Day 19: November 19, 2016 Queen for a Day Comment via blog

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Spending a night on the Queen Mary has not been a lifelong dream of mine but, since I'm attending a concert just a few miles away, I figured I might as well. Yes, it's way beyond my budget and it's certainly a one time thing. I arrived about half past noon and, since check-in was advertised as 4:00, boarded without my bags. When I noticed that some of the people checking in were given immediate access to their rooms, I got in line. I lucked out and walked down the wood paneled hallway to my room before 1:00.

I looked around the ship just a little then headed to the car to get my luggage. I bet that guy wishes there was a place he could flaunt his Jag without being out flaunted by a Maclaren.

Now was the time to go exploring. Here and there the eighty year old Queen shows her age in worn carpet and decks and the occasional chipped bit of railing but she remains elegant and impressive. She transported paying passengers in luxury from 1936 to 1940 then served as a troop transport in World War II. That time she carried 16,683 American troops across the Atlantic still stands as a record. She returned to passenger service in 1947 then became Long Beach's most famous hotel in 1967.

It was quite dark when I went ashore and drove over miles of bridges to my destination, the "Lincir entertainment complex" in San Pedro. It started in 1952 with Rosalie & Alva Lincir's dance studio and now includes a music store and the respected Alva's Showroom.

My guess is that there were about eighty people in the Showroom which probably holds about a hundred. Dirk came on about a quarter after 8:00, took a fifteen minute break, and finished up about 10:45. I didn't count or make notes of the songs he performed but knew and enjoyed every one. He did play everybody's favorite Billboard on the Moon, which he calls "my least unknown song", and one of my favorites Dangerous. We didn't meet until after the show but he did call me out during an encore and let everyone know I'd come from Ohio.

My room on the Queen Mary is nearly the most forward one on A Deck. Just before I entered I turned around and snapped a picture of the passageway leading to it. It's a long passageway.

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