Get outta town: 14 hours in Shimoda

Do you ever get to Thursday afternoon and feel like you need to get out of the city for the weekend? Except that the friendly-looking hotel you saw once near the beach is booked for Saturday night because of course it is. So that's that, no dice. But you can't quite let go of the idea and you think, well, what about Friday night? Sure, it's a little far to travel after work, but you'd wake up Saturday morning and already be right at the beach. And Fridays are cheaper than Saturdays anyway. And this train schedule says that if I leave at 7:30, I'll be there by 10. A snap!

So I booked a night at Ernest House and tucked the bare necessities — undies, toothbrush, crossword puzzle —  in next to my laptop. I felt a little giddy at work, knowing I was taking off for a mini-adventure as soon as the day was over.


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Turns out, I'd read the schedule wrong. I realized once I was on the train that it got in at 11, not 10. Oh. But nevermind. What's one more hour? Three trains and a short cab ride later, I was in a bright, clean room with the sound of the ocean in the distance (or was that just a little rain?). It was quiet. I wondered if this had been a terribly silly idea. Maybe. But I was there. Might as well settle in.
I did the first thing you should always do when you set yourself up anywhere on the Izu peninsula.

Turn on the mosquito zapper. They take many forms, and the hotel often tucks them away in a drawer or closet, but there is almost sure to be some kind of mosquito repeller. Look until you find it. Failure to do so could result in the worst night of your life. Ask me how I know sometime...

The breakfast basket, enough to stretch out to a light lunch

I could have sworn I set an alarm for sunrise. I have no recollection of shutting it off, but it was no longer on when I heard them leaving breakfast outside the door a few hours later. (Cross sunrise beach walk off the to-do list.) They do breakfast in a basket. Plenty of juice, hot coffee, orange pound cake, fresh fruit, yogurt and a sandwich. You can take it out to the beach or eat in the room. I perched on the wide window ledge in the room, turned on some music and dug in.

The beach was breezy and chilly. Not a day for picnics or sunbathing, but perfect for a long, world-away walk. I thought about the crowds starting to thicken in Tokyo.

Danger!

Lifeguard kids in red and yellow beanies that tied under the chin escorted me away from those rocks, twice, insisting they were dangerous. I found some nice tide pools on the next beach up instead.
My greatest accomplishment of the weekend, maybe of much longer:

I made a few of these. The wind knocked them over. There also may have been a mudcastle. The hotel proprietors were very nice and let me hang out in the restaurant/lounge with my computer to write for a while and plan the return. I figured out a relaxed route home that would allow a stop at a hotspring spot I loved a few years ago, DHC Akazawa Onsen. It's a million times better than, say, LaQua (which is pretty nice). Just a few hours less convenient.

From Akazawa's home page. Couldn't sneak in a camera.

The weekly special in the restaurant was delicious. Shiso soba with an ume boshi on top, tempura, sashimi, pickles, chawan mushi, dark miso, and melon with a little fruit jell-o. All served with a gorgeous view. The incredible soak and the meal together were less than 3000 yen.

Everyone loves pictures of lunch, right?

It was one of those trips where every connection was tight but not rushed, including the free shuttles to and from Izu Kogen station to the onsen. The ride home on the Tokaido line was long but pretty empty up until the last half hour or so. Yes, the ratio of train to non-train time for the overall trip was well into the red zone. (There's a much faster express, but not when I was going.) I didn't mind this time, as it was scenic and relaxing and I had brought plenty to do. I finished reading Wallflower at the Orgyand listened to some Radiolab. I sipped at Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives. Nearly every story in it gives me a chill.


Jim had to work on the weekend, and I think he'd have the sense not to go so far for such a short time anyway. This guerrilla getaway is not for everyone. It wouldn't even be for me, most of the time. But I was in the right mood for it, and it was perfect. It felt like four days away, even though it was just over 24 hours door to door. I might try planning a little more in advance next time. Although this went so nicely, I might not.

There are a few options for going from Tokyo to the Izu peninsula by train. The most elegant solution is the Odoriko or Super View Odoriko from Shinjuku or Tokyo (timetable).