{"id":81469,"date":"2025-12-04T16:23:12","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T16:23:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/81469\/"},"modified":"2025-12-04T16:23:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T16:23:12","slug":"queen-mary-to-celebrate-58th-anniversary-of-its-arrival-in-long-beach-press-telegram","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/81469\/","title":{"rendered":"Queen Mary to celebrate 58th anniversary of its arrival in Long Beach\u00a0 \u2013 Press Telegram"},"content":{"rendered":"

Next year is set to be an exciting one for The Queen Mary, with multiple milestones coming up in 2026.<\/p>\n

First on the list of celebrations \u2014 a black-tie dinner gala to honor the 58th anniversary of the iconic ship\u2019s arrival in Long Beach, which will get underway on Tuesday, Dec. 9.<\/p>\n

The gala will be hosted in The Queen Mary\u2019s Grand Salon, according to a recent news release, and will feature a four-course dinner with a menu inspired by dishes served aboard the ship when it docked in Long Beach in 1967.<\/p>\n

There will also be live entertainment and a program reviewing the ship\u2019s accomplishments over the past year, while looking forward to its future \u2014 which will include a celebration honoring the 90th anniversary of The Queen Mary\u2019s maiden voyage in May 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor nearly six decades, The Queen Mary has stood as a proud symbol of Long Beach\u2019s history and resilience,\u201d Steve Caloca, the ship\u2019s managing director, said in the news release. \u201cThis annual celebration not only honors the ship\u2019s past but also looks toward her bright future as we prepare for her 90th Anniversary. We\u2019re grateful to the City of Long Beach, our visitors, and the dedicated community who continue to champion her preservation and legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Queen Mary Club members, the event will also feature an early private cocktail hour starting at 4:30 p.m., and all attendees will get a limited-edition pin commemorating the 90th anniversary milestone.<\/p>\n

Tickets are $99 per person, and the gala will start at 5 p.m.<\/p>\n

For tickets, go to queenmary.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Seasonal treats<\/p>\n

The holidays are just around the corner \u2014 and that means the time of limited-edition seasonal treats has arrived.<\/p>\n

Here are some wintery specials in Long Beach to enjoy the holiday season.<\/p>\n

Telef\u00e8ric Barcelona is offering a few limited-edition Christmas dishes\u00a0inspired by traditional Spanish holiday flavors, including Fiesta Paella with beef tomahawk and lobster.<\/p>\n

\"Telef\u00c3\u00a8ric<\/p>\n

Telef\u00e8ric Barcelona is offering a few limited-edition Christmas dishes inspired by traditional Spanish holiday flavors, including Fiesta Paella with beef tomahawk and lobster. (Photo by Jo Murray).\n<\/p>\n

\"Some<\/p>\n

Some holiday drinkware offered by Port City Tavern. (Photo by Jo Murray).\n<\/p>\n

\"Holiday<\/p>\n

Holiday decorations at Port City Tavern. (Photo by Jo Murray).\n<\/p>\n

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Telef\u00e8ric Barcelona is offering a few limited-edition Christmas dishes inspired by traditional Spanish holiday flavors, including Fiesta Paella with beef tomahawk and lobster. (Photo by Jo Murray).\n<\/p>\n

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We had a family celebration \u2013 and started with the \u201csurf and turf\u201d style paella. The family size portion is $180. The huge tomahawk is served sliced, and the lobster bites are generous, making this a special treat.<\/p>\n

The restaurant is located on the first floor of the 2ND & PCH shopping center.<\/p>\n

When it comes to adulting, hunting for the best holiday cocktail menu is one of my favorite traditions.<\/p>\n

Port City Tavern\u2019s holiday menu includes a handful of classic cocktails that they bring back year after year \u2014 mixed with new additions for a really complete and festive set of offerings.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s menu features three souvenir glasses \u2014 an elf boot, a mini Santa mug, and \u201cA Christmas Story\u201d-themed leg lamp shot glass \u2014 alongside some other custom drinkware that\u2019s available for purchase including a Santa tiki mug and some cheeky rock glasses.<\/p>\n

School visit<\/p>\n

At the beginning of the month, I made a visit to Lowell Elementary School \u2014 in disguise as my alter ego of Mrs. Claus.<\/p>\n

About 10 years ago, there was a costume shop on Second Street that went out of business and one of my finds there was a Mrs. Santa Claus outfit. I started wearing the costume at different children\u2019s events, including some parties and charitable events.<\/p>\n

\"Columnist<\/p>\n

Columnist Jo Murray reads a holiday book to TK students dressed as Mrs. Claus. (Photo courtesy of Jo Murray).\n<\/p>\n

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Columnist Jo Murray reads a holiday book to TK students dressed as Mrs. Claus. (Photo courtesy of Jo Murray).\n<\/p>\n

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I had a white wig and some padding to go with it \u2014 though, over the course of the last 10 years, I\u2019ve found no need for the padding or the white wig.<\/p>\n

For the last two years I\u2019ve been visiting Cynthia Finlay\u2019s TK class at Lowell Bayside Academy, where I don the Mrs. Claus updo and read the kids a story about Elf on the Shelf \u2014 delivering the Elf on the Shelf itself to the classroom.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a festive way to kick off the season \u2014 and a wonderful way to share the magic of the season with young people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Next year is set to be an exciting one for The Queen Mary, with multiple milestones coming up…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":81470,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[7,8132,3739,131,133,132,137,3738],"class_list":{"0":"post-81469","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-long-beach","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-grunion-business-beat","10":"tag-grunion-news","11":"tag-long-beach","12":"tag-long-beach-headlines","13":"tag-long-beach-news","14":"tag-los-angeles-county","15":"tag-the-grunion"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81469"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81469\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}