March 19: Sheila is in Heaven, Stacy gets sick

One of the things Geraldine and I quickly picked up on about our host mother is that she likes to be early. Not just on time, but arrive before everyone else. I'm not sure if it has to do with being a woman, but as she said she has to work three times as hard as a man - so maybe she also wants to arrive three times as early!
Our ride to our first tour picked us up at 8:30. We were heading to the Pentax Camera Museum. Problem was, the tour didn't start until 10 ... and we arrived at 9:15, way before anyone else. But, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Our driver was a man named Noguchi - who turned out to be hilarious despite the language issues. I tend to laugh a lot and he quickly figured this out and decided to see how hard he could make me laugh. He started making these crazy faces and made me laugh so hard I was literally crying! He even stood behind some of the Rotary people and was making faces as the introductions were going on - I'm sure they thought I was crazy!
The Pentax Camera Museum was very cool and Sheila was in heaven. Sheila is a photographer and knows a ton about cameras and was even doing some explaining to us about the displays. The had some of the very first cameras and photos dating back to the 1800's and of course some very cool spy cameras and high tech new ones.
Our next stop was a Sake Brewery. This was lovely since the tour was a bit different from the other sake brewery we visited on Saturday. We sat in a lounge and were presented with some handmade cards from the owner's mother. (Everyone in Japan seems to be so kind!) Of course we had some tasting as well - and that's where the problem began for me. I had some kind of allergic reaction to the sake. Nothing major - but I got flushed and was feeling ill for several hours. So, no more sake for me!!!
We had lunch at a golf course with the Mashiko Rotary Club. The club was so thoughtful and provided us with an American style meal while the rest of them had bento boxes - we were all drooling over the Japanese food, but ours was still tasty. Geraldine wasn't going to drool though - she asked for a bento box and had her food sent away!
Mashiko is an artists community, many of the residents are ceramic artists so our next stop was the Pottery Art Museum. This place was very cool - we saw some amazing works of art including some plates by the Mashiko Rotary Club President (Mizumi-san). We wrapped up that segment with a cup of english tea and a walk through the town's handicraft shopping district. I was searching for a tea pot - but never did find the perfect one. I will find it before I leave Japan though!
One of the shops we visited was very cool and modern. I didn't end up buying anything, but I would have loved to. They had a vase that was white with green, blue and orange swirls... Gorgeous!
The final stop was the Indigo-dye factory. We were all looking forward to this one. This was an amazing place - very old style Japanese where they do all the dyeing in 200 year old pots buried in the grond. This very shop has been there for 200 years!!! Amazing handicrafts as well - and the color can vary from a pale blue to blue black. We also saw some beautiful pinks made out of insects and browns from brown cotton. Stunning! Of course I had to pick up a few samples - it was a good thing they only took cash otherwise I might have bought out the place!