Saturday, November 27, 2010

Queen Mary




Yesterday, we drove to Long Beach and visited the historic Queen Mary ship. My parents, particularly my mother, are World War II fanatics, and this ship was used during that war for the troops.





We went on a real Russian submarine which made me think, naturally, of that old German movie Das Boot. It's hard to imagine what sort of living hell it must be to work and live on a vessel that is submerged in the ocean.

Here's my mother, the boys ahead of her, on top of the sub and walking toward the entrance.





 And, yes, my mother and I both crawled through about eight of those holes that you see above. But I won't post those pictures because I'd like you to remain convinced of my inherent self-worth and dignity.

I did have the teeny tiny thought that it might not be too bad to live in one of these teeny tiny bedrooms, for a bit, by myself, far from the madding crowd. Honestly, the end of the bed is the end of the room. It was sort of like a Russian male kiddle house. I'm just saying --




And I do love a porthole.




10 comments:

  1. What beautiful pictures, Elizabeth! I'm not sure I could do the sub tour. Claustrophobia, you know. You're braver than I am.
    Your sons are so gorgeous.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Beautiful. :) In the picture out the porthole at the end - I used to live in those buildings! Now I live in HB but I do love Long Beach still.

    ReplyDelete
  3. oh fun, "and I do love a port hole"
    thanks for sharing these!

    ReplyDelete
  4. We've been to LB several times but have never visited the Queen Mary. The kids would be fascinated! I love the porthole picture.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks for the memories! I've toured both and, like you, cannot imagine being submerged on that submarine. Just touring the Queen Mary was as close as I want to get to taking a cruise. If I'm going to swim, I want to see what's at the bottom of the pool before I jump in!!

    Best,
    Bonnie

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love the natural frames that portholes make (especially when they are on kids' playgrounds). Looks like fun :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. We spent our wedding night on the Queen Mary. Is it still a hotel? I love portholes, too.

    ReplyDelete
  8. That teeny tiny bedroom? Probably the captain's stateroom.

    The rest of us pukes sleep three high in too-narrow bunks.

    Bet you didn't know that about me!

    ReplyDelete