Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Alphabet Soup
When it comes to this Alphabet Soup thing, some letters are easier than others. "Q" is a tough one. Quincey, Illinois is just boring. Queens, New York is, well New York. Never been to Queensland, so what to do, what to do?Well, right here in Southern California is an amazing attraction. The old style Cunard liner - Queen Mary is tied up and available for tour and it operates as a hotel. More on that in a minute.
Here she is -- she's huge. She pretty well dominates the skyline in the Long Beach area. That dome you see used to house Howard Hughes' "Spruce Goose" aircraft, but that has moved on.Long Beach is a really busy port and I am always amazed at how the Queen Mary compares to modern vessels -- she remains impressive. She may not go the tonnage of some of the biggest ships these days but her lines make her overpower pretty much anything on the water, save perhaps an aircraft carrier.
The don't make 'em like they used to. This is the wheelhouse -- Look at all that brass! And note the lack of electronics. If you think about what this ship did, plied the oceans with a compass, a transit, the stars, a clock, and a map - compared to how they do it now, it is an impressive achievement.The tour also takes you through the engineering spaces which are truly amazing. They engines are immense, even by today's standards. Actually especially by today's standards.
As a hotel she retains the height of luxury that she exhibited in her heyday, though she seems to have fallen on hard times of late. Just not the draw she once was. But the services they offer are grand. They have maintained her quite well and there are few places you can dine in such art deco splendor, particularly not the original art deco splendor.If you are ever in Southern California - the Queen Mary is a great place to spend a day remembering how things really used to be.
