April 9th, 1961: onboard Queen Mary

• April 9th, 1961
• on-board Queen Mary
• Windy-sunny-showery in afternoon and evening. SW gale moderating rough sea, heavy swell moderately

Mass at 9:30 am in the 1st class lounge.

Had a most difficult ship quiz for the day in which we matched up riddles against surnames in the passenger list. I knew I had several wrong but passed it in anyway, and to my delight found I was winner again.  Received a beautiful real leather manicure case completely fitted.  Attended cabaret and bingo after dinner. Afternoon on the sun deck.

April 8th, 1961 Queen Mary

• April 8th, 1961
• Queen Mary
• Sunny and windy aboard WSW gale, very rough sea, very heavy swell

Lay in our deck chairs a good portion of the day.

Played a little shuffle board. Visited the ship's laundry where there is every facility for washing and ironing.  Got well caught up on our laundry. A rainbow in the spray has been following us for days. Very lovely!

Much entertainment in the smoking room evenings. Cabaret, music and bingo.  Won over 8 L at bingo and was quite thrilled.

April 7th, 1961 Queen Mary

• April 7th, 1961
• Queen Mary
• near westerly gale rough sea, heavy swells cloudy-gusts of rain, rougher than it has been

Today I passed in a quiz  called "Which is Which" in which a  familiar thing must be matched up with one of two meanings. The were 20 questions and imagine my surprise to find my name listed as winner.  The food continues very good, and the service and attention given everywhere on board is excellent.  

We take salt water baths rinsing off with fresh water from a small tub. It is most invigorating and almost as good as a swim in the ocean.  Met a very interesting person* who had photos of Leeds castle in Maidstone. She lives in one of the lodges and has charge of the Castle while her husband is the caterer.  She has been in the Bahamas at the residence there of her employer and had a vast fund of interesting experiences. She invited us to visit her and go through Leeds castle.  It is one of three castles left in England with the original water moat + draw bridge.

*Mrs. Marjorie Borret

April 6th, 1961 Queen Mary

• April 6th, 1961
• Queen Mary
• Rough sea, moderate to heavy swell Cloudy-Milder WNW wind

Today we reported to the immigration inspector with our passports. Took a chance on the Captain's Tote for the day (mileage in 24 hrs) and picked the correct number of miles. Got 1 pound note, 2 half crowns and 2 shillings all of which took me a little time to figure out.  The initial investment was 35¢, so it was a good profit $3.43.

Wonderful entertainment this evening in the Smoking Room-International Dances and a good vocalist. A game of bingo with very fine stakes.

April 5th, 1961 N.Y. and aboard Queen Mary

• April 5th, 1961
• N.Y. and aboard Queen Mary
• Fair-occasional cloudiness

Florence Taylor now lives in N.Y. so I rang her up. Later she came to see use off, bringing a bottle of champagne for a Bon Voyage gift. Helen joined us for breakfast at the Dorset and come down, also, to see us off.

The last time I was aboard the Queen Mary was some 7-8 yrs. ago and I had forgotten what a wonderful ship she is. Our cabin is adequate-in fact fairly comfortable and after we had complied with the usual formalities, filling out our declaration forms, etc., we wondered about the ship, finally landing atop the sun deck where we lay in our chairs for about an hour, sunning ourselves.

The meals on the ship are excellent and I am afraid it will be hard on Put's waistline, be he has been warned and is paying no heed-so far!

Letters from Jim and the Moncures when we arrived aboard. Very nice-especially Jim's-which made us feel quite at home.

People on board seem to be well behaved with the few exceptions one finds anywhere.

April 4th, 1961 New York-Dorset Hotel

• April 4th, 1961
• New York-Dorset Hotel
• Fair-Cloudless

Arrived at the Dorset about 1:15 PM after a trip to the peir with our luggage.  All taxi men in New York are valuable but we picked the most valuable of the all. Quite entertaining in fact.

Ate dinner at a little restaurant on W. 55th Street.  Exceptionally good cuisine. 

After dinner we strolled up 5th Avenue and visited St. Thomas Episcopal Church and St. Matthews. Did a bit of window shopping but one can see the counterparts of these 5th Ave. styles in any moderate dress shop.

Taking a break from the McCann Story: Mary and Ervin Putnam's 1961 European trip

I have a copy of a travel journal my Grandmother, Mary Gertrude Connelly Putnam wrote about her trip to Europe with Ervin Earl Putnam in 1961 that I thought I would transcribe.  The trip went from April 4th to June 6th and I'll post the entries on the appropriate days.  They had a list of locations they visited at the front of the book, so I've mapped them out here.  AS I go through the entries I might add more locations or make them more precise.