Fleet Week at the U.S.S. Intrepid

I readily admit to having very mixed feelings about the military. (And about the state of this country in general, but that's another post for another day, really.) In general, I consider myself very anti-war and very anti-US-sticking-its-nose-where-it-doesn't-belong. Like the idealistic hippies of the 60s, I wish we as a planet could "give peace a chance", and like the cynics of later decades, I'm frankly disgusted with the blatant capitalism of it all.

At the same time, I fully understand that for many Americans, their only chance to go to college is to join the military, and I can't fault them for that. I recognise that I am privileged for getting to go to university on my parents' dime, and if I hadn't had that, this may have well been my path too. I did actually consider it. Briefly. Very briefly. (And then I realised that, as a nonbinary lesbian, it prooooobably wouldn't have been quite safe for me.)

And despite it all... I love Fleet Week.

I can't help it! It makes me nostalgic - my friend Ashley and I actually went to Fleet Week in San Francisco quite a few times!

Photo by Ashley, SF Fleet Week 2011

So when I heard Fleet Week was coming to New York City, I knew I wanted to go out and see some sailors. Don't judge me.

There were multiple ports all over the city where navy ships were docked, so I asked Sarah what she would like to do. Since my toe is currently broken, I knew I wouldn't be able to go to more than one, so when Sarah suggested we visit the real U.S.S. Enterprise (that's right, the "Star Trek" ship's name has been used for MULTIPLE U.S. ships) I looked it up.

It turns out that NASA's space shuttle, the Enterprise, resides at the U.S.S. Intrepid, where Fleet Week celebrations were going on! So our goal was set and we set out for our sunny Memorial Day weekend adventure!

Of course, it later turned out she'd meant this Enterprise, the one the "Star Trek" ship was named after, not the one named after it. Turns out that ship is actually docked in Norfolk Virginia... oops... but that error aside it was still a fun adventure of a day!

We took the Q Train to Midtown and walked (limped, in my case) alllll the way over to Manhattan's west coast. It was hot as hell (especially since I was wearing black tights with stars and moons on them in honour of the space shuttle, oops) but we were in good spirits. Inspired by the sailors' uniforms, Sarah kept singing songs from "On the Town", a musical she was just in.

New York, New York - it's a helluva town!

The way the Intrepid Museum is arranged is that on Pier 36, a decommissioned WWII aircraft carrier ship (the U.S.S. Intrepid herself) has been docked and converted into a museum - with planes and the space shuttle pavilion on the top deck, interactive kid-friendly exhibits on the middle deck, and a representation of what navy life was actually like in WWII on the bottom deck.

For Fleet Week, there was a massive fair going on at the pier, with booths and freebies and performances all day, as well as a navy ship docked there as well - so lots of white bellbottomed sailors! (I was hoping to see some cute girl sailors, but all the ones we met were young men who looked a bit too young for me.)

Of course, the very first thing we did (after paying admission fee...) was beeline for the Space Shuttle Pavilion. Sarah had a good laugh when we realised the misunderstanding that had lead to my aforementioned error, but a real space shuttle is still a really cool thing to see!

One thing I didn't really expect - space shuttles are bigger than one would assume from looking at them in photos. Like, I know that seems obvious, but it took both of us by surprise. I also didn't expect to get, well, slightly overwhelmed with emotion.

I love space and the idea of space exploration a whole lot. I think the knowledge gained from space exploration is really important. When I was a very small child I even wanted to be an astronaut until I realised it involved both math and physical prowess to reach the stars - neither of which I had much of...

Anyway, the shuttle is undoubtedly the centrepiece of the Space Shuttle Pavilion. (I mean... it's right there in the name...) but there were other really cool exhibits there, too - including a Soviet spacecraft, a Soyuz capsule! (It was tiny in comparison - I felt bad for the cosmonauts who had to cram into that thing!)

There was even a display about the "Star Trek" spaceship called Enterprise, and how fans of the show convinced President Ford and NASA to name a shuttle after it.

Featuring everyone's favourite space grandpa, Leonard Nimoy, whom I eternally adore.

