Guam

Hi all, for those who don't know I spent last week in Guam. It started off with some confusion. I found out on Thursday I was going to Korea for the week. Then I found out on Friday I was going to Guam instead. I left on Monday and got back on Friday.

Guam is a cool little island. It's further south than I thought it was. Pretty much the same weather year-round from what I hear. We had highs in 90-95 range and muggy. It's also more expensive than I thought it was. Most of the "tourist area" is concentrated to hotel row. It's probably a 4 mile strip along the waterfront. Pretty much all the major hotels are there. High-rise, really nice 20 story type places. The strip is also lined with high-dollar type shopping. Prada, Gucci, all those type things line the street.

My room was very cool at the Hyatt Regency. It's really open. With the panel open you can sit in the bathtub and watch tv or get straight into bed. I was on the 5th floor facing the ocean. It's the prettiest water I've ever seen. You get extreme shades of bright blue as you go deeper. It's supposedly some of the best scuba/snorkeling in the world and from what I can see from shore it's easy to believe. I'm going to try and get certified in case I get to go back.

I got a chance to go golfing one day. Like I said, Guam is expensive. The best I could come up with was $100 for a round with military discount. So I played on base for $12. Wow, what a cool course. Palm tree lined, ocean front cliffside views. Reminded me of what I would expect Pebble Beach to look like. Plus I played the back 9 really well with some excellent driving and a solid on in two and two putt birdie on a par 5. I shot a 90, which was fine with me.

The next day I did some sight-seeing. I headed for the Latte Stones first. I didn't know much about them, but decided they might be interesting. They were in a nice little park. Apparently they were used as pedestals for supporting important structures by the Chorros (natives of Guam). These were moved from their original location of US military construction to their current site. At that park I also noticed some tunnel entrances with iron gates. They had nuclear fall out shelter signs above them. I went to investigate and learned that they are WWII tunnels courtesy of the Japanese. There was an info placard at the entrance of one of the tunnels warning about limited height and width and some of the history. I guess it's a pretty complex tunnel system, but I didn't get to explore since they aren't lit and I didn't have a flashlight. The placard just said "enter at your own risk" no accommodations provided. I went until it was pitch black, which wasn't far.

Then I was to the basilica. It was Spanish style architecture, pretty neat. There was something going on inside so I just took some pictures outside. Then to the Chorro shopping village. It was a nice place, I went in all the shops and checked stuff out. I got Jackson a maraca and ate at a waterfront restaurant. There was also a park area that I strolled around in. Of course, more beautiful views.

Next I headed to place called "Two Lover's Point". It's a popular tourist attraction. There's a cool little story about a couple in love who jumped off the cliff because she was being forced to wed a Spanish naval Captain when they were occupying the island. Here's a link with more info and some better pictures than I could take if you're interested. http://tinyurl.com/cxpm9y


One of the days we flew a mission to take pictures of a B-2 and F-22 formation. Apparently, this was they first time they had been deployed together and we were taking pictures to commemorate it. It was pretty neat stuff. Here's a few snapshots.

All in all, it was a nice trip. For those considering some travel, I recommend it. But beware, you might want to get there in the next year or so as the Marines are moving in in large numbers. I have nothing against Marines, but large numbers of them on a small island didn't exactly work out on Okinawa, which is why they're moving to Guam.