RMS Queen Mary is an ocean liner from the Cunard Line in service from 1936 to 1967. Propelled by four screws, each moved by a collection of high-speed steam turbines, Queen Mary offered the fastest civilian Atlantic crossings available. Her record setting voyage of 3 days, 21 hours earned her the Blue Riband which she held for 14 years. Unlike many of the other liners of the day, Queen Mary survived her service life and found a permanent home along the coast of Long Beach, California, where she now accommodates hotel guests, numerous restaurants, tourists, and a community center built into her forward engine room and aft boiler rooms.
On Sunday morning, I drove up to Long Beach along the Pacific Coast Highway to spend as much of the day as possible exploring Queen Mary's decks and interior spaces, hoping to see as much of the ship as possible. Displacing 81,000 tons and with a length of 1,020 ft, I would surely run out of daylight long before I ran out of things to see.
Hopefully this blog post captures some of the highlights of my visit.
