Enter The Queen

It is a well-known fact (at least over here), that Charleston was (and, to some extent, still is) a major port on the Eastern Seaboard. With this in mind, it is perhaps not so much a surprise that the city had a visit from a rather special boat -namely the Cunard liner, the Queen Mary 2. Whilst this ship makes regular transatlantic crossings - from Southampton to New York - today was a diversion from the regular route paid for by Merril Lynch (Could you imagine how much it would take to 'hire' the Queen Mary 2?? I really do dread to think). Anyway, as you can imagine, this was quite an occasion for Charleston - and a number of locals were out in force to watch as the ship sailed up the Cooper river. Unfortunately for us here at MUSC, we tried to go have a look from higher up the building only to be foiled by the Rutledge Tower (part of the old hospital) which was smack bang in the middle of our view.

The QM2 is currently the longest, widest and tallest passenger ship ever built - being approximately 345m in length, 45m across (at the widest point) and 72m high. When first built, she was also the largest - weighing 151,400 gross tons (although this was lost in April 2006 to Royal Caribbean International's 158,000 gross ton Freedom of the Seas. However, she still remains the largest ocean liner ever built. QM2's luxuries include 15 restaurants and bars, five swimming pools, a casino, a ballroom, and a planetarium (!). The ship can hold 2,320 passengers - and boasts lifeboats that are, apparently, like ships in themselves - and, since launching in 2004, has made 100 different ports of call in 25 countries. I would love to say that i was able to get a picture of this glorous (British) ship as she passed by - but unfortunately that wasn't to be. Suffice to say, there are hopes that QM2 will return to Charleston in the future. So i'd better keep an eye out.