Thirty more miles and I'll be home
Thirty more miles to see my woman
Wonder is she's packed her things and gone
Dean Martin 1967
Before we finally dispense with San Diego, having left there on Sunday, I must tell you of my connection there.
During the war, my father was a tail gunner on Wellington & Lancaster Bombers in the Royal Air Force.
For some reason, towards the end of the war, he sailed to San Diego on the Queen Mary. (Remember, I said we'd come back to the 'Mary' in an earlier blog)
I do not know why he came or even when exactly but I do know that for some years after that we received parcels at Christmas from a mysterious 'Aunty Mary'!!!
I cannot say for certain that this was anything other than a platonic relationship but, knowing my father, I have my doubts.
Who she was, I doubt I shall ever know unless either of my elder sisters know more of it than I. It would be interesting to find out but I wouldn't know where to start.
However, each time we have been to San Diego, I have studied faces intently to see if I can spot a sibling.
So, back to the Queen Mary.
We went to Long Beach on our way south and stopped off to see the old girl because of my connection. The Smiffs had already done the tour.
When we were told that it was $30 each, we declined and decided to move on. (I was no fan of my fathers and wouldn't waste $1 to walk in his footsteps).
Harvey then came up with a brilliant wheeze.
We walked to the hotel gangway and asked if we could inspect a room as potential customers. The bus-boy sent us up to the Hotel deck but we 'somehow' missed our target and had to traipse ALL around the ship to get our bearings.
As an ex ships engineer, I'd have liked to have seen the engine & boiler rooms but that might have been stretching things too far.
To compensate them for their lack of ticket revenue, we bought a coffee and cake onboard.
All in all, a satisfactory day!
Here's some San Diego pictures for you
1 comment:
Another interesting, let's go further......and say fascinating entry. Your San Diego memory has a lot of material for thought in it. (do ask you sisters about the mysterious Aunty Mary and if anything comes to light, pray, do report to us by way of this blog).
I don't know whether to feel shocked or enchanted by your Queen Mary caper. I salute your cleverness and wonder how you kept four straight faces.
Mr. Bob & I stayed on the Queen Mary for our 49th wedding anniversary. Our quarters were huge, bigger than home, I think.
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