San Francisco’s Fox Theatre was the largest movie palace west of St Louis. A monument to opulence and glamour long gone. There weren’t enough adjectives to describe the movie theater’s magnificence. It drew crowds from the entire Bay Area with premiere movies and stage shows. Kids on dates from San ... Read More »
Davie Bowie refused to fly. Ships and Trains only for the famous star.
David Bowie, who starred in the film The Man Who Fell to Earth, had a long-standing fear of flying. Bowie sailed aboard Cunard’s QE 2, the Italian Line’s Leonardo da Vinci, P&O-Orient Line’s Oronsay and Canberra along with many other ships. So while other superstars would take the Concorde or ... Read More »
California’s Streamlined LARK connected San Francisco and Los Angeles for Decades
Southern Pacific’s deluxe all-Pullman streamliner Lark was the premiere overnight passenger between San Francisco and Los Angeles. A favorite of businessmen and movie stars. The Oakland Lark connected with the Lark at San Jose then via San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara to Southern California along the coast route. The Lark ... Read More »
Cruising to South America on mid-Century streamlined Delta Lines.
The Delta Line was cruising to South America from New Orleans in the 1950s. The steamship company introduced three revolutionary passenger-cargo ships to its South American services in the post-war years of the 1940s. In keeping with the trade name of the company, “Delta Line,” the three vessels were given ... Read More »
Cruise Passenger Volume Expected to Surpass 2019 Levels by End of 2023
Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), shared new findings at Seatrade Cruise Global in Miami, which are evidence of the cruise community’s resilience. CLIA shared highlights of the consumer research, confirming that intent to cruise is rebounding, with 63 percent of cruisers or potential cruisers indicating they are “very likely” or ... Read More »
Retro Video: The famous French Liner SS Normandie
The SS Normandie was, of course, the result of a successive series of bigger and better French liners, beginning with the France of 1912 and continuing to the Ile de France (1927) and L’Atlantique (1931). Even the far smaller Champlain (1932) has often been called a prelude. She also drew ... Read More »
The Love Boat makes another run and this time it sails as a reality show.
The Real Love Boat rings singles together to cruise the Mediterranean while looking for love. Destination dates, challenges and surprise singles will test the couples’ compatibility and chemistry. After watching the first episode, I think the new show strives to honor the universal nostalgia of the original and cleverly leverages ... Read More »
Charles Pierce Impersonates Bette Davis
See Charles Pierce perform one of his famous Bette Davis impersonations. Performing from San Francisco and Los Angeles to New York as a top nightclub act, Pierce was one of the best female impersonators in American theatre history. Pierce was a star for decades, living in San Francisco, starting in ... Read More »
1929 USA Coast-Wise Cruise on the SS Nantucket Video
Known as the “Queen of Sea,” the Merchants and Miners Transportation Company Steamship Line operated one of the finest fleets of passenger steamers on the Atlantic Coast and ranked foremost as one of America’s top tourist routes. It was said to be the only line plying between Baltimore, Savannah, and ... Read More »
Chicago Cubs in mid-Century California’s Catalina Island
Chewing gum magnate William Wrigley Jr.’s twin interests in baseball and Catalina Island – he bought Catalina in 1919 and gained a controlling interest in the Chicago Cubs in 1921 – dovetailed nicely when he made the decision to have the Cubs train on Catalina starting in 1921. In doing ... Read More »