Not a city to sweat the details, Long Beach has accumulated a number of landmarks usually associated with other parts of the world. So the beach city about 20 miles south of Los Angeles seemed like a good, if quirky, choice when we were looking for a budget getaway with some international flavor.
While purists might quibble about “authenticity,’’ we had a fine time crowding into a large racing-style gondola that could easily seat all five of us. And we were perfectly happy to sip California chardonnay rather than Italian prosecco as we ogled multimillion-dollar homes instead of Venetian palazzos. After all, we figured, why shouldn’t there be a few little gondolas in the city that bought the mammoth Queen Mary in 1967?
The once-fastest ocean liner in the world is now a floating hotel and Long Beach tourist attraction. Anglophiles and the merely curious can select from several tours, including a paranormal “investigation’’ that delves into such otherworldly phenomena as the appearance of a woman in modest bathing attire in the swimming pool. My friends and I opted for the more low-key “Twilight Historical Tour,’’ figuring that the ship’s fabulous Art Deco decor and gossipy history offered excitement enough. And since we were in Southern California, there was no escaping a healthy dose of all-American pop culture.
Guide Will Kayne rattled off a list of Hollywood royalty who sailed aboard the Queen Mary: Walt Disney, Greta Garbo, Clark Gable, Bob Hope, Fred Astaire, Marlene Dietrich . . . As for real royalty, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, frequent passengers, traveled with 155 pieces of luggage, according to Kayne. Rose Kennedy was on the maiden voyage in 1936, though history does not record her suitcase count.
