Happy 4th of July!

Hooray!! Josh had off from work today so we had a nice slow morning and then hopped on a train and headed to Kamakura to walk around and enjoy lunch and some sightseeing. Rainy season is upon us now, so most days are either overcast and muggy or damp and muggy or it's raining like crazy AND muggy! This day was a combination of all of these weather conditions, but it was fun anyway.

Kamakura was the capitol of Japan from 1185 - 1333. It is filled with small shops and hiking paths and many Buddhist temples and shrines. We started off with some window shopping and lunch at the "sushi-go-round."
I stuck to miso soup and mostly cooked things while Josh enjoyed some of our favorites and even gave some raw crab sushi a try. (which, he would NOT recommend!)

After lunch we continued down the pedestrian shopping street (Komachi-Dori) and headed for the Tsurugoako-Hachimangu shrine (that's a mouthful!). The shrine and surrounding grounds were decorated for the Star Festival (Tanabata) which they will celebrate on July 7th, so it was very colorful and festive - even with the overcast and misty weather.

The rain started to pick up, so we decided to head home and rest a bit before heading off the Lighthouse for a 4th of July luau (which unfortunately had to be indoors) and some fireworks that were set off over over the bay. Out of almost 50 people at the barb-b-q, only 7 of us faced the elements and climbed to the top of Chuo hill to watch the fireworks. It was very wet, but kind of interesting to see fireworks in and amongst the clouds. (AND...I'm a sucker for fireworks, so it would have taken a lot more rain to dissuade me from watching them!)