Read Jetsetters Magazine at www.jetsettersmagazine.com http://www.jetsettersmagazine.com/archive/jetezine/cruise02/mary/mary.html

You could call Queen Mary a floating museum, now that she is permanently dry docked in Long Beach, California harbor — but she is much more than a icon of a glorious past.

Queen Mary StatisticsShe is emotional nostalgia.

She is a representative of not only an era of distinguished travel, but also a huge Art Deco memento to still living veterans of World War II. The Queen Mary was a major instrument of war, then of peace. She ferried thousand of troops from Pacific theater from 1940 to 1942 and then from North America to European theater — and she still to this date holds record of most passengers carried on a single voyage — 16,000 GIs.

Many of exhibits onboard Grey Ghost are representative of her days as a troop carrier. Longer than mighty Titantic, Queen Mary was fastest ship on high seas, even Wolf Pack U-boats couldn't keep up to her amazing 28.5 knots. Why was she called Grey Ghost? She was painted a military camouflage grey and she glided through starry, wind swept waters like a ghost — and if you take Ghost and Legends Tour, you will learn that many passengers thQueen Mary Historic Time Lineat died on-board (over 40) during her trans-Atlantic crossings often reappear at odd times and locations — dressed in vintage period fashions.

And then there are 330+ British sailors that were killed in a highly top secret and tight-lipped disaster. The Queen Mary was so fast that one of her escort cruisers, H.M.S. Curacoa (Kir-A sow-a), tendering her off coast of Scotland, crossed her path and proved too slow. The Queen sliced through cruiser's mid-section and sunk warship in minutes, taking those lives to their secret, watery grave — and news never appeared until after war to avoid alerting Axis powers of her true North Atlantic route. The accident barely caused a ripple in Queen, but a large section was gouged out of her bow superstructure, and you can see where replacement steel was welded back in on Ghost and Legends Tour.

Cruise From Long BeachThe Queen Mary is more than a museum or keepsake for an entire war generation. She is also today a fine dining experience and a wonderful 365-stateroom hotel. You can voyage from past to present in museums, but real artifacts are staterooms made up exactly as they were during Queen's magnificent heyday.

The warm paneled woods and huge staterooms now offer outside cabin porthole views over harbor of Long Beach. At one time you could draw warm seawater (heated by ships enormous boilers) or freshwater for your bath — with special soaps provided for seawater bathing that was de rigueur of day. Queen Mary still provides comfortable quarters and special milled soaps and toiletries, and maybe when you wake up in morning for your morning juice your breaStay On The Queen Marykfast companion will be one of those ghostly apparitions reading morning newspaper in your suite's antechamber. Don't laugh or mock — there have been such reports — and on many occasions, and recently.

I indulged myself for all-inclusive experience as a modern-day passenger and I was amazed at new renovations that included air conditioning and internet access, data ports, touch-tone direct dial phones, and king, queen and twin beds.

Stay At The Queen MaryThe ship was first to use that innovative material of times — plastic — Bakelite is found on certain areas of her hallway handrails. The Queen Mary has latest in fitness equipment, and a bustling business center. During her epic classical era Queen had a squash court, swimming pools, grand ballroom, and a small, but well equipped hospital.

Just about every section of Queen Mary is now open for exploration. What a beautiful ship she is and I feel jealous that I am denied North Atlantic passage on her foot polished decks, rubbing elbows with elite of North America and Europe. Celebrity passengers have included Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Liberace, Jack Benny, Gloria Swanson, and other Hollywood and royalty types.

It's a noisy and distressful world, pressing on senses in all directions. You travel for a changeable environment — peace, relaxation, calm — and avoidance of annoyance. I think that is proper description of luxury stated by Wilde.

Villa Nova is a classic hotel outpost of considerable desideratum that is ensconced in sugar hills of Barbados, recently capturing these awards: "Hottest Hotel in World", from Conde Nast Traveler Magazine; Tattlers' "Prestige Hotel of Year"; and in 2003, "Boutique Hotel of Year" from World Travel Awards.

