This is the day that Dwight has been waiting for this entire trip.......

He brouses at one of the military memorabilia shops in the area...........

And down the street is our destination--that "building" at the end of the street is really a "floating city"--the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Intrepid..............

The approach is vast--along the way is a very interesting fragment from the Berlin Wall..........

We visited the Intrepid years ago, but it has since been restored and the exhibits in the museum have been revamped.........

The submarine "The Growler" is docked nearby...........

In case you wondered what ever happened to "The Concord".............

I really have come to enjoy all this military history, but I do need Dwight as a guide.............

And into the museum...............

How'd you like to climb these steps to get to work?.........

Don't know what they needed a bell for, but as you can see, the ship was commissioned in the nick of time to help win the naval war in the Pacific in WWII....................

I guess these propellers are kept as "spares" in case the ones on the bottom of the ship need replacing...........

Of course, as you would expect, the hull of an aircraft carrier is full of AIRPLANES...........

Lots of airplanes.................

In order to store as many as possible, it is a good thing if the wings fold up......................

This one seems to have a dog face..................

Dwight really loves all aviation memorabilia and reads EVERY inscription.....................

This "hands on" exhibit had to do with astronaut training.........

The "big blue marble" that the astronauts saw from space............

Now those are really big chains.....................

And really big rope too.........................

Very impressive to us "land lubbers"........................

The world's fanciest car seat! Actually, I think it is an ejection seat........................I could have used some of these in my classroom at Santa Fe High..................

There are activity exhibits for the kids..............

These kids are resting where some weary sailors spent many a seasick night..............

I think these quarters were for the junior officers..........................

And the Officers had all the comforts of home. Rather like the socio-economic divide in Santa Fe.............

The exhibit cards said that one of the last Commanding Officers of the ship tried to make the mess hall a little more "homey"...............

He even adopted different motifs--this is the Cowboy motif....................

"Y'all come back now, you hear!".............................

The "grub" was cooked in those huge vats in the back"...........................

Dwight has an expression on his face here that is probably a lot like the sailors had when they saw their meal.......................

A lot of things about The Intrepid are huge, but the doorways are small. Someone Dwight's size might get claustrophobic onboard ship..................

I'm becoming an avid fan...............

The most moving displays on the ship were those dealing with the personal stories of the crewmen. There was a display of touching letters home from these two darling sailors who were buddies in New Jersey and who signed up together. The letters arrived after both of these men had been killed in a Kamikaze attack on the ship..................

Their names are the last two on this section of a memorial to all the crewmen lost in action in WWII aboard this ship.......................

Now THAT'S a big gun..................

Well, maybe not sooooooooooo big....................................

Or so fancy.................

Dwight is dwarfed by this one that is as big as a tank...............

And this one looks like it could steer the whole ship!..........................

The Intrepid got a zero! In fact, The Intrepid got A LOT of zeros--and ships and boats too..................

I have no idea what this is, but it is as interesting as the art at the Museum of Modern Art...........

Allen Shepard's Mercury space capsuele.....(Did I mention that we bought his secretary desk at a Garage Sale in Santa Fe?).........................

Even a kid would feel cramped inside it..................

A re-enactment of how The Intrepid fished out the capsuele after his historic flight..............

I think this is where they actually steer the ship.................

The skyline of New York makes a dramatic backdrop for The Intrepid in her new home................

Now that's a BIG bullet! Actually, I guess it's a bomb or torpedo...........................

This is where the really Big bombs go.......................Of course we already saw "Little Boy" and "Fat Man" at Megan's wedding in New Mexico...................

Nothing get those old "juices" flowing like plopping your butt down on a big old bomb.........................

We actually can spot the buildings around our hotel from here.......................

If you care enough to send the very best--try a cruise missle....................

Dwight always wished he could be a jet pilot, here he is entering a "flight simulator" to see what it would be like to fly.........................

Like I said, this is the highlight of the trip for Dwight. Stay tuned, later on I will post the photos of the flight deck.......................