Happy New Year!

Mike and I celebrated at the Queen Mary last night. If you get a chance to attend their party some new year, I highly recommend it. I hadn't been to the Queen Mary since I was a little child. I thought it was going to be more modernized than it was. So, it was very cool when in reality it felt like you really were stepping back in time in a way. They played '40s music in the restaurants and on the promenade deck, and we overheard people telling ghost stories wherever we went. On New Years Eve they have 5 different bands in different locations around the ship, playing until 1:30am. They had a salsa band, '80s, top 40, jazz, and swing. Mike and I hung out in the swing room most of the time except when we went to have dinner. One of the restaurants was serving a buffet dinner which, in spite of being buffet, was very elegant. Also another cool thing about being on the Queen Mary is that every window has an amazing view. So in the restaurant we were seated near a window that overlooked the downtown skyline and harbor. We ate steak and salmon and lots of desserts.

I was wearing high heels that were not very comfortable. As the evening wore on my feet started to protest. Then I saw other ladies who had changed into flipflops. Little rhinestone-studded flipflops to go with their party dresses. I remembered seeing a couple of stores open on the ship so Mike and I went shopping. Queen Mary Couture was selling shoes, and there were lots of ladies changing into flats and flipflops. I bought my own rhinestone studded pair of flipflops and threw my old shoes away. Much better, and I danced in those sandals the rest of the night.

After the midnight balloon drop, everyone headed out to the top deck and they had a great fireworks show, set to all different kinds of music including the Pirates of the Carribbean movie theme. Awesome.