First Come Friends, Then Comes Turkey... No Time For Steemit!

Steemit Takes Second Seat to Guam Tourism.

One of the drawbacks of being a Steemian is when you are forced to take a break from Steemit. When friends show up for an extended visit, it is impossible to remain focused and in the Steemit creative role, and the ole Steemit account becomes the first casualty of all that down-time. It's like being a ship "dead-in-the-water" when you put everything aside and take on the role of self-imposed tour guide. And I'm sure it happens to all of us from time to time.

Our friends arrived here on Guam on the Sunday preceeding the American holiday Thanksgiving. They are our part-time neighbors in the Philippines who reside about 6 kilometers up the coast-line from where we live on the island of Samar. They decided to fly in for an island visit and spend Thanksgiving with us. Once they arrived, we immediately converted ourselves into Tour Guide mode and played host to them, showing them as much of the island as possible in the 4 days they would spend here.

Gab Gab Beach, Apra Harbor, Guam

Day one was filled with a drive down the west side of the island with a visit to Orote Point, home to Guam's largest navy base. Here we visited some of the harbor's beautiful beaches, along with a few historic WWII sites, where Japanese pill boxes and beachfront defensive fortification positions still remain intact along Guam's beaches. These pill boxes are where Japanese snipers once protected the beach head from allied forces invasions.

WWII Japanese Beach Defensive Position (Pill Box)

Once we left the island's largest naval installation, we headed south for a complete southern Island tour along the coast taking in the sites. We first stopped off at the overlook of the island's well-known and picturesque site of Cetti Bay for a few photos, then continued onward to the Magellen Monument in the small and quaint village of Umatac.

Cetti Bay, Guam

Magellen Monument

Umatac Bay is supposedly the site where the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan once put ground on March 6, 1521. After a few photos, we continued up the hill to Fort Soledad, constructed in 1810 by the Spanish, from where soldiers would protect the anchoring Spanish Galleons (which were enroute from Alcapulco to Manila) from raiding pirates.

Old Spanish Cannons

Fort Soledad Overlook

We then proceeded south to the southernmost point on Guam and the village of Merizo, where during our last trip, we were introduced to some peach mangoes by a local resident (they really do taste like peaches). There were no peach mangoes to be had this day, but we did enjoy the beautiful views overlooking the tourquise-blue waters of the large coral reef that extends nearly two kilometers out to Cocos Island, a small private daytime resort-beach where locals and tourists gather for a variety of fun-in-the-sun activities.

Cocos Island, Guam

We left Merizo and headed back north along the east cost to the salt-water pools of Inarajan where we witnessed one of the most beautiful ambiances created by nature... where volcano fiery-hot lava once met the cool ocean's edge, creating a unique configuration of salt-water pools protected from the heavy eastern surf, where tourists and local residents alike can picnic, swim and snorkel.

* Salt Water Pools, Inarajan, Guam*

After more pictures, we continued up the coast to Jeff's Pirate's Cove, a popular tourist spot complete with eatery, bar and gift shop, where we enjoyed some snacks and cold refreshements at the ocean's edge. We then meandered our way back to the west side of the island and returned to our condo just in time for a refreshing dip in the pool, followed by dinner.

We were all presented with "Official" Red Pirates Bandanas

The next few days were similiarly busy, with us playing host and guide to our visitors. We did some more sight-seeing with a visit to the island's most popular tourist attraction, Two Lover's Point, a towering 400 foot cliff that is home to Guam’s most famous legend, and is also one of the best places to observe Guam's beautiful western coastline.

And a trip to Guam wouldn't be complete without a trip to Chamorro Village, where tourists and locals gather for the outdoor market, island BBQ'd food, and a multitude of cultural events. My friend and I spent our time at the Chamorro Island BBQ bar and resto, helping them control cold brewed inventories, while the ladies took in all the shops.

Chamorro Village - Food, Fun, Shop, and Dance!

Over the course of about three days, we hit many shops and stores, in-between the beach visits and the restaurants. We finished off our get-together visit with a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner at one of the islands more popular restaurants, the Churrasco Brazilian Steakhouse on Tumon Bay, where we gourged ourselves on Turkey and a variety of BBQ'd steaks, cooked to perfection, carved and served right there at your table.

Today is the infamous day after (Black Friday for some). We dropped our island visitors off at the airport this morning (day after Thanksgiving) for their return flight home to California. My overeating pains have subsided and quiet has returned, and it's time for a few days rest... except I can't. My Steemit account needs to be jump-started again as I'm almost out of incoming rewards.

So it's back to business as usual... and as normal as anything can be living on a tropical island in the Western Pacific.

!originalworks