Sonya's Blog - Day 153 - The International Spy Museum and National Archives

Sonya’s Blog - Day 153 - November 22nd - The International Spy Museum and The National Archives

It is our last day in Washington and the kids really want to visit the International Spy Museum and learn all about espionage. This is one of the few museums in Washington that charges an admission, but it had been recommended to us by several people so it was on our list. Luckily we knew where it was and we got off one stop earlier than we usually do. It was only a block and 1/2 from the stop so we were there pretty quickly. They had a cloak room, which allowed us to drop off all our stuff before proceeding to the elevators.

Car that a Bond Villain drove in Die Another Day. The screen behind the car, shows the scene from the movie:

Everyone gets into the elevators upon arrival. You are whisked up to the top floor while watching a video about espionage. You the need to choose a cover identity for yourself, if you are going to be a spy. This is very important. We had to learn all the details about our cover in case we were stopped and interrogated. I was Greta something, 33 years old (probably wouldn’t have made it past the first stage of being a spy). I was an astronomer and was taking a trip to London, England for 3 or 4 days. I was born in a city that began with a B, Germany. Again, I am not really spy material. We are then taken into a training centre where we are shown a short video and learn all about being a spy. The next step is the School for Spies. There are various interactive stations and you can see if you have what it takes to be a spy. For example, there were stations with various pictures. In one I did, you had to identify the threats in the picture and then see if you were right. I got 3 out of 4, but there were only 6 or so people in the photo. There were several stations that had different activities that you could do. There was also an area where you could climb through a heating duct and spy on the people below you. Isaac loved that.

The Aston Martin DB5 that first appeared in Goldfinger. Every 10 minutes or so, the car puts on a little show detailing it's hidden gems. Such as bullets coming out of the front, rotating spikes on the tires and a bullet proof shield and machine guns.

The next session was the history of spying and there were different galleries that covered the history from biblical times to the 20th Century. Different techniques that were used throughout the ages and tricks of the trade. As you move towards the 20th Century there are far more gadgets that are used, especially cigarette related items (like the cases for video cameras). It was a good thing many spies smoked I guess. There were other neat gadgets, but I really liked the gun that was disguised as lipstick.

We needed to have lunch before we continued on. There was nowhere to eat in the museum, so we grabbed our lunches and went outside. Luckily, there is a Smithsonian Museum just across the street. It is the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Portrait Gallery. All the Smithsonian Museums we have been in so far have a cafeteria area and admission is free, so it was worth going over there. It was too cold to eat outside. This museum had the best eating area yet, so it was a very good choice. Here is a picture:

After lunch we popped back over to the Spy Museum and picked up where we had left off. There was a section of code making and code breaking leading up to the WWII exhibit. A large section dealt with Enigma and how that was cracked. I saw the movie, so I didn’t spend a ton of time in there - plus it was getting really busy by this time. WWII was the next section. They covered the story of a double agent who was German, but also worked for the British. He helped convince the Germans that the D-Day Invasion was going to happen at Calais, therefore diverting a majority of their forces to that area and only a small number at Normandy. He was so successful that he received medals from both British authorities and German authorities - so the German’s did not figure out he was a double agent. There were also decoys set up, so that the German’s thought the army was amassing at Calais. I didn’t realize that they had actually used blow up tanks and boats to make it look like the army was amassing where it was not. They had pictures of soldiers holding up the blow-ups that were used as decoys. The panel I read said they got the idea from Hollywood. There was also the coded message that was sent over the airwaves to the French Resistance, which was another important part of D-Day. Without their help isolating Normandy Beach so the Allies could take it, the invasion may have gone very differently:

We then moved downstairs to Exquisitely Evil: 50 Years of Bond Villains and was all about James Bond and the different villains and storylines. There were different galleries dedicated to different villains and their evil plots and lots of movie clips. The museum had a lot of the costumes that had been worn by the actors. It also moves through the years with Bond and explores how the different plot lines reflect current real world threats at the time.

The last stop was the Spy Museum Store, which was very large and had lots of fun stuff in it. We had fun poking around and Isaac bought himself a pen that can shock you.

Our next stop was the National Archives Museum. We had walked by it almost everyday because it is right across the street from our regular subway stop. There was no line up when we got there, so we sailed right in after clearing security. We spent a little time exploring the downstairs gallery and The Magna Carta. The Museum holds one of four original copies of the Magna Carta from 1297 which was confirmed by Edward I. We then headed upstairs to check out The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution of the United States and The Bill of Rights which are displayed in a room called the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom. It is a large, grandiose room. There are a lot of guards and around to protect the documents, that are further protected by low lighting and large glass cases. No pictures are allowed in the museum at all and you cannot talk on your phone near the documents, I saw several people get into trouble. We then moved onto the next galleries which contain a history of the United States and some of the documents that supported that. The Louisiana Purchase is displayed, as well as The Emancipation Proclamation. There are also original drawings from Lewis and Clark and their explorations. We didn’t have time to explore for a very long time, because it was getting late in the day and we needed to get back. Our main goals were to see The Magna Carta and the Rotunda.

Once we were back at camp, we split up into our individual chores of walking Kizmet and making supper. Blake, Isaac and I decided to visit the hot tub after supper for a relaxing soak. This campground is very large, with hundreds of campsites. Now it is not very full, probably 1/3 to 1/2 full, but that is still a lot of campers. We have been to the hot tub many times and we have always had it to ourselves. This works out really well for us, but I found it surprising. After supper we did a bit of clean up to get ready for our pack up tomorrow and then called it a night.

Sonya