When your morning begins with a tour of a submarine, a supersonic jet, a space shuttle and an aircraft carrier, you know it’s going to be a good day. A nice bonus was that our membership from the Okanagan Science Centre got us in for free (OK, the Concorde and the space shuttle did cost extra…this is New York, after all.)

The submarine was the U.S.S. Growler, a Cold War-era sub that carried nuclear missiles but contained less technological wizardry than my cell phone. (Think about that for a second.) Our walk-through tour showed us the engine room, crew quarters, galley, missile hangars, etc.

We were more interested in the Concorde, however. The museum has an actual British Airways jet that made hundreds of supersonic trips between New York and London. We got to sit in the first class cabin (you know, where the Queen of England also sat) and see the cockpit, which was beyond cool.

The space shuttle Enterprise was another highlight. This was the prototype shuttle that never actually went into orbit, and you can’t actually get inside it, but you can walk all around the outside and even go right underneath it. Awesome.

We had to curtail our visit to the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Intrepid due to time constraints, but that was OK because we toured a bigger aircraft carrier in San Diego a few years ago anyway. Chris took hundreds of photos of everything on the flight deck, but the only thing that stood out for me was the Blackbird spy plane — it was so sleek. Nice.

Next up was a harbor cruise that we took mainly to see the Statue of Liberty (I was also hoping to see the UN building, but the general assembly is in session, so security won’t let anything near it).

I’m in a rush to finish this entry cause we have to run out and get something to eat before our Broadway show tonight (Rock of Ages, here we come!)

To DC tomorrow…