ScotsFest at the Queen Mary
As I've mentioned on past blogs, I grew up in a town in Florida that prides itself on its Scottish roots, and I've been gradually indoctrinating Chris into the mix as well, taking him to different Highland Games and their associated events wherever we happen to be. In 2017, we hit up the Scottish Fest in Orange County, held at the O.C. Fairgrounds, and it was a great time; however, for 2018, we wanted to be sure to attend our most local Highland Games, Long Beach's Scots Fest, which is set up on and around the Queen Mary.
The QM has Scottish roots (read more about it here), so the event is normally well attended. We missed the games themselves last year, as we headed to Phoenix for a weekend with friends, but we were able to attend the Burns Dinner aboard the ship, which was a fun time (despite the massive rainstorms we had that night - our neighbors' tree cracked in half and crushed part of their truck that same night), and we vowed that in 2018, we'd make it to the games proper.
In the weeks leading up to the event, I'd been perusing their website, and I saw that for the first year, they'd be offering a ceilidh (pronounced Kaylee, like our kiddo) on Saturday night, after the games concluded that day. I've been to a ceilidh just once before (while attending games in Culloden, GA with our high school band), and it was a blast, so I jumped at the chance to show yet another moderately obscure Scottish pastime to Chris. We grabbed tickets in advance and once a Groupon came along for discounted admission to the Sunday games, we nabbed those, too.
While the QM has tons of eating establishments (and we've taken advantage of those in the past), we chose to have an early dinner at Michael's Pizzeria in downtown Long Beach, figuring the crowds wouldn't be as crazy there. We've eaten at Michael's once before (it's a Neapolitan-style place), and it's awesome, so our dinner here once again did not disappoint. After dinner, we caught the free Passport bus (run by Long Beach Transit), which took us over the bridge to the QM. Along the way, we chatted with our fellow riders, including a couple who had family roots in the Scottish city where the QM was built - cool stuff!
We arrived at the QM around 6:30pm, past the official ceilidh launch time of 6pm, to find a bunch of folks just standing around, drinking beers. While there's nothing wrong with that at all, we'd expected a bit more - some music and merriment - and when we found out the band wouldn't start playing for at least another hour, we decided to wander the QM and amuse ourselves in other ways.
Thus began our pub crawl of the QM. For one relatively medium-sized ship, the QM has at least four-five different bars (some attached to restaurants, some on their own), and we hit at least three of those. Normally, my favorite location is the Art Deco bar, as you have amazing views of downtown Long Beach and a great scene to take in as you imbibe.
See?
The next day, we once again headed to the QM via the metro blue line and the Passport bus. First, though, we were happy to meet Dad for brunch at 4th and Olive, a downtown spot we'd recently discovered and which is currently getting some good press (tip - have the pork. Everything else is pretty good, but the pork chop - in whatever form you can get it - is divine). After enjoying our visit with him for a while, we wished Dad adieu and hopped on the Passport for the ride over the bridge.
When we got to Scots Fest, opening ceremonies were about halfway done, so we wandered in that direction to see the remainder of the massed band parade. Unlike at the OC event, this area doesn't really have a good stadium option, so everyone just kind of stands around and watches each pipe band march by at eye level, which makes it hard to see. Also, due to the lack of space, there's no way for the bands to really mass together in a truly large-scale option; I really missed the goosebumps I normally get when I hear a good 100 pipers all playing together at the same time.
After opening ceremonies, we watched a few athletes competing, and we grabbed a scone with strawberries and cream from the food stands, which all had extensive lines. We wandered up and down the rows of merchants, and we finally found ourselves near the back of the enclosure to watch the raptor show, put on by a local company whose head raptor guy (not sure of the official nomenclature there) apparently also works at Medieval Times near Disneyland. The show started with some general information, and the dude brought out his first bird, a female augur hawk, who was having a great time chattering away at the crowd.
The head raptor guy asked the QM's Commodore to assist with the demonstration, which was apparently to have the hawk fly from one of them to the other, a seemingly standard move they'd practiced many times before. Instead, however, this hawk decided that today was the day to earn her - in the immortal words of Scottish patriot William Wallace - FREEEEEDOOOOOMMMMM, and she took off into the sky, landing on one of the elevated walkways on the QM.
We have no idea if she was ever found, so if you happen to see an augur hawk in the downtown LBC wearing a radio antennae on her leg, give her a high-five and wish her well. Like her, we don't believe we'll be attending the LB Scots Fest in the future.
Later!
Amy
The QM has Scottish roots (read more about it here), so the event is normally well attended. We missed the games themselves last year, as we headed to Phoenix for a weekend with friends, but we were able to attend the Burns Dinner aboard the ship, which was a fun time (despite the massive rainstorms we had that night - our neighbors' tree cracked in half and crushed part of their truck that same night), and we vowed that in 2018, we'd make it to the games proper.
In the weeks leading up to the event, I'd been perusing their website, and I saw that for the first year, they'd be offering a ceilidh (pronounced Kaylee, like our kiddo) on Saturday night, after the games concluded that day. I've been to a ceilidh just once before (while attending games in Culloden, GA with our high school band), and it was a blast, so I jumped at the chance to show yet another moderately obscure Scottish pastime to Chris. We grabbed tickets in advance and once a Groupon came along for discounted admission to the Sunday games, we nabbed those, too.
