The Queen Mary 2 came to New York for the first time. This largest of ocean liners is a beautiful ship - and I couldn't resist the chance
to see her berthed at New York's piers. All I had to do was carry my camera with me on Friday morning, and take a quick detour past the pier
area on the Hudson (around 50th street). It's just a little hard to squeeze what you can see of her into the narrow lenses of a camera! Security
has become tight around the liners, and there's no longer a "come aboard for a look" invitation.
The ship is almost 100 feet longer than the Chrysler building is tall. If it arrives under the Verrazano Narrows bridge at high tide, it
will clear the roadway by just 13 feet. Simply a huge boat. Has all of the Cunard "Queen" line appeal and color scheme.
 Whoops - that's not the QM2, but another ship of British Registry! A British Airways Concorde, that now
belongs to the "Intrepid Sea and Air Museum", just south of the passenger ship docks.
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 About as much as anyone can see of the starboard side, stern.
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 Between a dock and a ship space.
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 You have to cross the street just to get a look at the bridge area - see if you can sense the scale.
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 Across the west side highway and into a park... I got one picture that almost captures the whole ship.
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 After getting downtown to my office, I read on one of the news articles that the QM2 would be sailing out
at lunchtime for a "cruise to nowhere", a 24-hour turnaround jaunt for some invited guests and journalists. So I had my boss keeping an eye out for
her coming down the Hudson and out into the harbor area. Didn't get many good photos, but this one's okay. I used to think the Staten Island ferries
were pretty good-sized boats, but not next to this!
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I brought Sharon and Elyse down on Sunday afternoon to have a look - the Queen Elizabeth 2 was also in town, to join the QM2 for a tandem trip over
to Southampton this evening. The Norweigian "Dawn" was also in town. QM2 will be back several times this year, but the first is always special!