There are many Scottish and Celtic events in California, but only a few are easy to attend for persons who fly in from out of state and prefer to not rent a car. The Queen Mary games, held each year on President’s day weekend is one of the few events which is easy to get to. Long Beach is close to three airports: Long Beach, Los Angeles and Orange County(John Wayne), and the Queen Mary itself is a hotel, so accommodations are easy. There is another hotel within walking distance, and those with cars will find many motels in downtown Long Beach at less than half the rate at and around the Queen Mary. Long Beach is a short drive from Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm, LA Museum complex and a number of other Los Angeles area entertainment sites. So this is a Scottish event which is easily accessible as well as great fun.

The Clan Maxwell “tent” for this event is actually inside the Queen Mary, an 8 foot wide table full of basic reference books and handouts. For this year’s games we had a good turnout of Maxwells for events both inside and outside the grand old ship. And weather for this year’s outside activities was mixed. Saturday was sunny and nice, which might have kept some people away by luring them to other outdoor events. Sunday brought off and on rain. We need to remember that any time Southern Californians see a cloud in the sky, they interpret that as a sign of impending blizzard. Overall result was that attendance was not high on either day.