According to the ship's website, the SS Galaxy - The Queen of the Sagittarian Sea - was quite the attraction in her heyday: "With over 650 meters in length, 110 meters beam, and
8 decks of living and leisure space, the SS Galaxy is the
largest single-build and the most exciting attraction in
Second Life today." An impressive build that spans a full three sims, the Galaxy was created in 2007 and once featured a full staff, over 100 rooms available for rental, a shopping mall, a variety of activities and regularly scheduled events, and even "cruises". (While the ship does not move, the staff would set up monthly "Port of Call" excursions via teleport exchanges.)
Unfortunately, the Galaxy is no longer a working vessel with on-board rentals and scheduled events. In May of 2015, for a variety of reasons, it shut down, but in August of that same year, Linden Lab stepped in and reopened the cruise ship as a museum of sorts. A team of Lindens and Moles created a "Preservation Society" and added some new attractions for visitors: a water slide (see final picture, below), swan boats, a hot air balloon tour, a bowling alley, and even a working movie theatre. Large wall maps located throughout the ship will give specific and direct landmarks to the various attractions.
Many of the original areas have been carefully preserved, such as the Wedding Chapel and Reception Hall, pictured above, or the charming Bamboo Garden Japanese Restaurant, pictured below. There are a couple of art galleries to visit, and a nicely-appointed spa area. See if you can spot Bob the Boulder, a place where the sea floor actually juts up into the ship!
Located right off of the Blake Sea, the SS Galaxy is easy to reach by boat from the Mainland. Although there are no rezzing areas on the ship itself, a tiny nearby island offers a free sailboat rezzer. You can also sit around a fire on the island and watch the hourly fireworks over the Galaxy, float around in Galaxy life preservers, or play 7Seas fishing from the island dock. Or, head back over to the Galaxy to explore some more! (I highly recommend the water slide, myself.) With a ship that spans three full sims, you're sure to find some fun onboard. Enjoy!
A good number of the destinations I've featured on this blog are creations by the "moles" of the Linden Department of Public Works, private residents who are expert builders, scripters and artists who have become contract workers for Linden Lab, tasked with creating Mainland infrastructure and community builds. At Meauxle Bureaux, the moles at last have their own homes, but not, as you might suspect, in dark burrows in the ground. Instead (pictured below) they have nested in an expansive medieval walled town on a large island in the Coastal Waterway...and it is open for the public to explore!
There is a fixed landing point, which will deposit you in the middle of a large town square full of market stalls. Currently, this square is still decorated with Valentine's balloons and messages...perhaps the moles have been too busy working to notice it is Spring! In any case, looking to the East, you'll spot a large castle-type building that serves as a community hall. Inside, you can pick up some winter gifts, enjoy a Mad Tea Party and other fun pose props, examine the portrait gallery on the second floor and try to guess which mole is which, and click the various posters which line the walls to receive LMs to other mole builds around the grid. A guestbook is located by the front door if you wish to leave the moles a message before wandering outside to explore the charming cobbled streets that wind through the town (photo below).
As you walk through the town, you'll notice that some moles share storefronts on the main roads (photo, below right), some have small duplexes just outside of the town, and at least one, Abnor Mole, runs a bar (first photo on the left, below). At "Ye Olde Abnor Mole Pub", visitors can play pool, enjoy a lively round of Cards Against Humanity, drink beer or espresso, or just relax and read. There are some other fun things to spot around town as well; try to find Ancient Mole's animated cave...inside one of the storefronts!
On the North and West sides of the island are docks where you can enter the town if approaching via the Coastal Waterway by boat or Yavascript Pod. The Maebaleia North M1 pod route serves both sides of the island. (Meauxle Bureaux is located off the Northeastern coast of Satori - sometimes called Maebaleia - just south of the Blake Sea.) On the larger set of docks in the North (see the very first picture in this post) you will find a rez zone so you can use your own boat to go exploring, or pick up a free sailboat or kayak near the Mole Marina in that same area. A sign near the free boats will tell you how to use them.
In first life, I will be traveling to the Republic of Ireland this summer, and the colorful houses of Meauxle Bureaux (pictured above) reminded me of the town of Cobh, which I plan to visit while there. I do hope that you take some time to explore the homes and shops in Meauxle Bureaux, and take a moment to celebrate the SL residents who, as LPDW moles, use their creativity, talent and humor to make the Mainland more beautiful, and more fun!
