Livin' the McDream: Azalea Festival & Gelato

Today I convinced Keenan to check out an Azalea Festival with me in Shichinohe. I know...a flower festival...how exciting! Needless to say he was less than thrilled, but a promise of some gelato sweetened the deal a little bit.

Tenno Shrine with Azalea Blossoms:
Gozu Tenno Shrine has received many worshipers since 1394. After World War II, a famous horse painter Kayo Kamiizumi asked for a donation of precious azalea trees from volunteers of the town. The trees were replaced on the temple grounds as a means of beautifying the area which had been badly neglected. Now, over 500 azalea trees with their pretty pink petals every May, which are more than 300 years old, cover the grounds of this shrine. The scene of the area, fantastically illuminated at night during the Tsutsuji Matsuri (Azalea Blossom Festival) in mid-May, are too beautiful to be described.

We were too late for the peak of the blooming, most of the petals had already fallen, but it was still really pretty. The azaleas cover the hill where the shrine is located. One hundred and six stairs lead the way up to the shine. Paper lanterns line the path. Other than viewing the flowers and the shrine there was not much else to see at this festival. There were a couple vendors selling donuts, but nothing else "festival-ly." Perhaps there was more to it when the blooming was at its peak?

Namiki Farms! Fresh made gelato! Yummy! Took us a little bit of driving around to find the place...mostly because we didn't realize there were two branches of Route 4...and we were on the wrong one! Once we figured that out it was easy! Namiki has a restaurant that serves steak (lunch only) and a shop that sells gelato. They have Jersey cows on site so the milk used for the gelato is fresh. The available flavors change frequently. Today I had pineapple and Keenan had cookie cream. Delicious!

http://www.namiki-gelato.com/index.html