Jody and I started out our day by taking a trip back to the beach which I enjoyed the previous day.
How nice! It was much clearer and crisper on my birthday. Thus, there were more people on the beach. Yes, I know that for you that live in Sarasota, Florida, home of Siesta Key Beach, winner of the world award for the nicest and purist sand in the world, I should be blase' about this. But, hey! It's Japan, Okinawa, and the Pacific. Give me a break.
Ok, there's Jody with both hands up above and to the left of my right foot. Yeah, I know. Enough feet!
A nice shower after the beach, and on to the birthday festivities with a short walk up the beach from our hotel to just outside American Village and to the Four Seasons restaurant (not related to the U.S. Four Seasons). It came recommended for its steak.
Jody looked GREAT!
However, she did at one point look a little like JANE EYRE with this scarf holding down her hat.
The Birthday Boy? Meh! The usual. We proceeded to dine on a course of pork, steak, and lobster tail. Delicious and deserving the restaurant's reputation - great food that's over-priced. Actually, considering what we got, the bill wasn't half-bad.
We both were so relaxed and very happy campers following this meal. Now, on to the major tourist-trap, American Village.
It's called American Village because it appears to chiefly cater to the local American servicemen at the U.S. Military Base in Okinawa, as well as others. Basically, they sell pretty much the same stuff we can get at home, only at a higher price (which figures considering the transportation and import charges). Our hotel manager told us that tourists visiting this resort town are comprised mostly of Chinese, S. Korans, and Japanese. We all know how much Chinese love to buy American stuff.
It was somewhat sobering to see a toy of the U.S. B24 Liberator in a local toy store here. It was a heavy bomber that flew many bombing missions over Japan and I suspect, Okinawa. Well, I guess it IS American Village. At least it wasn't the B25 Mitchell that bombed the Hell out of Tokyo in retaliation for Pearl Harbor (THIRTY SECONDS OVER TOKYO - Great book and movie, BTW).
One last round of sunset pictures for Jody.
Right above the sunset in the middle you can glimpse a jet being given a very dramatic sunset picture.
This was the best selfie I could get of us due to the intensity of the sunset.
After the sunset, Jody and I continued to shop around the hugh shopping village and made our way toward the ferris wheel for Dick's birthday ride.
Inside the building that lead to the ferris wheel, there was a working train diorama of Godzilla and other Japanese movie monsters destroying the town. Hilarious! The Godzilla they used is the actual one that I purchased for my nephew, Eli.
The look above from inside the ferris wheel cabin. It ferris wheel moves so slow that it took 15 minutes to make one complete revolution.
Looking out toward the ocean.
What a wonderful birthday I had. Thanks Jody.
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