I boarded the ship on Wednesday to see how well my two favorite topics – aviation and food – could live together in harmony but left with a hole in my wallet and an empty stomach.
Watch out, Intrepid — New York City has a new decommissioned aircraft carrier, and this one has an outdoor bar on its main deck.
Just a few miles north of the iconic museum on the same river sits the Baylander, a Vietnam War-era Navy ship that was later used to train helicopter pilots how to land on boats.
Its tiny stature meant that only helicopters could access the ship, though it's often referred to as the "world's smallest aircraft carrier," according to Museum Ships, and for good reason. From bow to stern, the Baylander stretches a mere 125 feet, nearly seven times smaller than the famed USS Intrepid.
Commissioned in 1968, Museum Ships reports, the ship has been bouncing around different branches of the military for decades and eventually ended up in New York City after its retirement from the service. After entering private hands in 2011, the Baylander was moved to the West Harlem Piers and converted into an outdoor bar called the Baylander Steel Beach. It opened for business in early July.
With New York City still holding back on opening up indoor dining, outdoor bars have been in high demand so I went to the Baylander on Wednesday for dinner and drinks with friends to see if the concept held water.
Here's what it was like dining on a former aircraft carrier turned restaurant.