Our neighbors offered to watch our boys for the day so after taking care of some community projects in the morning, my wife and I headed to the train station to start our day.
We had about a two hour ride on 4 different train lines, but had some nice conversations on the way.
Our ultimate goal was Kamakura, via the Enoden train, which is home to one of the largest Buddha statues in Japan.
We bought a multiple trip ticket for the Enoden train that allowed us to get off and on as many times as we wanted to for the day, so we made a couple stops. One at Enoshima and another at Hase, the latter of which is just a few minutes walk to the Great Buddah.
My wife on the steps to Buddah.
While we were in Kamakura, the wife suggested we head to Yokosuka and go visit the place we met 12 years ago. So, we hopped on the bus to Kamakura's JR line station and went the 4 stops to Yokosuka JR station, which allows a very nice view of the U.S. Navy base that I was stationed at for 3 years.
This picture is of an Arleigh Burke DDG-51 class guided missle destroyer. The pier it's moored to is the same pier my ship was mored to about 90% of the time I was on it.
We had a nice little walk from there, past Daiei mall, down the main street that runs in front of the base (and also where the main gate is located), and up through Mikasa Plaza to TGI Friday's just off that street.
Ate dinner there and had a few drinks and had some more fun just talking and taking in happy hour.
We finished out final drink after happy hour's final order then headed to the bar that we first met.
Just about a block away from the main gate of the Navy base is Dobuita stree, more commonly referred to by Navy personnel as "The Honch". It's a long street with a few miscellaneous stores, but it's mostly known as the location were a lot of the base personnel go to drink.
This place used to always have people everywhere. It looks like a ghost town now, but that could be due to ships not being in port.
There are bars just about everywhere. Some of the more common ones are Buffaloes, Georges, Rock City, Popeye's (a complete dive bar, but the drinks are killer!) and this one...
October 2nd of 1999, I was in this bar celebrating a friend's birthday. He had told me and another guy on our ship that he had a female friend bringing in several people for the party.
Well, one of those people turned out to be the girl I am married to.
This is the exact place we first met 12 years ago. Right in front of the Foosball table.
The place is almost exactly the way it was when I left Yokosuka 10 years ago, sans the video jukebox that used to be just behind where we were standing.
One of the more interesting points of being in bars near bases is that you will see people sign money and have them glued or taped up on the wall.
I searched for almost 30 minutes trying to find one of the many I put up in my tenure there or anyone from my ship. Well, I didn't find any of mine, but I found one from someone on my ship from 1998, which is the year we arrived there (we brought the ship over from San Deigo in a homeport shift).
Wish I could make out the name. The person on the bottom that signed just above where it says "Vandegrift" was in my department. Engineering. EM2 something-or-other. Hum...wonder who it was.
Then, just for nostalgia, I exchanged 100 yen for a dollar bill and the wife and I put our mark on the bar.
Sorry for the blurriness. I couldn't keep myself from wobbling due to my inebriation. LOL!!
We ended the night after a drink and a trip down memory lane and headed home from Yokosuka Chuo station.
On the way back, we each got an e-mail from our neighbors with a picture of A.J. sharing a drink with their daughter Meia, who is a year younger than A.J. We like to think they are on a date...hehehe.
Ten years of marriage. It's had its ups and downs, but just about every marriage does. I am thankful for everything she has given me: our three boys, a great home to live in and a wonderful life full of adventure. Wouldn't change any of it...
