A Day with the Queen

This may be blasphemous to some, but I'm not that big a football fan. So Superbowl Sunday doesn't hold the same interest for me. (Weren't the Lakers playing the Blue Jays, or something like that?) I suffered through my fill of the sport during both high school and college while performing with marching bands. Too many unwatched half-time shows for which we spent weeks rehearsing and food being thrown at us as we played in the stands. The game leaves a slight bad taste in my mouth.

So my friend Clark and I decided to spend Superbowl Sunday in the presence of the Queen -- Queen Mary, that is. Yet another local venue I hadn't visited in, say, 10 years. The grand ship has been parked in the Port of Long Beach since the 1960s, and I do enjoy roaming along the decks and the halls, admiring the art deco designs, and spending time wandering through the engine and boiler rooms.

The Queen Mary is also one of the more haunted locations in California, and whenever I visit, I always hope to see or ghost or feel an unseen visitor tug at my shirt sleeve. I do believe in ghosts, but want proof of my own that they exist. But, as with Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, nothing ever materializes for me, not even after our Haunted Encounter Tour from today. A guide lead us through all the paranormal hot spots on the ship -- from the engine room to the 1st Class swimming pool and even into a state room that they ceased booking as a hotel room due to ghostly encounters from guests.

That didn't dampen our spirits, and we spent a good 3 - 4 hours after the tour had finished traipsing from deck to deck, snapping pictures from the bridge, admiring the lines of life boats suspending half above deck half above water, participating in a paranormal scavenger hunt to find other hidden hot spots throughout the ship. I think one of my favorite things was seeing the outlines of old shuffleboard courts that had at one time been etched into the wooden boards of the Sports Deck. Even after all these years out in the elements, you can still feel their raised circles and numbers, imagining someone like Clark Gable or Bob Hope shoving a puck across the polished deck.

Surprisingly enough, I'm exhausted, even as I sit typing this brief post. We climbed enough stairs that I regretted going to the gym this morning. I know my legs will be aching tomorrow!