The Queen Mary and Other Curiosities

Jill's Journal: When she was launched in 1934 and put into passenger service in 1936, the Queen Mary was the world’s grandest sailing ship. The ocean liner made her regular transatlantic journey, from Southampton, England, to New York City and back again, over 1,000 times.

Owned by Cunard-White Star, the Queen Mary captured and held the transatlantic speed record for many years and was the epitome of luxury at the time. Royalty, dignitaries (including Winston Churchill multiple times), movie stars, and society elite all sailed aboard the Queen Mary, as did thousands upon thousands of “regular” people.

During World War II, the Queen Mary was painted battleship grey and used to transport more than 800,000 allied troops across the Atlantic and around the world. She was faster than German U-boats and that distinction, along with her new color, earned her the unofficial moniker of “The Grey Ghost.”

After the war, she was repainted in her original colors and refitted back for passenger service. By the late 1950s and early 1960s, airplanes began to be the popular way to cross the Atlantic and within just a few years, the Queen Mary and her sister ship the Queen Elizabeth were operating at a loss.

The Queen Mary was officially retired in 1967 and sailed to the port of Long Beach, California, where she is permanently moored after logging more than 600,000 miles in just over 30 years. (Interestingly, she had to sail around South America’s Cape Horn to get here as, at over 80,000 tons, she was too big for the Panama Canal). Much of the ship has been converted into a hotel and restaurants and shops, but there are still plenty of areas available on this historic grand dame to tour.

One of the propellers can be seen under water.

This is a representation of a second-class cabin (the Queen Mary had three classes available). Second class didn’t have the luxury of first class, but it had more room than third class and had private “water closets.” A round-trip ticket in second class in 1936 cost $550.00.

The Queen Mary may be the biggest attraction in Long Beach, but...

...the nation’s skinniest house is here too. Certified by Guinness World of Records, this skinny house is on a lot measuring 10 feet by 50 feet. We may not have made it to the nation’s biggest ball of twine yet, but surely the nation’s skinniest house ranks among similar oddities!

And not far from Long Beach in Garden Grove is the famed Crystal Cathedral. This massive church building seats over 2,700 and cost $18 million to build. Featuring glass walls and ceilings, the “cathedral” has over 10,000 panes of glass, all glued instead of bolted to the structure to help withstand earthquakes. It was dedicated in 1980. Its minister, Robert Schuller, preached weekly on the world’s most widely-watched television church service, The Hour of Power. Over 1,500 Hour of Power sermons have been recorded over 40 years.

Sadly, the Crystal Cathedral declared bankruptcy in late 2010 and, just six weeks ago, the Reformed Church of America completed the sale of the Crystal Cathedral to a Roman Catholic Diocese. Clearly, a new era will be issued in for the landmark church.

56 People and Counting

Jill's Journal: These two people…

…begat these four people…

…whose combined families now number 56 people.

The girls’ great grandparents – my Mom’s parents – bravely emigrated to the U.S. from Holland after World War II. Their four surviving children gave them 13 grandkids. If they were still here today, they would surely be enjoying the 24 great grandchildren those grandkids have given them so far. In just the next six months, their 11th grandchild is getting married and two more great grandchildren are due, so the number will undoubtedly grow and continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

A family of 56 people from one humble, resilient, and amazing couple…my grandparents would definitely be proud and probably a little astonished at how the family has grown if they were still here. The entire group gets together every single year, without fail, for a Christmas party. We’re the only ones in the whole group who don’t live in California, so we usually miss out. We last made the party in 2004, when Erika was just a baby and before our other two were born. But we made it today and so did every other single member of the extended family save one. I think the girls were a little surprised and delighted to find they have 2nd cousins – 21 of them, to be exact – in this branch of the family!