Friday was our being tourists day. John, William, my dad and I started the morning at the USS Intrepid Museum. As we neared the Hudson it was cool to see a cruise ship coming into port! Since we are members of the Field Museum in Chicago, we had reciprocal privileges at the Intrepid and got free admission!
First up was the submarine tour before the line got too long. The docent gave us some great information about how the periscopes work and operating the sub. He seemed genuinely thrilled to hear our questions and explain sub life to us. Touring submarines always reminds me why I have a desk job! I'm way too claustrophobic and sunlight loving to be a submariner!
Next we went up to the flight deck and used our audio guides to learn about the various aircraft parked up top. We also learned how the Intrepid was used as a command center after 9/11. Docked next to the Intrepid was a cruise ship called the Peace Boat, an international vessel traveling the world. Being up on deck with cruise ships, a war ship, and a major city with skyscrapers looming was such a strange contrast of sights. I guess that sums up NYC though....
At the end of the deck is the hanger for the Space Shuttle Discovery. This was the second space shuttle that John and I were going to see, as we also saw one during our time in Washington, D.C. at the Udvar-Hazy Air & Space Museum at Dulles. I had been thinking it was Enterprise or Endeavor that we saw, but just remembered it was one that had never been in space. As we read more about Discovery, I thought its story sounded so familiar to the one I already saw. And sure enough. It WAS the same one we already saw!
When it came time to retire the space shuttle fleet, there were four of the six remaining (since Challenger and Columbia were destroyed). Kennedy Space Center, The Smithsonian, California Science Center and the Intrepid Museum were selected as the homes for the four. But, since Smithsonian clearly "out ranks" the Intrepid Museum, they swapped out the training shuttle on display at the Smithsonian and shipped it up to NYC and installed the Enterprise in DC.
It was really fascinating. I wish we had planned more time at the Intrepid to see more of the WWII exhibits on the decks of the boat. But we spent so much time exploring the submarine, the flight deck and the space shuttle pavilion that we were starving and needed to wrap up our visit. But not before William got to do a flight simulator. He had his eye on it from early on in the day and convinced John to go with him. My dad and I really enjoyed watching that big box turn this way and that, and seeing them on the screen trying to "fly" their plane!
We started to walk back to the hotel but found a little sports bar for lunch first. No Roger VanMeter vacation is complete without a Guinness-like beer for lunch!
Our evening plans included an early bird dinner around the corner from The Redbury at a random place I found on Open Table. The specialty was an appetizer of bacon with jalapeno jam. And it was....fine. We had to try it though! Our steaks were good, and we were quickly on our way to the show: The Lion King on Broadway!
The show was fantastic! I knew that we needed to have aisle seats so we sat 3 and 2 instead of 5 wide to get two aisle seats. For me it was really fun to have my parents gawk at Times Square! It was less amazing trying to get an Uber back to the hotel in Times Square after dark, but it wasn't too bad considering!
