, but it made me
miss our Omaha Zoo and Aquarium. I really liked all the jellyfish that they
had. Chris’ favorite part was a giant tank with a scuba diver that went around
and played with the fish.
One display I thought was particularly interesting was how the styrofoam 'Cup of Soup' containers shrink when they are exposed to the pressure of the deep water.
After the Aquarium, we went and checked out a few
shops along the beach and found a Red Lobster that we decided to eat at. It was
actually not like the Red Lobsters that we have in the states. It was a
completely different menu and to Chris’ dismay, no cheddar biscuits. That being
said, the food was very good and left us with full bellies and happy hearts.
After lunch, we rode back up to the hotel, changed into clothes that could get
wet and rode the train back down to the beach. We played in the water, collected
some shells, and enjoyed the sunset for our last night in Enoshima.
Unfortunately, we never did find a sharks tooth. Maybe next time.
