the scenic route to old town alexandria | 1

I've been romanticizing Old Town Alexandria. There are all sorts of historical tours, Robert E. Lee's childhood home is there, and I envisioned it would be rustic, charming, and a veritable time machine to another era in the region's past. I was sorely disappointed when I realized it's a mirror image of Georgetown, complete with the same retail-therapy lined main streets and converted old buildings into restaurants and pubs (with a few vague ghost stories attached). Although it wasn't quite what I hoped for, I did still marvel at the stunning rowhouses and quaint tree-lined backstreets.

But the best part of Alexandria, by far, was the journey out there. Zan and I have been talking about cycling out there for a while. A few weekends ago, we pushed ourselves out of bed a little earlier than normal on a Saturday morning, grabbed some coffee (him) and tea (me) and started cycling. Round trip, it's about 26 miles, and every inch of it is beautiful. From Cleveland Park, we took trails in Rock Creek Park down to the edge of the mall by the Lincoln Memorial, After crossing over Arlington Bridge, we navigated onto the Mt. Vernon trail and rode that all the way into Alexandria. 

We saw the last remnants of glorious fall foliage, made a pit stop at Gravelly Point Park to watch planes take off from Washington-National airport, and crossed over a rickety wooden bridge that made me swoon. Wisps of cottontails greeted us. Drifting leaves lazily floated by us as we rode. A swampy area with reeds and woods and birds singing a final fall song called for me to pause to take it all in. 

And as hard of a time as I'm giving Alexandria, I loved spending time in the Spice and Tea Exchange, where I nearly bought them out of spices and teas. And we enjoyed hot apple cider from a local coffeeshop we found tucked away on a backstreet. We devoured lunch in a converted historic building, and we lit up walking down the sidewalks already ablaze with twinkling holiday lights and music. 

I used to be such a fast traveler - packing in as much as possible in the short time I had. These days, I savor slowness, reaching a new city on bike or foot, seeing every detail in high definition that's usually a blur by car.

travel tuesday | cycling the shimanami kaido

It has become increasingly clear to me that my favorite thing about living abroad - and what I miss most about it - is inhibition. Having a finite amount of time in one place means you never stop moving and trying new things.

About a month before I left Japan, I decided to cycle the Shimanami Kaido - the 70 kilometer route that connects two of Japan's main islands - Honshu and Shikoku - by way of six smaller islands in the Seto Inland Sea. A few friends and I picked a weekend, hopped on a train to the start of the route, rented bicycles, and started pedaling.

...without a clue where we were going. At least in the beginning.  

The route starts in Onomichi City on Honshu. We rented bicycles for a nominal cost and grabbed a map. The bike shop owner pointed out which way we should go. To start the route, you have to take a ferry to the first island. We missed the port and rode on for a few miles. We didn't care because we had the day, and all of the Seto Inland Sea was ours.

On the Shimanami Kaido, you cross six small islands: Mukaishima, Innoshima, Ikuchijima, Omishima, Hakatajima, and Oshima, before sailing blissfully downhill into Imabari City on Shikoku. There are three cyclist routes, each color-marked: easy, intermediate, advanced.

The scenery is gorgeous - tropical, verdant, mountainous, all in one panoramic view. There are also some funny sights on the islands, like a dinosaur statue.

And replicas of the Easter Island Statues.

And the ever popular Japanese phrase, "Let's enjoy." This is the first only time I ever saw it with a pants down illustration. I really did enjoy.

We didn't train for our bike ride, and I didn't purchase special cycling clothes. There are bicycle ports on all of the six islands you cross on the Shimanami Kaido. If you decide to throw in the towel, you can drop your bike off and take the next ferry across to Imabari. No matter what, we said, we'd finish.

The easy cycling path is the most scenic, as it has you follow the coastlines. The advanced path takes you up and over the mountains. We took the easy path... until we didn't. It was a shock to the system to realize we missed our trail and hopped on another. We shrugged and kept pedaling... up... and up... and up until we finally made it over that mountain.We earned a break.

The route was built in 1999, so all of the bridges are modern and well-kept. There are multiple routes for vehicles to cross over to Shikoku, but the Shimanami Kaido is the only way for pedestrians and cyclists to make the trip. There are designated lanes for cyclists to cross the bridges. Some will tell you that the inclines to the bridges are cyclist-friendly, but only believe them if you're Lance Armstrong.

Crossing the final bridge that leads the way onto Shikoku at sunset is what it is all about. And the journey, too; it's one of my favorite memories in Japan. The last bridge is the longest - it's several miles, and you think it will never end. But when the sun starts to dip below the mountains in the distance, you hope it never will.

if you go... 

bike rentals are inexpensive, 500Yen with a 1000Yen deposit

be at least moderately fit (total: up to 50 miles)

bring cash for small bridge toll fees

read this guide

read my thoughts here, too... 

i wrote about the shimanami-kaido on feminist-san 

my hometown in japan: hikari, yamaguchi