Thar she blows!

Last night, Chris and I had dinner at Pier 39* so we could watch the Queen Mary 2 set sail for Hawaii. She's on her inaugural trip around the world right now, though her stay in SF was too short: she docked on Sunday and left just over 24 hours later. Normally, I wouldn't be that interested in a new cruise ship, but she's the successor to the Queen Mary, which is where we had our wedding reception.

Overall, I was impressed by the sheer hugeness of the QM2, but I think the original is still more attractive. She has the iconic 3 black and red smokestacks and the jaw-droppingly gorgeous Art Deco ballrooms. I have no doubt the QM2 is luxurious inside, but it seems that modern-day luxury is more cookie cutter and plastic-y than old-timey luxury. We held our reception in the Queen's Salon, which has these massive columns, amber sconces, and this amazing gold...art...thing on the wall. (Yeah, I have no clue what to call it, but you can see it here.) Sure, she's seen better years, but she's undeniably a gorgeous ship. I wish some old, rich boat lover would pay to restore her to her original glory.

*In my nearly 10 years of living in San Francisco, I have never been to Pier 39. It's like DisneySF: all tchotchkes shops and themed restaurants aimed straight at the tourists' wallets. My eyes almost fell out of my head when I saw that the restaurant where we ate (which we chose for its optimal ship-viewing location at the tip of the pier) was charging $20 for HALF a Dungeness crab! I can go down to Clement St. and pick up a live one for about $5-7. Fifteen minutes in boiling water and we are in business. Hell, if I'm feeling really lazy, I can get a cooked one at Safeway for just a bit more.