Many years ago, I attended an aunt's wedding which was held in Bethlehem. The reception being held at the Athlone Castle, which was a restaurant on Loch Athlone on the Jordaan River. I do not recall much of it, except that it looked like a ship! I have seen fleeting glimpses of the ship in old 8mm movies and recently found an old photograph amongst those old albums that have pics of unknown relatives in. Not too long ago it was rumoured that a casino was to be opened there, but that fell through and in mid 2006 the ship was to be auctioned.
Apparently it was built in the mid 50s by a retired merchant marine officer who served on the real ship, and who settled in Bethlehem on his retirement. I am happy to report that my brother visited the ship/restaurant in January of 2009 and it still exists. However, whether any artifacts from the real ship exist is another story. I intend going down there myself one day and hope to have more to say on this subject.
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