southern california bucket list #1 - queen mary

My roommate Stephanie is from Grand Rapids, Michigan and this March, is moving back to the midwest. Sometime before Christmas, we got to talking and realized, there is a lot of southern California she has yet to explore. So being the good roommates that we are, we sat down and created a list of the things she should experience before she leaves. While I have down most of the activities, there are some I haven't, and I think it's always a good idea to explore the area around you so you don't take it for granted.

I've decided to document our activities on my blog, as a way for us to remember everything we've done, and maybe it will give my readers some ideas of what to check out when in LA. I'm calling it the "Southern California Bucket List."


So last Saturday we decided to start the list with a visit to the Queen Mary in Long Beach. The Queen Mary is a retired ocean liner that sailed from 1936 to 1967 before it was permanently docked in the Long Beach Harbor. It's now a hotel and museum. Admission is free to California residents and includes a self-guided tour of the muesum and other areas accessible to hotel guests. The museum was very interesting, and was a bit creepy when you headed down to the engine room and propeller. I don't know why, but I hate old machinery, and old boat houses at Tahoe, but that's another post.



It was a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun exploring the ship's deck and soaking in the sunlight.


The last part of a tour was the Ghosts and Legends Tour, which is billed as a walk through the ships most haunted areas. Nina and I were freaked, Stephanie and Lexi were pretty brave. The entire tour lasted 30 minutes and I was pretty bummed at the conclusion. While it was creppy seeing the first-class pool (drained) and the bowels of the ship, the tour relied primarily on special effects so you didn't feel like you really learned anything.

All in all, it was fun and we learned a little more than we knew the day before, all while working on out tans :)