Kintaikyo (Bridge)

So this past weekend Sallie and I loaded all 6 kids in a van and headed to Iwakuni ( Marine Base) we had an awesome drive up and after a few bumps at check in got to our rooms. Which were really nice and big. The girls and I had 2 rooms with a full kitchen, much nicer than the Lodge here. The best part about traveling this past weekend was Iwakuni has a Burger King!!!! a Pizza Hut!!!! and an American KFC. The girls and I were super excited as we are a burger king family :) The girls had friday and monday off so we made it a 4 day weekend and enjoyed being back on a Marine Base for a couple of days. Enjoy the pictures :)

Kintai Bridge spans Nishiki River which once separated the samurai and their castle from the commoners. The bridge was a masterpiece of engineering with its 5 arches when it was first built in 1673. The bridge washed away the next year but the stronger replacement lasted until 1950 (rebuilt 1953) and became known as one of the top three classic bridges in Japan.

The current bridge was built from 2001 to 2004 but the original design and traditional tools were used to create a faithful reproduction.