While the QM has tons of eating establishments (and we've taken advantage of those in the past), we chose to have an early dinner at Michael's Pizzeria in downtown Long Beach, figuring the crowds wouldn't be as crazy there. We've eaten at Michael's once before (it's a Neapolitan-style place), and it's awesome, so our dinner here once again did not disappoint. After dinner, we caught the free Passport bus (run by Long Beach Transit), which took us over the bridge to the QM. Along the way, we chatted with our fellow riders, including a couple who had family roots in the Scottish city where the QM was built - cool stuff!
We arrived at the QM around 6:30pm, past the official ceilidh launch time of 6pm, to find a bunch of folks just standing around, drinking beers. While there's nothing wrong with that at all, we'd expected a bit more - some music and merriment - and when we found out the band wouldn't start playing for at least another hour, we decided to wander the QM and amuse ourselves in other ways.
I mean, we did get drinks before we left, though.
That's kinda the point of a ceilidh.
See?
Not my picture
Due to the crowds aboard, the bar was pretty full, although our waitress did a great job taking care of us. My only complaint is that our cocktails, while still being full price, were served in plastic cups (think red Solo cups, but clear), which wasn't exactly the ambiance we were looking for. Next, we headed to the lounge at Sir Winston's, the steakhouse on board, which more than met our requirements.
My sidecar and Chris' single malt.
This lounge was delightful - live piano music, cozy accommodations, and not too full. Although it's pricier than some of the other options on board (although not by much), it was just what we needed.
Now that it was a bit later, we headed back to the ceilidh, where the band was in full swing. We found a comfy spot to sit and enjoyed listening to the musical offerings, watching folks dance, and chatting with our neighbors. It was a great time - so great that Chris had a hurt foot for the next two days from stomping along to the music!
The next day, we once again headed to the QM via the metro blue line and the Passport bus. First, though, we were happy to meet Dad for brunch at 4th and Olive, a downtown spot we'd recently discovered and which is currently getting some good press (tip - have the pork. Everything else is pretty good, but the pork chop - in whatever form you can get it - is divine). After enjoying our visit with him for a while, we wished Dad adieu and hopped on the Passport for the ride over the bridge.
When we got to Scots Fest, opening ceremonies were about halfway done, so we wandered in that direction to see the remainder of the massed band parade. Unlike at the OC event, this area doesn't really have a good stadium option, so everyone just kind of stands around and watches each pipe band march by at eye level, which makes it hard to see. Also, due to the lack of space, there's no way for the bands to really mass together in a truly large-scale option; I really missed the goosebumps I normally get when I hear a good 100 pipers all playing together at the same time.
After opening ceremonies, we watched a few athletes competing, and we grabbed a scone with strawberries and cream from the food stands, which all had extensive lines. We wandered up and down the rows of merchants, and we finally found ourselves near the back of the enclosure to watch the raptor show, put on by a local company whose head raptor guy (not sure of the official nomenclature there) apparently also works at Medieval Times near Disneyland. The show started with some general information, and the dude brought out his first bird, a female augur hawk, who was having a great time chattering away at the crowd.
The head raptor guy asked the QM's Commodore to assist with the demonstration, which was apparently to have the hawk fly from one of them to the other, a seemingly standard move they'd practiced many times before. Instead, however, this hawk decided that today was the day to earn her - in the immortal words of Scottish patriot William Wallace - FREEEEEDOOOOOMMMMM, and she took off into the sky, landing on one of the elevated walkways on the QM.
"Peace, out, mothers."
Not the actual bird.
This is Taima, who is the augur hawk
for the Seattle Seahawks.
WHICH SHOULD BE AN OSPREY.
AHEM.
The raptor dude tried to entice the hawk back with some freshly killed mousey bits (NOM!), but she responded by flying over the bow of the ship and out of sight. We all waited near the enclosure while the head dude ran up to the ship, across the bow, and out of sight as well, but when the hawk wasn't recovered after about 15 minutes, we threw in the towel. At this point, we decided, given the crowd size and warm weather, it was high time to make our exit as well, and we headed back to the Passport stop. The bus came, and we dozed on board, while it gave us a very slow tour (not its fault - the city was super crowded on this day) of the most exciting tourist destinations in Long Beach.
As we made it past the Aquarium of the Pacific, the bus wound through Shoreline Village, where as we drove past, we noticed the same raptor dude, now on this side of Long Beach Harbor, frantically scanning the skies. As he mentioned to us in his introduction, most captive raptors are radio chipped, so they can be tracked, should something like this occur. Apparently, the hawk made it not just over the QM but across the entire bay, and was now probably binging on pigeons.
A shot of the harbor, for reference.
That's the QM near us on the left.
The hawk flew from that parking lot,
over the QM, across the bay,
and essentially to that spit sticking out
in the far part of the shot.
We have no idea if she was ever found, so if you happen to see an augur hawk in the downtown LBC wearing a radio antennae on her leg, give her a high-five and wish her well. Like her, we don't believe we'll be attending the LB Scots Fest in the future.
Later!
Amy
Comments
Post a Comment