Around a Souvenir Shop

　　We reached a souvenir shop through a deserted-looking area. A slew of traditional rural crafts made of Niihau seashells were laid out inside, but I didn't have any interest in them at all and I felt I wasted my time as others apparently thought so. I wanted our tour guide to take time to stop by other historic sites like the landing point of James Cook, the ruin of a Russian fort to protect their trade, and so on.
　　I didn't want to waste time in the shop and took a short walk around the shop. I found a beautiful tree, which I hadn't seen in Japan, in front of the shop across the street. I crossed the street and sneaked into the facility through the fence to look closely at the tree. After coming back to Japan, I noticed the letters "HAWAII NATIONAL GUARD ARMORY" in another photo. I was relieved to know that I had not been challenged by the guard.

(Vocabulary)
armory
1 (集合的に) (国・軍隊の) 兵器, 軍備 [同意] arsenal
2 武器庫 [同意] arsenal

家屋のまばらな道路をしばらく走って土産物店に入った。ニイハウ島の貝殻の使われた民芸品が並んでいた。僕には全く興味が無く、他の客もそうだと思うが無為に時間を使った気がした。こんな時間が取れるのなら先ほどの記事に書いたクックの銅像などによって欲しかった。

で、暇なので外の景色を見て回った。店の向かいに見たことの無い木があったので道路を渡り、塀の中に忍び込んで撮影した。帰国後に別の写真で建物に書いてあった文字に気がついてぞっとした。HAWAII NATIONAL GUARD ARMORYとある。よくぞ見とがめられなかったものだと安堵した。