A beautiful Sunday on the Queen Mary...

A sunny Sunday in late October just begs for an outing! Neither of us had been on the Queen Mary in more years than we could count, so off to Long Beach we headed. Visitors can choose between self and guided tours of the ship; we decided to tour on our own and were pleased that we did. We spent a few hours walking through the historical displays, dining in the Grand Salon, and walking the decks. What a wonderful way to spend a Sunday!

Beginning the tour...

As we purchased our Self-tour tickets it was suggested that we begin at the aft of the ship in the area that has been converted into a multi-level museum. Historical facts cover the walls of this level, large pieces of equipment are displayed, as well as Queen Mary/Cunard posters.

The Queen Mary retired from service in 1967 and was purchased by the City of Long Beach. It has been operated as a hotel and entertainment venue for more than forty years.

Submerged..

A circular staircase takes you down to another level filled with exhibits. For both of us, one of the most profound images we saw was that of one of the ship's giant "screws" still underwater.

Glimpsing the past...

The exhibit includes a number of recreations of cabins, small dining and music rooms, the beauty salon, and even the print shop.

Reminders of the war years...

Miserably small bunks, a machine gun and search light, and a sign all serve as reminders that the Queen Mary became a troop carrier during the war. In fact, she carried over 800,00 troops, and traveled more than 600,000 miles during the war years, earning the affectionate nickname, "The Grey Ghost".

The Engine Room...

When you see the engine room it doesn't really seem possible that it could have held everything necessary to power an enormous ship.

Sunday Brunch in the Grand Salon...

By the time we finished touring through the historical displays, it was time for a bite to eat. There are a number of restaurants and lounges on board, but we decided to partake in the Queen's Sunday Champagne Brunch. The Grand Salon is huge, nine thousand square feet, and it can seat up to seven hundred people. For the Sunday Brunch there are several buffet tables set up, with complete breakfast and dinner foods available. While the food was "brunch predictable", the ambiance more than made up for it.

The Sun and Bridge Decks...

Once we finished our Sunday Brunch we were excited to get outside. It's possible to walk completely around the ship on the Sun Deck, and on a warm, sunny day it was a lovely place to pretend that the ship was really out at sea. These are just some of the more interesting images we saw as we walked, as well as some pictures of items on the Bridge Deck that would have been used back in the Queen's sea-faring days.

Such a beautiful pigeon...

We were both struck by this pigeon's unusual color and markings as he made his away across the Sun Deck.

A visit to the radio room...

We were ushered into the replica of the ship's radio room by two of a group of Amateur Radio operators who regularly chat with other ham operators all over the world from there! They were eager to familiarize anyone that was interested in the function of the ship's radio room - then and now. And, they were quite insistent on taking our pictures in there as well. (Larry is tapping out his name in Morse Code.) Great fun!

As seen from the deck...

...the City of Long Beach in one direction, the busy Port of Los Angeles in another, the dome that once housed the Spruce Goose, as well a Carnival ship docked, no doubt taking on passengers for a sailing to Mexico later in the day. Sadly, the smog on the horizon makes it appear to be somewhat less than the perfect, sunny Southern California autumn afternoon it was.

On the promenade...

After strolling as much of the outside decks as possible, we made our way to the Promenade Deck, which was most likely the indoor hub of activity when the grand old lady was still making ocean crossings. Besides a number of shops, there's more deck that can be walked for some exercise away from the elements. And, on that deck, we were able to peek into the Queen's Salon. No doubt it was magnificent once upon a time.

After we completed our stroll on the Promenade, we made a stop at the Hotel Reservation desk to check on rates and availability for the 18th of April, 2012. Looks like we'll be returning to the Queen Mary next spring to spend a night on board in celebration of our third anniversary!

Carved and ready...

There's a great big kid living in our house who still loves to carve a pumpkin each year. (He's gone back to the real ones - not those "Funkins" that we carved some years back - although we do still display them inside the house each late October!) Here's this year's masterpiece!

Camellia "Noel"...

...not Camellia Halloween! My winter blooming camellia is FILLED with buds this year - many more so than in several past seasons. Just wondering if there will be any of "Noel's" blooms left when we get into the Christmas season!

Another adventure begins...

On Saturday morning we took off for another get-away to Central California, this year choosing to stay on the coast. As the weather was beautiful throughout the trip, it was the perfect place to be. We made a lunch and rest stop in Thousand Oaks at Harold's House of Omelettes, the great diner we discovered when we went to the Gardens of the World in September. Here are Larry and the girls, taking a walk at a nearby park before getting on the road again.

Our home away from home...