But award I would give Villa Nova is "Best Hotel For Solitude". After spending four days in retreat, I never heard one airplane overhead or a single motorcycle backfire; no cars rushing by, or senseless boom boxes or any other annoyance. The only fidelity was JVC CD-player in my room, stocked with classic standards. What I did listen to was softness of morning rain on bocage of palms — Fishtail Palms, Lady Palms, MacArthur Palms, Chinese Fan Palms, and Prickle Palms. While peering out Caribbean-style shuttered windows I heard a hummingbird's wings buzzing a flower. My biggest offense was leaving property at all. The counterpoise to all this silence is peaceful sleeping. With ozonated negative ion air and comfy plushy pillowy mattresses, I never slept better anywhere I have ever traveled. If you have any type of sleep disorder Villa Nova will put your nocturnal abberations back into proper sync with absence of any mental power of your own.

The entrance to Villa Nova is a drive bordered with cascading ferns and thickly shaded by mature mahogany trees. Near entrance to house (it is billed as a Hill Country Manor) are three cabbage palms towering over premises. Just arriving is a prerequisite to halcyon.

Shrubs and flowering trees of greatest variety and fragrance give beauty to Villa Nova year around. The resort boasts Barbados' largest Queen of Flower Tree (Lagerstroemia Speciosa); flamboyant or flame trees (Delonix Regia) and yellow pouri (Tabebuia Serratifolia) and frangipani (plumeria) add a coat of many colors. African tulip trees (Spathodea Campanulata) and ylang-ylang trees (canaga odorata), whose blossoms are used as a base to many perfumes, add aromatics. The enormous bearded fig tree (Picus Citrifolia) by swimming pool terrace is national tree of Barbados and it has pride-of-place on nation's Coat of Arms, as well as on Royal Standard of Elizabeth II, Queen of Barbados.

The fig and tall stately mahoganies and Spanish Ash (Lonchocarpus Benthanriamus)

Just below al fresco dining terrace rests beautiful blue tiled pool that is paved all around with a cool-to-the-foot coral stone courtyard. I was in middle of pool that is as dark (at certain angles) as any hidden local shady swimming hole, gazing at foliage splendor, when The Birdman seemed to appear right out of bush. The Birdman is Villa Nova's resident gardener, but he should have his own CD pressed for bird whistles and trills he mockingbird mimics. "All birds know me; they build nests in gazebo where I go." He kept me entertained with bird calls of Pee Witter, Cane Sparrow, Yellow Bust, Morning Doves, and Wild Pigeons, and I bet he could imitate buzz of a hummingbird!

"I am determined to travel through life first class." — Sir Noel Coward

The international jet set has discovered Villa Nova. Mick Jagger once flew over from his private home on Mustique. Liv Ulman graced terrace with her grace. Boyance has made a dramatic and flamboyant entrance. Even Tony Blair, Prime Minister of England, stayed here. In fact Villa Nova once was owned by Sir Anthony Eden, former Prime Minister of England. He retired here, but Winston Churchill sought him out and even Queen of England slept here, staying no doubt for solitude. Noel Coward must have penned his motto while poolside.

The true luxuries of Villa Nova are gardens wrapped around coral stone cliff rural landscape. Eden found his "Eden" while gardening and raising mango and papaya trees and vegetables and herbs. Villa Nova is an oasis set on a hillside that provides for complete privacy 900 feet above sea level, with temperatures five degrees lower than on Platinum Coast to west. Trade winds blow thousands of miles across Atlantic Ocean and up over uplands keeping nights even cooler. Warm duvets on bed keep you warm throughout night.

An open verandah runs around three sides of main reception rooms to north, east, and south of Villa Nova, keeping these rooms delightfully cool and shaded. The east and south verandahs look out onto lush lawns with flowerbeds, fine old mahogany trees, and some of tallest cabbage palms (roystonea oleracea) on island. To southeast from gazebo distance sugarcane fields testify to area's continuing agricultural wealth, a panoramic view across seven miles of rolling green Uplands country to Atlantic. In foreground is pool copse and beyond is Moncrieffe Plantation.

Villa Nova presents a very interesting southern façade broken by a curved wall (apse) with a portico supported by fluted columns, projecting beyond verandah, and a wing to west. The ceiling of portico and verandah is vaulted; a door with a pleasing fanlight leads to dining room.

The music room is a long room of 31 feet with apse bearing to south. The piano was once owned by Rupert Murdoch of worldwide media fame. In Private Dining Room 1890 mahogany dining table is from Queen's Park House, headquarters of British Regiment that was once stationed in Barbados. This table bears "scars" of officers' spurs as they literally put their feet up on table to relax with their glass of port. The table is of local mahogany and creates a fine balance to room.