#henry the hat

Goodbye, Saipan! I hope I get to come back again someday.

All checked in and waiting for our flight as another beautiful day begins in Saipan.

Well, it’s finally time to head home, and my friend and I may have overestimated how early we needed to get to the airport just a bit… because we’re the only ones here.

What a lovely thing to wake up to on my last full day on the island.

Our last supper out. Delicious food and a glorious sunset on the beach - what a combination!

The way Micro Beach has eroded has created a series of mini beaches between the trees. It’s like having your own private beach even when there are other people around!

If it sort of looks like I’m at Cosco, that’s because the Joeten Superstore gets all their merchandise from Cosco! As far as I know, this is the only bulk store on the island.

Even in the more built up areas, there are still pockets of beauty.

The local markets in Saipan are more like general stores than grocery shops and carry a variety of American, Japanese, Chinese, and Korean products, so you’re never quite sure what you’ll fine. It’s a lot of fun to explore them!

That is a lot of spam…. (And now I have the Monty Python spam song stuck in my head.)

In my incredibly biased opinion, the Great Harvest Bakery is the best bakery on the island.

You can’t go to Saipan without stopping by Shirley’s stand on Tank Beach for a fresh coconut, an amazing view, and a lovely chat.

All this island exploring can get pretty tiring, and sometimes you just need a nap. My friend is very gracious about letting me snooze in her purse.

This is Forbidden Island. Now, I stayed up top at the lookout, but my crazy friend decided that she wanted to take the trail down.

I told her that it was called Forbidden Island for a reason.

I told her that the sign said treacherous trail, dangerous ocean, steep cliffs, slippery rocks, people drown here!

She smiled and said that she wasn’t going to swim just wade a little and look around. She would be fine.

I told her that I would write her a beautiful eulogy.

Thankfully, I do not need to write a beautiful eulogy. My friend returned hot, sweaty, tired, and muddy, but she took some beautiful pictures.

Because the majority of tourists who come to Saipan are from countries where you aren’t able to have an American muscle car, one of the big things to do is to rent a Camero or Mustang to drive around the island. Of course, if you’re going to rent yourself a fancy car, you’ve got to get your picture taken with it to show all your friends back home! It’s very common to see tourists pulled over to one side of the road with the roof down and doors open having their picture taken. They usually stand on the driver’s seat or sit on the hood.

I decided to get in on the action, too! (Though I didn’t rent this car - it was parked on the street.)

This is the closest I’ve been to a Starbucks since Hawaii. I’ve been enjoying mango juice instead.

Souvenir shopping.

Plumeria are quickly becoming my favorite flowers. ❤️

SUSHI! Be still my heart!

I’ve never really understood the appeal of caves before, but Kalabera Cave was very peaceful.