Navigating New York: Intrepid Museum and Gotham West Market

The plan for Day 2 in New York was to visit the Intrepid Museum, which was just a few blocks away from our hotel. My husband wanted to spend the whole morning there as he thought seeing the aircraft carrier itself plus a space shuttle, a submarine, a jet, and small airplanes and helicopters would really be a cool experience for our son.

We had to stop at a bakery for fresh bread because he couldn’t eat from the hotel’s breakfast buffet. Fortunately, we found a good one on the next block called Sullivan Street Bakery, a fixture in New York’s Hell’s Kitchen area since 1994. They also have an outlet in Chelsea.

We bought some crusty Italian bread, a couple of chocolate Danish bread, a slice of mushroom pizza, and tried their bomboloni, the Italian-style brioche donuts filled with raspberry. We knew we were in for some treats the moment we opened the door and the smell of freshly baked bread and pastries permeated the air. Apparently, this bakery delivers bread to 300 restaurants in New York.

The owner popularized the “no knead bread method” allowing home bakers to make bakery-quality bread right in their own kitchens. He has also published a book about baking and has opened an interactive pizzeria. I mentioned to my husband that next time we go to New York City, we should stay at the same hotel to be close to this bakery. Fresh bread is one of my husband’s staple foods given his various food intolerances and I’ve always preferred fresh bread over the ones you get from grocery stores.

 After we filled our snack pack (i.e., the front compartment of my husband’s backpack), we headed to the museum. We couldn’t help but dip into the snack pack and ate our goodies while walking. After all, it’s perfectly okay to do this in New York City and the best time to eat bread is when it’s fresh from the oven.

The Intrepid Museum is located at Pier 86^th. It houses a collection of museum ships that showcase American military and maritime history, including the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid, the cruise missile submarine USS Growler, a Concorde SST, a Lockheed A-12 supersonic reconnaissance plane, and the Space Shuttle Enterprise.

We started with the centrepiece of the museum – the USS Intrepid, which was decommissioned in 1974 and is now berthed on the Hudson River. Launched in 1943, it fought in World War II, survived five kamikaze attacks and a torpedo strike, served both in the Cold War and the Vietnam War, and was used as a NASA recovery vehicle in the 1960s. Now, it is a stationary museum that has a 4-level showcase of artifacts and interactive exhibits.

We checked out the Hangar Deck first which has a technology exhibit on the port side and an exhibit about the people who lived and worked on the ship on the starboard side. These exhibits trace the history of this aircraft carrier through original artifacts, video footage, and activities. There is an eight-minute 4D film with state-of-the-art computer graphics and never-before-seen historical footage about the ships’ story from the war years to its current role as a museum, a medal of honour exhibit that showcases the bravery of the medal recipients, the newly restored “fo'c'sle” which refers to the forward-most part of the ship that contains the massive chains that hold its anchor, and a multi-media experience on the kamikaze attacks.

But the best part, at least for our son, was the Exploreum, an interactive exhibit space where kids and kids-at-heart can have some hands-on experience in steering the wings of an airplane, boarding a real Bell 47 helicopter, navigating an interactive submarine, and riding a flight simulator called G Force Encounter, a metal box that simulates the power, thrust, and exhilaration of flying a supersonic jet plane. My son did about almost everything, except the simulator ride.  We watched some of the older kids climb onto the two-person cockpit, took control, and twirled around in 360 degree turns. While it looked fun, it’s not for those with queasy stomachs.

I gently reminded my husband, who was spending quite a bit of time reading all the exhibit descriptions that we had already spent two hours on that deck alone and that there was still so much to see. We quickly went to the Gallery Deck which features the combat information centre, the squadron ready room, and the marine berthing room. Next was the Third Deck, which is actually a restored galley, enlisted mess room, and crew berthing room that gave us a glimpse of shipboard life.

The most exciting part of this ship is the Flight Deck where more than two dozen authentically restored aircraft are on display. There is a Restoration Tent where one can see how the aircrafts are fixed and brought back to their former glory.

We also climbed aboard the USS Intrepid and learned more about its history through our walk-through of its islands and bridges. The only thing that I did not enjoy was the heat and humidity inside. Some sections, when space permitted it, had huge fans, but we were mostly in narrow single-file corridors.  There was one lady ahead of us who kept stopping and asking questions, which of course, stalled everybody.

Halfway down the tour, the guy behind me impatiently said in a very loud voice, obviously for that lady’s benefit, “Please move on. If you want to get details, there is always Google. We came here to see the artifacts, not to do research.” I laughed. I could have said the same line to my husband, but in a nicer tone, when he was lingering at the Hangar Deck. But this announcement seemed to work because Ms. Inquisitive did hurry up and I was so relieved when we finally got out of there and finally breathe some fresh air.

Our next stop was the Space Shuttle Pavilion which showcases the real space shuttle Enterprise, the prototype NASA orbiter that paved the way for the space shuttle program in the U.S. Around it are mini-exhibit zones with original artifacts, photos, and audio and video stations that immerse visitors in the science and history of Enterprise and the space shuttle era.

We then took the elevator to the first level to see if we could view the submarine USS Growler, the only American guided top-secret missile submarine open to the public. Unfortunately, the line was too long and when we inquired with the guide, he told us that it would take approximately one hour to get inside and we did not have that time. We just took pictures of the outside and listened to the description from our audio guide. Inside, one gets to see the control room and attack centre where three crew members steer the submarine and use periscopes to scan the surface of the water, the aft torpedo room, and the crew’s mess hall.

