We’ve been back from Okinawa for more than a week but I still have a few more stories to tell.  One day we wandered off to explore Okinawa World which included the Gyokusendo Caves.  These caves were created over 300,000 years ago and are considered the biggest cave system in Japan with an overall length of 5,000 meters.  Currently 890 meters are open to the public with the remainder preserved for research.  Photos were not allowed.  The caves were interesting to me for two reasons.  One is that it was so warm in there and two was there were so many lakes and waterfalls.  Pretty cool place.

While at Oki World we had our first Blue Seal Ice Cream Cone.  This was on the list of must have’s.  It’s very creamy with lots of interesting flavors.

We also visited this Habushu brewery.  Not sure if I should call this sake or whiskey or wine.  But whatever it is, it’s famous in Okinawa for it’s special ingredient…

You can also get it keg style.

This Habu Snake belongs to the pit viper family and is closely related to the rattlesnake and copperhead.   Check out this napping tangle.

This was not on our must have list!

Moving on to another day and another outing, we went for a walk looking for a brewery that didn’t exist.  So we typed in something else on google maps  (like lunch spot) and ended up wandering up some steep back country roads of Okinawa

where we found the…

It was a very unassuming place high up on a hill

with an amazing view.

Inside was very small but very busy.

Check out their sound system.  The staff regularly turned the record over or replaced it with a different record.

We had the most incredibly delicious lunch and bought several tasty treats for later.

On Saturday, March 5 we got up at 0430 to be sure to catch the Space A on the Patriot Express back to Iwakuni.  No problem at all although we didn’t leave until 0930.  We got back home by 1130 and an hour later our good friend Tracy along with a few other friends picked us up and off we went for a weekend trip to Yamaguchi.  Why you ask?  Because on the first Sunday of the month at dawn Yamaguchi is known for its huge Flea Market.

We got to town with lots of time to wander the streets of Yamaguchi then dinner at one of our favorite Bavarian breweries.  (They have great pizza by the way.)

The next day it was rainy and windy so most of the 300+ vendors were not at the market nor were the crowds so it was easy to check things out.  This booth had lots of old hand made tools.

We bought this lantern

And this wooden wall hanging.

OK.  Now I’m finally caught up with these trips.  Ahhhh