NYC Vacation (Part II)

The day after Mary Poppins, we went to the Intrepid. It was an aircraft carrier built during World War II. It was located in the Hudson River because she was decommissioned, or retired. There were three types of plane that would land on her. The fighter jets (the lightest), the dive bombers (the second lightest), and the bombers that would carry heavy bombs. The lighter ones were at the front, because they needed less runway. There were catapults that would help them go forward. There were also many stories that Jasmine and I enjoyed!

The first story was about rescuing people. If someone was shot down and they parachuted out, they would most likely land in the ocean. The Intrepid couldn't turn back, because it was too big. But Destroyers were small enough to pick them up. The Destroyers had uncomfortable lives on the ship, while the Intrepid travelers had a comfortable life. Therefore, the Destroyer wanted something in return for the pilot. They wanted ice cream. Not just some ice cream, but the amount of ice cream equivalent to the weight of the "prisoner". You might be thinking like me: the chef could put in something disgusting, so it would be a rip off. But the Destroyers came up with the idea of letting the "prisoner" taste the ice cream first. This was one of the first stories, not that funny. But the next one was really funny!

There were two space missions that the Intrepid took place in. The first one was Mercury. Scott Carpenter was put into a small space capsule and sent into space to orbit Earth 3 times and take pictures. But coming into the atmosphere he was a few seconds off, which landed him miles away in the ocean. So they had to call the helicopter to pick him up. Halfway up to the helicopter, he was dropped. That wasn't too bad, but being dropped while holding a camera. . . the one that took pictures of Earth! That was disastrous! So, of course, they had to send more people up. This time, there were 2 people. They both didn't like space food, so they decided to sneak a beef sandwich up into space. It wasn't a good idea, because the crumbs can get into the controls. Fortunately, it didn't happen. But unfortunately, the food disagreed with them and it all came back up. Yep, that's right, they threw it up. So then they had to take off their silver space suits to only wear long white underwear. It was quite hilarious!

The most exciting story was about the ejection seat. A pilot was taking off using the catapult. The catapult didn't work well, and the plane went down, but not up. The plane went in front of the ship while it was moving, so it would be crushed to smithereens! Luckily, he pulled the ejection switch and was shot out of the plane and back onto the ship. THe first thing he said was, "That plane sucks. Get me a new one." I thought it was hilarious how all of them had such a great sense of humor!

The coolest plane is the Blackbird. It travels at three times the speed of light. It can go from LA to Washington D.C. in 64 minutes! Another really cool person is Alexander Vraciu. He shot down 19 enemy planes. When he was shot down in Japan into a jungle, everyone thought he was done for. But moments later he appeared with 500 gorilla fighters, and gun in one hand, and a samurai sword in another. He was pretty awesome, and it just seemed that he wouldn't die! My trip to Intrepid was awesome! It is on the top of my list of best museums to visit!

NYC Vacation (Part I)

On Sunday, my family and I went to New York City to see a Broadway show! The show was Mary Poppins, and Disney hit on Broadway. The show was about the Banks family living on Cherry Tree Lane. They were never successful finding a nanny, because they always left after seeing the two disobedient children, Jane and Michael. But after the two children put an ad in the newspaper, Mary Poppins shows up. They go together on many magical adventures! One of the first adventures is when they go to the park and the children first meet Bert. Bert is a funny guy who is always in a good mood. They dance with the statues and meet Queen Victoria. But when they go home and tell their father, he is unhappy. Their father, Mr. Banks, thinks precision and order is everyone's first priority. It was probably because of his wicked nanny at childhood, Miss Andrews. 

Another adventure is when the go to a talking shop; the only talking shop in the world. There, they each pick seven letters to form the word. . . supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!! They sing a catchy song using the word, and the amazing part is when Mary Poppins says it backwards! After many exhilarating adventures, Mary Poppins has to leave without notice. That is when we get to see Mary Poppins flying away with her umbrella. Even though it is very exciting, I didn't think she was coming back. But it got even worse after the intermission.

When Mary Poppins left, a new nanny had to be hired. It was another magical nanny, but this time the nanny was nowhere near Mary Poppins. The nanny was Miss Andrews, the same wicked nanny from Mr. Banks' childhood. She used medicine and magic to change children into precise and orderly "robots" such as Mr. Banks. The children immediately hate her, and I started worrying about when Mary Poppins would come back. At that point, it was kind of obvious she was coming back, because it was a Disney movie and they always have happy endings. Fortunately, she did come back before Miss Andrews started any torture, and captured Miss Andrews so she would never come back. Everyone cheered, including Mr. Banks. He finally realized that family was more important than precision and order. 

There was a really cool scene where Bert climbed onto the top of the theater. . . and he still sang! It must have been really hard for him to be upside down and singing at the same time. In the end, Mary Poppins left, but the children were disciplined and the lived "happily ever after"!

Opinion: The show was great, especially with all the dancing, but it was a simple plot. There was a distinct good guy and bad guy, and it was a happy ending. I still like the Phantom of the Opera better!