Boldly Go Solo

Had enough Titanic stories yet? Can I sneak just one more itty bitty one past you?

I was in Belfast a few years ago where I learned about the city's ship-building prowess and the fact that the RMS Titanic, and its sister ship the RMS Olympic, were built there for the White Star Line.

The best part of the tour on a gray day was a visit to the S.S. Nomadic, the last remaining White Star Line ship. The Nomadic was a tender used to ferry passengers from Cherbourg, France, to the passenger ships that were too large to dock in the harbor.

And it brought the passengers at Cherbourg to the Titanic for its last, fateful trip. 

The haunting part of the visit to the Nomadic was the exhibit inside.

It contained dishes, place settings, bedding and other items that the company had provided to its ships, including the Titanic. 

It was eerie to see items similar to the ones the passengers aboard the Titanic used. I even felt a bit claustrophobic below board the ship. What must the Titanic's passengers have felt knowing what they knew?

Though the city was once ashamed about the sinking of the Titanic, the people who promote Belfast now are proud of their ship-building heritage and have a sense of humor about the doomed ship.

"She was alright when she left here," said Kathryn Thomson from the Northern Ireland Tourist Board.

The Nomadic is now in dry dock for restoration and it looks mighty spiffed up from when I visited in 2007, posting here about the solo aspect of the trip.

Several other cities and museums tout their connections to the Titanic, including the Merseyside Maritime Museum in Liverpool, which I visited on the same trip.

The Washington Post recently ran a long feature story on the Ulster Folk and Transit Museum and Titanic Belfast, where visitors can see intriguing items from the ship.

It does feel pretty special to learn more about the Titanic's history in the city where the ship was built.

Photos: Ellen Perlman. 1. White Star Line poster. 2. White Star Line bedding. 3. First class dining place settings. 4. The S.S. Nomadic in 2007. 5. Life saver from the S.S. Nomadic.