After we'd gotten our fill of being giant fucking nerds about space exploration (jk Sarah and I will never be over that) we made our way down to the middle deck - or, as the museum calls it, the Hangar Deck. The museum itself has a pretty good description of what this deck is. I'm not going to even attempt to top it, because I couldn't possibly explain it any better, so here's what they have to say about it:

Intrepid's hangar deck exhibition space is unique among historic ships. Visitors can follow the deck’s two separate paths: explore Intrepid's technology on the port (left) side, and celebrate the people who lived and worked on the ship on the starboard (right) side. The Museum's permanent exhibition brings to life the powerful history of the aircraft carrier. Examine original artifacts, view historic video footage and explore interactive exhibits that trace Intrepid's U.S. Navy career from 1943 to the present. Special exhibition galleries, also located on the hangar deck, feature temporary exhibitions.

The Exploreum is a fully interactive exhibit space in the Museum's hangar deck, designed especially for families and kids of all ages. It is one of the most visited areas of the ship, encouraging visitors to climb in an actual Bell 47 helicopter, navigate through an interactive submarine and steer the wings of an airplane.

It also featured this space capsule which of COURSE we couldn't resist!

 The most exciting thing about this deck was undoubtedly the G-Force Simulator - a flight simulator where two people can team up to pilot a military plane over a jungle island in a simulation. It was, of course, extra, but it was worth adding onto the price of the ticket - Sarah even had us do a barrel roll!

I should emphasise one thing about this simulator - this wasn't just like a video game where you move the controls and the screen shows you "spinning". Oh, no. This was an actual pod that actually turned and flipped over depending on how well you piloted it.

It was intense. It was terrifying. And it was a hell of a lot of fun!

The lowest deck (or as the museum calls it, the Third Deck), was a lot quieter and less crowded than the Hangar Deck. I get it. The deck with the most interactive exhibits was of course crawling with kids - kids love interactive shit! The Third Deck was not interactive at all - in fact, the mess hall and the sailors' bunks were all behind glass.

But I actually really liked it. It was more along the lines of what I had been expecting of the Intrepid - something similar to the U.S.S. Pampanito which is docked in San Francisco. I liked seeing how the sailors actually had to live during wartime - not the glamourised excitement of a flight simulator, but the crowded reality of it all. It was very... human.

So far, however, most of what we had done was stuff that's always available at the Intrepid. (Which, if you have the budget, I highly recommend visiting it! It's very well done!) But in honour of Fleet Week, there was also a big party going on on the Intrepid's pier, which I think I mentioned earlier. And by this point, Sarah and I were so down to meet some sailors.

 A good pup!

When we got out to the pier, there was a tap dance performance going for the active sailors and the veterans in attendance, as well as a number of booths set up. I, of course, pet some of the service puppies. (I asked first if any of them were available for petting; I know better than to just walk up and jam my hand into the fur of a working service animal!)

I also spoke with some WWII veterans (a bunch of very friendly old men), tried on a soldier helmet (HEAVY!), won a cardboard airplane from the Coast Guard (because Sarah and I were able to identify a bunch of ship words like "starboard" and "berth" and "bridge"), and took home a tiny model of the Enterprise which now lives in my room.

But undoubtedly the best thing that happened?

We flagged down a sailor in a collared uniform out on the pier and I asked him why some of the servicemen had uniforms like his (think what they wear in "On the Town") and some had the shorter-sleeved uniforms, as pictured above. He answered that it was an indicator of rank. (Okay he explained it in more detail than that, but I've already forgotten most of the explanation...) And then we got to talking. And you know what?

It turns out he had actually served on the U.S.S. Enterprise. The navy ship, the one in Virginia, the one Sarah had been curious about! And he had the best anecdote from his time there - they actually did recruit a sailor with the surname of Kirk, who became a captain.

THAT'S RIGHT. From the mouth of a naval man himself, the real U.S.S. Enterprise had a real Captain Kirk at one point! Is that not the best anecdote you've heard all day or what?! In his own words, "the navy does have a sense of humour!"

All in all, it was a fantastic way to spend the Saturday of Fleet Week, especially considering that it's rare I get a Saturday off. Yes, I was sore as hell afterwards, but so what? Worth it. 

And hey, after our museum visit we even stopped in a nearby thrift shop, where Sarah found the perfect boots for a cosplay we're gonna be doing later in the year... but more on that later.

For now, I'll be eagerly awaiting next year's Fleet Week adventure. And hopefully next year I won't have any broken bones!
-Nym