“Hurry up! Can’t you eat faster?” This is what my spouse said to me after finding out that there was a Star Trek: the original series exhibit across the street from a diner that we had stopped at for lunch after bicycling through parts of Vermont and upstate New York. “You go ahead and I’ll meet you there. Oh wait, you didn’t bring any money, so I guess you’re my servant today,” was my response. Normally my spouse would stash a few bills in his bike pouch, but he did not think that he would need any money. It was a good thing that I stuck my debit card in my pocket at the last minute before heading out. Otherwise I would have had to eat both granola bars that he stashed in his pouch. He’s so thoughtful.

It was a fluke that we happened upon this diner in the first place. Long story short, I was hungry so my wonderful ‘broke’ spouse gps’d nearby restaurants. It was a mile off our designated bike route, and up a large hill, but taking the easy road usually is not my first choice anyway. Even the bike route I chose was not an easy one. We started our trip in Brandon, Vermont and then took the ferry across Lake Champlain to Ticonderoga, New York. We were planning to bike around Fort Ticonderoga, which we had been to years prior, but after finding out that it would cost $28.00 per person I decided it was not worth paying that much to see it again. My history loving (and second college major) spouse might have felt differently, but he who has the gold makes the rules.

The whole purpose of this bike trip was to take in the scenery of the fall foliage with the mountains as a backdrop at a slower pace. There is much that is missed when speeding along in a vehicle. The Star Trek exhibit is a good example. We definitely would have missed it had this elderly woman not stopped to chit chat with us and casually mention how we should check it out. My husband, who up to this point had been trying to escape this conversation, quickly focused his attention when the mention of Star Trek was introduced.

After paying a nominal fee of about $6.00 per person we were greeted by our yellow shirt uniform wearing tour guide. It should be noted that I am not a trek fan, so some of the importance of the exhibit artifacts are lost on me. I did watch some of the original shows as well as many of the shows with Captain Picard because I liked his personality. Nevertheless, I still loved the tour and the information that was provided. The exhibit is a mix of original set pieces as well as authentic reproductions.

It seemed like the entire set was there, such as Dr. McCoy’s office, the infirmary, the briefing room, engineering, Captain Kirk’s office and quarters, There was even a red alert button, which when pushed actually sounds the alarm and red lights flash. It was pretty cool. When we happened upon the transporter room I told my husband to get on one of the rings so that I could get a picture. Unfortunately he got told to get down because they had just laid the carpet down. My spouse got mad at for me for telling him to do that, but I don’t understand why he would listen to me anyway. When we got to the bridge the first thing I asked when entering was if we were allowed to sit in the Captain’s chair. The line formed behind my husband from there. I’m sure I’m leaving some things out (oh yeah like the tribbles), but I guess you will just have to go see for yourself.

An interesting fact that I did not know was that Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez were largely responsible for making the show possible. Originally one of the studio’s dropped the show before it ever aired; however, Lucille Ball funded the first two episodes out of pocket because she believed it would be a hit. This was a big risk because at that time they would have had to sell their production company to cover the costs if it had failed. It just goes to prove that “things are only impossible, until they’re not” -Jean-Lic Picard. Oops wrong series.