At the very end of the pier is the British Airways Concorde Alpha Delta G-BOAD, which accomplished the fastest Atlantic Ocean crossing in 1996 that took only two hours, 52 minutes, and 59 seconds, according to the card. For its preservation, entry is limited to guided tours only and at that time, there was none being conducted. And even if there was one, we did not have the time. So again, we just looked at it up close and took some pictures.

On our way to the souvenir shop, we passed by a simulator centre called Transporter X where for six minutes, one can embark on a training mission with the Screaming Eagles and a virtual motion adventure while pretending to fly a Navy fighter jet. There was no line, but the sign said, “must be at least 38” tall to ride.” We skipped this ride. If we didn’t think we could do the G Force one, we wouldn’t be able to do this either.

The souvenir shop offered a lot of interesting things. My boys were on a lookout for keychains (because my son had recently started a collection) and some spaceship stuff (because my husband is a Star Trek fan). I found some nice astronaut outfits for kids, which would have been perfect for the wintry-cold Halloween Trick-or-Treating we have in the East Coast, but they were too expensive. I wasn’t willing to spend that much money on something that would just be worn for a day. The store also sells “astronaut food” in special foil packs which was a novelty, but again, too expensive for me to try…and I wasn’t even sure if my son would like those. They had ice cream sandwiches and a variety of flavours and various freeze-dried fruits. I just took photos.

And because I was starving and my boys were taking their time to browse, I told them I’d meet them at Gotham West Market, a full-service food hall supposedly featuring cuisine from world-famous chefs a few blocks down. This upscale food market was built to lure renters to the brand-new apartment complex above and behind it. I understand the smart move, for there are people like me who will most certainly be beckoned by quality, multi-cultural food in one roof.

When I went inside, I thought it was heaven. First, there was air conditioning which was a welcome respite from the summer heat and humidity outside. Next was, of course, the variety of food waiting for me. There’s a seafood place with a pop-up bar beside it where you can order cocktails while waiting for your seafood plate to be prepared from scratch.

There’s a pizzeria and pastry place that does all their baking onsite. There’s a Shanghai street food-inspired place that offers authentic Shandong-style jian bing (traditional Chinese street food similar to crepes) and other Asian-style breakfast and lunch treats.

There’s a Japanese place that serves classic ramen and rice bowls. There’s a Mexican taqueria that sells tacos, burritos, tamales, tortas, and ceviche. There’s an American roadside bar that offers burgers, fries, sandwiches, shakes, and salads made from scratch. There’s a tapas place that could easily take you to Spain with its savoury plates, sangria, and beer and wine from Catalonia. They even serve paella! For dessert, there’s a local creamery selling their popular handcrafted ice cream that come in funky flavours such as salted crack caramel and ooey gooey butter cake, said to be No.1 in New York City. There’s also a waffle place that serves made-to-order fresh Belgian waffles and crepes and even offers European cheese plates, Swiss cheese fondue, and French pastries. 

I couldn’t decide on what to eat but finally settled for a fresh tuna poké bowl with quinoa, cabbage, avocado, ponzu, and peanuts from a kiosk called Seamore’s. I ordered a cold glass of ginger beer from Fish in a Barrel Pop-Up. They concoct fancier cocktail drinks but at that time, I wanted something simple and refreshing. It was the perfect combination.

My boys arrived when I was halfway through my meal. I was chatting with two Mexican restaurant crew members who were taking their break (one of them made my poké bowl before his break). My husband walked around to check the food stalls but declared there was nothing for him to eat. My son ate the pizza we bought from the bakery that morning and my husband had the remaining bread. He said he wanted to go find something to eat when I was done with my meal, something more substantial than bread. But he had no idea where to go. He said we could look for a deli or something like that.  I reminded him that we had a Broadway show to watch that night and he assured me that we would make it on time.

After I finished eating, we bid goodbye to our Mexican late lunch buddies, and we scoured the nearby streets for a deli or a restaurant. Since we couldn’t find one with suitable food for him, I suggested we walk to West 51^st where the Japanese ramen place was. I remember passing by lots of restaurants.

(Update: Gotham West Market permanently closed its doors at the end 2024 for undisclosed reasons.)

We found a restaurant two blocks away - Cucina Italiana near the corner of 46th West Street and 9^th Avenue. My husband loves Italian food and that happy look on his face after checking the menu told me that he found something interesting to eat. The host asked if we would like a table and when my husband said he has a few questions about the ingredients, she readily called the head server.

Our server was very friendly and very knowledgeable. It seemed he has worked there for a long time because he didn’t even need to ask a lot of questions from the kitchen and had all the information from memory. The other patrons there also knew him by name and had friendly banters with him. In addition, a guy who looked like the manager or the owner was sitting at a corner table and injected his input about the food from time to time. That assured us that we were in good hands.

My husband ordered flank steak with roasted potatoes. For my son, we got the appetizer plate of lamb chops (he has never eaten lamb, so we told him they were pork chops, so he’d eat them). And because I just ate my super late lunch at the market and I was still too full to have a full early-dinner meal, our server suggested a small plate of octopus salad, one of their specialties. I love octopus so I said I would try it.

We all enjoyed our meals, and my son finished his lamb plate. My octopus was done perfectly and they gave generous portions. The meat was tender and juicy and blended well with the roasted fennel, lettuce, capers, and balsamic sauce that came with it. I paired it with a glass of house Riesling.

It was during this meal that we told our son we were watching, “Aladdin” and he grew very excited. I initially wanted to buy ticket for “The Lion King” but there were very few good seats left and tickets were more expensive. I figured that “Aladdin” was just as stunning and I was able to get good seats for a cheaper price.