We arrived into Guam late afternoon, just in time to head to the Sheraton, check in, and have a semi-relaxing evening. It was only around 4pm when we made it to the hotel, and after two weeks on the road our most important mission was laundry. Fortunately the Sheraton surprised us…not only with a suite upgrade, but with three laundry machines in the building. I don’t remember the exact cost, but they were $1 to $1.25 per load – and nice and convenient.
Of course, we needed laundry supplies, so it was off to the most popular place on the island…K-Mart! Those who live in the U.S. mainland probably assume that K-Mart has more or less faded into our past as one of those tragic relics of the 70s and 80s. Not in Guam. K-Mart is the social hub of the island, and packed to the rafters with people. I’ve only ever been to one Wal Mart (don’t blame me, it’s the only option in the middle of Oahu!) and it reminded me of that. But even bigger (both in size, and the size of the patrons.) You could get literally everything here.
Stocked with Tide and Red Bull it was back to the Sheraton, where we joined a member of the U.S. Navy in completing laundry pretty quickly. With that out of the way…what else does one do on Guam?! Not much. We decided after two weeks a little Americana was in order, and grabbed dinner at California Pizza Kitchen. Guam is definitely one place you need a car, unless you don’t plan to leave your resort…and I can’t imagine a resort vacation on Guam!
Up early the next morning, our plan was to drive around the island before our early evening flight to Palau. Up to the executive lounge for breakfast, which was packed with Japanese package tourists consuming Japanese breakfast. It was nice to have a Japanese option for breakfast instead of the typical sugar and carb-laden US/continental options. Oh, and lots of ice cold Diet Coke.
That done, we were off to drive around Guam. Our first stop was not far from the hotel at the giant rotating statue of Pope John Paul II. Unfortunately, it’s been broken a few years, and no longer rotates. However, the headline story in all the local papers we saw was how a donation had been received, and soon it would rotate again. Yes, this qualifies for headline news in Guam.
