Helicopter Apology Accepted

A few weeks ago I got a random e-mail asking if I, as a new JAG selectee, would like to be a special guest of the Navy for the opening of Fleet Week in NYC. Obviously the answer was yes. Ben was invited too, and we had the brilliant idea to leave DC at 10PM on an overnight bus and then come back the next evening so that we wouldn't have to worry about lodging.

Our bus broke down at 1AM in the middle of nowhere so we thought we would miss our 5AM arrival time, but a new bus was sent in a shockingly quick time and we arrived at our meeting point, Pier 6, at 4:30. 

And there was a beautiful sunrise.

Oh, and Pier 6 isn't a port for ships. It's a heliport. 

Because the Navy has helicopters too.

Nicer picture of the sunrise and a helicopter arriving taken by one of my fellow JAG selects.

There were five of us there in the JAG student program. One had already gone through ODS AND had a similar experience being medically disqualified multiple times so it was great to be able to bond over shared frustrations.

But then for some reason I completely forgot about the time it took to get into JAG.

We were strapped in, so they left the door open so that we would have a nice view and also be terrified.

After an amazing thirty minutes or so, we saw our ship.

Just for fun, the helicopter took us right next to the ship and then got within five feet of the water to scare us. 

It was a very smooth landing.

The JAG crew.

After a tour around the ship by a couple of current JAG Officers and some coffee, we went up to watch the crew man the rails for the ride into the harbor. 

They all did this for three hours. It was very impressive.

Any picture that is of good quality- I did not take that picture.

There were excellent views the entire time.

And in the middle of the trip, Adam Baldwin, one of the actual VIPs and an actor who was in one of my favorite shows, came over to introduce himself and thank us all for our future service as JAGs. So, pretty much the best day ever.

No, Jayne Cobb, thank YOU.

When we pulled up to port there was a Navy band playing traditional Sousa tunes and everything continued to be awesome. We said goodbye to our wonderful JAG hosts and most of us went as a group to a hamburger place. Afterwards, Ben and I wandered around the city and went to the library. We got on our bus around six and were back in DC by eleven. Then we slept forever because we had been awake for forty hours.

Today I did some bar study and then Ben and I went to a thing called Trapped in a Room with a Zombie, which is a group-adventure-puzzle-game in which twelve strangers are trapped in a room with a zombie and must solve puzzles in order to find a key to the room. According to their statistics, 22% of groups make it out alive. We were all out within 37 minutes and set a new national record for fastest time. The previous DC record was 41 minutes. I didn't have much to do with it, but I learned that Ben is crazy good at solving puzzles. 

Now time for more bar study!