Saipan All Over Again...

I've been to Saipan many times in the almost 4 years I've been in Guam. I've not yet been bored with it. This was my parents first time there. Since I'd been there a few times before, I was able to play tour guide for them. We really only had one day in Saipan, but being a small island, that wasn't a problem.

The biggest problem for me was waking up on time. We got to the airport when it was still dark.



This was mom's first time ever on a propeller plane. She had to have a pic. And I snapped one of Anna while I was at it.




Before long we were looking down at Guam.



Upon arrival in Saipan, we checked into our rooms first. Oddly, the room arrangement had me sharing the room with my mom and my wife was to share a room with my dad. We decided to switch it up. Also, both rooms were reserved under the women. When we got to our floor we saw why.


How did we end up on the ladies floor? Well, anyway, we didn't plan on spending too much time in the hotel. My dad is a bit of a WWII buff, so we spent much of the day gong to memorials and war stuff.










And there is more to Saipan than war relics. We also saw the island famous Grotto.



A grotto is just a shallow cave. This one is also a swimming hole. The water in the Grotto can be tumultuous. We chose not to swim on this trip. On others I have gone, so here are some pics of the Grotto on previous trips.





Bird Island Sanctuary is surprisingly well guarded. Once you get close rangers attack with haste. But you can get a good shot of it from a nearby lookout.



All of the driving around and walking from site to site made us hot and sweaty. We made our way back to our hotel and took advantage of the clean cool pools.



Behind the hotel was the best beach, ever. The sand was too soft and perfect to be real. There was no coral or rocks to hurt our feet. The water was warm and only knee deep for a half mile out. You can't see us well, but Anna took of pic of me and my parents way out in the ocean.



When nighttime hit, we walked out and joined the community for their festivities. They were having some "Japanese Day" cultural night. We ate street food and enjoyed the trees made by the community out of trash. This one was made of soda cans.



In one day, we saw just about all we could of Saipan. Of course, there's always more to see, but we hit the highlights. Tomorrow, we'll wake up in Saipan, but the majority of the day will be spent in Tinian.