So Far From Home

Three years ago today, I was onboard QE2, anchored off the Forth Rail Bridge in Queensferry, Scotland.  This day would be the last day she would fly the St. Andrews Flag of Scotland.  As with dinner each night, we were presented with another special menu, commemorating the day, as shown above.  Obsessed QE2 fans will easily spot when this photo was originally taken by the so called "speed stripe" visible on her hull below the Cunard logo and running aft.  By the time I saw her in 2000, this stripe had been removed.  I did not notice this since my true obsession had not yet fully blossomed until I had experienced the ship for the first time.

Reflecting on the past three years, it has been a bit of a roller coaster ride; witnessing the sad farewell in NYC, staying up all night watching her run aground on the AIS website on her final approach to Southampton, catching all the coverage of her final departure from Southampton,  barely stomaching the arrival in Dubai, scouring the internet for any news of the conversion plans, finding http://www.qe2story.com/ and connecting with fans suffering with the same sense of loss and fustration over the lack of news, utter joy in seeing her in drydock for a cleaning and mainenance work for a planned sailing to Capetown for the World Cup, devastation when the Capetown deal is scuttled for whatever reason, worrying over her condition after seeing rumors posted on various boards, relief and utter sadness watching Rob Lightbody's videos of his exclusive visit to the ship, and most currently, more worries after seeing the reports that the plan to put her in the planned Dubai development have been scuttled. 

I think these words written on the back of one of the commemorative dinner menus still ring true today, three years later........