...room 109 at the Spyglass Inn, in Pismo Beach. (Or really, in Shell Beach - just a stone's throw from Pismo!) Despite some heavy traffic in a couple of places, we made it from home in just a little over five hours.

A room with an amazing view...

This incredible view would be ours, anytime we wished to look at it, for the next three days!

Sassy and Larry...

...enjoying the warm sun and the ocean breeze. This was the first time we've ever had a patio at any hotel that was completely enclosed and the dogs could enjoy the outdoors unleashed. Sassy, especially, loved being outside, taking long sunbaths daily.

We thought they were sea lions...

...until one of the "sea lions" stood up on a surf board to catch a wave!

The first of many...

...beautiful sunsets we would enjoy over the next few days. It was very hard to come off the patio and settle in for the evening, even though the night air was chilly.

Sunday dawned beautifully...

We were awake even before the dogs got us up, anxious to open the door onto our patio and enjoy the amazing view. Larry took these early morning pictures while walking the girls on the path that followed the top of the cliff from out hotel down past the next three resorts. He certainly could not resist a picture of the guys on the other side of the fence, obviously ignoring the warning sign!

See Canyon Road...

Before we left Costa Mesa, we had decided that a lot of our sight-seeing would be to places we'd visited last year and really enjoyed. There was never any doubt that we'd return to See Canyon Road and the apple orchards. We were on our way home last year the morning that we visited the orchards; we didn't have unlimited time to wander through the countryside. This year we didn't have those kinds of time constraints so we decided to drive way beyond where we'd stopped before, on a road that the signs said would be curvy for twelve miles. We're not sure how many of those twelve miles we covered - when the pavement ended, we turned back!
If there had been safe turn-outs along the way, we'd have taken many, many more pictures along that road - it's just amazingly beautiful! Sadly, there weren't many of those kinds of places - just getting a picture of the trees growing sideways out of the hill was a little dicey! It would have been fun to get pictures of the quail we saw scurrying along the edge of the road, as well.
We did stop at a couple of the orchards on the way back, bought some apples and a couple of cute souvenirs. It's hard to imagine ever growing tired of this place!

Brunch in Avila Beach...

We had forgotten to scope out a dog-friendly restaurant for Sunday morning's travels! Luckily, Pete's Pierside Cafe was more than happy to allow our mutts on the patio. From our room we could just make out the two piers that are part of Avila Beach. In the photos taken from Avila, if you knew right where to look, you could almost make out our hotel...

Time with a dear friend...

Our wonderful young friend from the barn, Jennifer, who now goes to school at San Luis Obispo (and who we visited with during last year's Central California visit) came to the hotel mid-afternoon for a visit. We really appreciated her taking this picture of us on our patio, with the ocean and hills behind us. Later, we all went to dinner at the restaurant on the hotel property. It was the perfect place to take a picture of the hotel's beautiful dolphin statue.

Sunday's spectacular sunset...

Just a little over the top...

We'd arranged for a sitter to stay at the hotel with the girls for a few hours on Monday so that we could tour on our own. When we got up that morning it was foggy, gray, and downright chilly. Once Katie (the same lovely woman who watched the dogs for us in SLO last year) arrived, we decided to head north inland in hopes that the fog would clear from the coast later in the morning. A number of years ago, after a few days spent with Larry's dad in San Mateo, we'd treated ourselves to a night in Cambria on our way home. We had thoroughly enjoyed the sights along Highway 46, the route we used to get from the 101 into town, so we decided it would be fun to take that drive again.

When we saw Eagle Castle Winery from the road it was so outrageous, SO ostentatious , we had to take a closer look! Right down to the moat surrounding the "castle" and the sweeping grand staircase, this place looked more like a Hollywood set than a winery! We didn't even bother to go into the tasting room, figuring the prices would be way out of our league. Still, it was "interesting", and the views of the vineyards, quite beautiful. It was really fun seeing grapes still on the vines in many places this trip.

A reminder of another time...

On the bottom shelf of the Baker's rack in our kitchen there is a dried gourd that looks like a swan. We bought it at a small farm stand on Route 46 on that same trip into Cambria. Remembering that little place, we kept our eyes open for it as we headed towards the beach. And, we found it - but it had grown a lot since we were last there. Certainly a tourist spot, but with a lot of heart. Oh... and lots and lots of pumpkins and gourds for sale!

Could it be...

...a real Maple tree? We think so! We've never seen Liquidamber leaves turn such a vivid shade of red! (Liquidambers are California's ugly step-cousin of the Maple.) A couple sightings of true autumn color warmed an old Michigander's heart!