Nago Cherry Blossom Festival

This weekend we found ourselves at the Cherry Blossom Festival in the northern part of the island near the city of Nago.

We missed it last year since Michael had to work.

So, this year, I was really excited to go because it is listed as one of the top 10 things to do on Okinawa.

We decided to get some grub before the long trek.

Grayson was really excited to have some yakitori. Let's face it. Dinner is just better when it's served on a stick.

If you look really close, you can see there is still a little monkey on my back. A very popular monkey. I lost count of all the Japanese girls that came over to giggle at him.

No festival food dinner would be complete without something sweet. We opted for this strawberry pastry. The pedals tasted a little like raw cookie dough, but Grayson really liked it anyway.

The awe of the swimming fish carni game transcended the language barrier.

One last picture of this scream-like mask that all the locals wanted to get their picture taken with.... not sure what that was all about.... and we were off.

It looked like there were 10,000 stairs, but there were most likely only a few hundred.

We saw a few blossoms, but a lot of the trees still hadn't bloomed.

Grayson was hardcore and walked the whole way by himself.

Finally, the shrine at the TOP!

We threw some change in the grate. Said a prayer. And rang the bell!

One family shot before the journey home.

Another busy week on tap....