So, I got back to Cali just in time to celebrate my 1 year anniversary with Alex. He had a little surprise in store for me, I just had to make sure I had off for Tuesday & Wednesday of that week. I knew we weren’t going far, but I had no idea where we were going! I was so excited because I love, love surprises!
We hopped on the 405 and headed south towards Long Beach, which is about 1/2 hour away. Our end destination was the Queen Mary in Long Beach. The Queen Mary is a retired ocean liner that sailed primarily in the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936 to 1967. It is now docked at a pier and has been transformed in to a hotel. The boat is supposed to be haunted, but we didn’t notice any paranormal activity. The ship offers ghost tours and regular boat tours for a small price, but we didn’t participate in any of those.
We arrived in Long Beach around 3:00 on Tuesday and we really wanted to go stand up paddle-boarding. Our dreams were crushed when we got there because it was soo windy! I’ve never been SUPing but I knew it would be enough of a challenge without the wind so we decided not to go on this particular day. We opted for a double kayak instead. That way I could relax and have Alex do most of the work! 😉 I did help SOME! It took me back to my Greece trip where I had the worst experience with kayaking against the current and wind. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any sweet pics of us in our life jackets. But after kayaking we hung out on the beach for a bit.
This water is wayy warmer than OC water was when I was home! and there were a TON of kite boarders out that day as you can see in the background.
After our time on the water and at the beach we headed to the Queen Mary ship. Our estate room was quite nice as you can see below! I LOVE me a king sized bed! We showered up and got ready for happy hour followed by dinner. We had such a good time at happy hour just talking about life and the last year. We worked up a huge appetite by the time 815 rolled around.
Happy hour on the deck
The ship had 2 fine dining restaurants and Alex chose the less formal of the two because he thought I would enjoy the menu better. He was right! I had the most delicious filet mignon stuffed with lobster and spinach. It was seriously so awesome. Sadly for Alex, his entree was not as good as mine but he was a good sport about it. He got a seafood boil but it didn’t have much flavor. Maybe I’m bias but I don’t think anywhere prepares seafood as well as MD! It was still a delicious dinner with creme brulee for dessert!!
The next day we had kind of crappy weather, it was overcast all day. But we spent our day exploring the different areas of the ship and buying souvenirs. It was such a neat ship, it felt like being on a real cruise! It was cool because Alex has never been on a cruise before so he kind of got the feel for it. (I can’t even imagine what the Oasis of the Seas looks like next to this ship!) We had such an awesome night and 2 days together. It is great to explore all different parts of Cali near and far. We loved Long Beach! The people were so friendly and really felt like a true beach town. I was thrilled with his surprise destination for our 1 year!
I can absolutely, positively say that this past year has been the best of my life. I am so blessed to have Alex in my life. I now know what true love is and he makes me feel complete. I am so lucky to have such a great guy, they seem so hard to come by these days! I am a better person because of him. I can’t wait to see what this next year has in store for us! ❤
Nurse On A New Coast 
Happy late anniversary. Sounds like such a nice trip! I hope you get to try paddleboarding because it is so much fun!
oh my gossshh that filet you had sounds delicious! And I agree, nothing like seafood from the east coast!