Broadcasting from the Queen Mary

 

The ship entrance

 

When Tim used to work for KABC radio, he often accompanied Peter Greenberg, TV's "Travel Detective," on remote broadcasts around the world (e.g., Midway Island, Hong Kong, Alaska, etc.). Sometimes I got to go, too. But that was long ago.

So it was a pleasant surprise when Tim was asked if he'd like to help Peter do a remote broadcast from the Queen Mary yesterday. It wasn't Lima, Peru, but at least we could drive to the show site. Plus the Queen offered to comp us a room for the night. We were there!

For those who don't know, the Queen Mary was once the most fabulous ocean liner on the open seas. Retired in 1967, she was bought by the city of Long Beach, where she has served as a hotel and tourist attraction for almost 40 years. Although in desperate need of a face-lift, she nonetheless provides an historic look at a time when travel really was glamorous. The Queen's interior is covered in glorious wood and her ballrooms are works of art. While Tim managed the radio equipment for Peter's broadcast, I ran around the ship, snapping pictures (click on images to enlarge).

 

Tim checking the radio equipment

 

Hallway to the staterooms—our room was

on the left

 

Ballroom fireplace

 

Wall ornamentation

 

Art deco clock

 

Shops on the main promenade

 

Enclosed deck on the promenade level

 

Sun deck

 

Smoke stacks (topside)

 

The bridge

 

Looking toward the front of the ship

 

Looking back from the front

 

Long Beach (from topside)

 

Stateroom bathtub faucets: hot and cold

salt and fresh water!

 

Long Beach through our stateroom porthole

 

Sunrise (topside) the next morning

 

Spectacular!

Retro Row, Long Beach

As reported elsewhere on this blog, we are big fans of Charles Phoenix and have seen most of his wonderful slide shows. On Saturday, he premiered a new one about Long Beach—L.A. county's second largest city and a place that both of us briefly called home long before we met each other. Like many towns in the L.A. area, Long Beach is enjoying something of a renaissance as young hipster families are moving in and renovating the city's many mid-century neighborhoods.

The show was held at the Art Theatre, a small moviehouse built in 1924, located on 4th Street's now trendy Retro Row. As usual, Charles was a laugh riot, as long-time residents screamed in glee at photos of obscure as well as beloved Long Beach landmarks. Lots of images of restaurants, both here and gone—so many, in fact, that we were starving by the end of the show. But first, a quick jog down Retro Row, home to several excellent vintage clothing and furniture stores. Our favorites: Inretrospect, where I snagged a collectible, but reasonably priced, Disneyland ashtray, and Songbird, which had a Box of Cheese photo booth, where we took these terrific (if I may say so, myself!) pix. A very fun day. By the way, we ended up eating at Social List, almost adjacent to the theater. Great food.