Yokohama

This past weekend we rented a car.  I have a feeling that a car purchase is in our future, but that is another story.  Right now it's fun to rent one when we want it.  The weather was just stellar on Saturday - sunny and 75 degrees so we decided to take a drive to the Yokohama waterfront.  Technically, Yokohama is the largest port in Asia and the place where Admiral Perry landed and demanded that Japan open its doors to trade with the West.  Because of the old-meets-new atmosphere, it seems that ancient temples are directly juxtaposed with modern buildings wherever you look.  We had been to Chinatown here, but that was it.

We decided to visit the harbor and had the luck of catching a yacht show.  We had the opportunity to walk along the docks and board a number of the boats to look around.  Some of the yachts were simply stunning - three bedrooms, large deck, modern kitchen etc.  Bailey and Sydney wondered if we could just live on one and take it to visit wherever we wanted to go.  I reminded them that if we had this type of boat, we couldn't afford a house.  I'm not sure I convinced them.

The funniest part of the day was Bailey and the rock climbing wall.  We bought the ticket for him to take a try and he got all suited up in the harness and proper shoes.  As he climbed higher, we realized that people were gathering around to watch the little Western boy work.  Bailey climbed his heart out.  There was a huge bump in the middle of the wall to scale and he just couldn't get all the way over it.  He did the best he could and then felt finished.  He pushed away from the wall and started to rappel his way down.  All of a sudden applause burst out from the crowd.  I swear at least 50 people were clapping for him.  I think it made his millennium.  But that's why you see the photo of Bailey climbing the wall and with him off center in the photo - I wanted to show you the funny crowd loving the blondie.

The marina had an outlet mall attached with a few Western stores so we got to shop a little too.  All in all a fun day out!  This car thing could get addicting....