On February 23, 2006, the historic meetings of the Queens Mary (or is it the Queen Marys?) took place in Long Beach Harbor, and what a meeting it was! I arrived mid-afternoon on the 22nd, and after checking into the most amazing room I've ever stayed in aboard the original Mary, the Queen Mary Suite (entry vestibule, maid's room, huge master bedroom, a separate living room, two baths, a separate WC, and a trunk room large enough to hold a double mattress), I quickly set up for the 6:00PM cocktail party I was hosting for the Yahoo Ocean Liner Collectibles Group, I then set out to do some exploration.
The luxurious bedroom of the
Queen Mary Suite.
Another view of the master
bedroom of the Queen Mary Suite.
The entry vestibule.
A pristine original pull-out
writing desk in the Queen Mary Suite.
The ship was very quiet on a Wednesday afternoon, so I made my way down to the Engine Room Exhibit to see Father Pirrone's famous cutaway model of the Normandie. The photos I had seen don't do this amazing work of art justice, and if you haven't seen the model, get on a plane or in your car and go to Long Beach. Right now. This model is simply astonishing. Also of note is the mammoth case which Tom Nicolai built. I had no sense of the scope of this project until I saw it in person. After gawking and briefly wondering if it would fit in my living room, I returned to my cabin to change for the liner collectors cocktail party which was set to begin around 6:00PM. It turned out to be a smashing success! Attendees included Pine Hodges, who is a veritable encyclopedia of ship facts and figures, and who, upon viewing some of my liner home movies on the big screen, exclaimed with joy many times and was able to identify ships that I'd never even heard of. Watching him watch the films was a real treat. Mitchell Mart, liner memorabilia dealer and bon vivant arrived with his friend Christopher (On a side note, I'm now convinced that Mitchell has x-ray vision. When I purchased some original color publicity shots of the SS United States from him the next morning, the total came to three dollars shy of exactly what I had in my wallet!). The always savvy Bill Martinez was there (and ended up crashing in my maid's room!), along with new friends Brian and John, who I met through this website.
Left to Right: Christopher,
Brian, Pine (with his back to the camera), Bill, Mitchell (barely
visible
over Bill's left shoulder), and John. The QM table made a
lovely AV stand!
As we watched the home movies and chatted, Brian hauled out a very impressive collection of ViewMaster reels featuring various ships, so naturally the boys were agog at all the liner porn on display!
Check out those stacks!
Mitchell enjoys some vintage liner porn.
After the party, Mitchell, Christopher, Bill, Pine, and myself had an exceptional dinner at Sir Winston's (and I do mean exceptional -- for all the criticism the Queen Mary sometimes receives, one really can't fault the food!). This was followed by nightcaps in the fabulous Observation Bar, and Brian, John and I closed the place. The evening truly felt as if we were on a crossing and enjoying the nightlife aboard ship. The next morning, I was out on deck by 7:30 with my camera to take a few stills of the very still Mary. The water was so calm she appeared to be floating on glass.
The Queen Mary's home
was like a sea of glass.
The calm before the storm.
The decks were deserted. This was soon to change in anticipation of the main event of the day, as the ship gradually came to life and was eventually teaming with hundreds upon hundreds of people who had come in for the historic meeting of the Queens. And folks, let me tell you, it was not a disappointment! The harbor was crawling with yachts, sight-seeing boats, sail boats, fire boats, speed boats, you name it. Several helicopters and even more than one blimp circled overhead. It brought to mind all those spectacular photos and film clips of maiden arrivals back in the day. The City of Long Beach really put on quite a show in honor of the event. The sky was also alive with very impressive, precision sky-writers who spelled out "Welcome Queen Mary 2."
Truly impressive, precision
sky-writing. Where was a wide-angle lens when I needed it?
My only complaint was that there seemed to be a dearth of information available about precisely where the Mary 2 would be, and envisioning taking photos from the starboard bridge wing so that I could get the funnels of the Mary in the shot turned out to be a pipe dream. The Mary 2 basically stayed just beyond the Spruce Goose Dome, so the only video shots I got show a tiny Mary 2 viewed over an AC intake vent. Oh well. At precisely 12:30PM, the Mary 2 sounded three blasts of her mighty horns, which were answers in short order by the Mary. To see a short video of the signal salute, just click on the funnel shot below!
The Queen Mary's
forward funnel and horn.
All I can say is... meeting new friends who love and respect ocean liners, staying aboard the Queen Mary, dining, drinking, and witnessing first hand the meeting of the Queens is an event I won't soon forget. Quite simply, it was ship geek heaven!
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