We woke up the next morning and rented a car to see the WWII sites.
There isn't a lot to see but they are pretty significant in history. Both of us being history fanatics we were pretty excited about it.
The creepiest building on the island. Not even joking. I had to turn on all the lights in my room before I could write this story. This is the old communications building the Japanese used during the war. It's all run down and abandoned now (obviously). It's out in the middle of nowhere, not near any houses or within walking distance of anything. Tim went in first as I was taking pictures of the outside and told me he thought someone was in the building. He heard people talking. We were nervous that maybe some teenagers or even some homeless people were in there and that it might not be safe. We went ahead anyway. After walking around the base floor we headed up the stairs where I heard a man speaking. I thought for sure there was someone up there, possibly a government worker checking on the condition of the place. I actually thought we might get into trouble for poking around. We headed up the stairs and saw no one. We wandered around for a bit and then, as I passed a room I saw a man standing at the opposite end, looking right at me. Tim called me over to look at something and when I looked back he was gone. I kid you not, I saw it. When we left the building I told Tim about it and I was surprised that he didn't refute me at all. Tim is a very logical guy (I mean, he's a Doctor!) but he said he knew he heard voices and there was no one there. We looked everywhere. No one was there but us.
Holy cow. I was freaked.
MOVING ON!!! PHEW!!!
The next place we went is called the Blow Hole. It was beyond beautiful. We must have stood there for who knows how long just watching the waves come crashing in. We kept saying we should go but another big wave would come and we'd say, "Okay, after this one!" It was amazing. We were also completely covered in salt after we left.
We went to see a bunch of old sites but the coolest was the atomic bomb pits and Runway Abel. It's amazing to think of what happened in that very spot all those years ago. It was definitely neat to see.
Taga Beach. You can't go to Tinian without going to Taga Beach. Out of all the beaches I've been to, this was my favorite. Especially sans kids. It was perfect for swimming, the color was beautiful and we had so much fun jumping from the rocks.
We went back after dinner to watch the sunset. That was a real treat. We see plenty of beautiful sunsets in Saipan but most from our yard. Kids and the beach that late in our routine just doesn't really work. It was so nice to not have a schedule or worry about holding tiny hands. It was beautiful and relaxing. A really great night.
And then Tim made me ugly laugh all the way back up to our room, making me just another annoying tourist. :-)
