I went to DC last Saturday to visit the International Spy Museum with my coworker and her friend. Flash photography and video recording was not allowed so I snuck in some cell phone pictures instead ^_^ Enjoy!

Upon entry, we were told to pick an identity and to remember all the details about that person. This is not a requirement, but it adds a fun element to the entire experience, I think. I picked the alias below because I related to her a lot more than the others. I’m pretty good at remembering details so I was kinda confident in my ability.

After we picked our new identities, we watched a brief video about spies and spying. Very interesting, I might say. Then, we enter the room with the first exhibit. There was a computer that tested you in your knowledge of your alias to see whether you will be able to enter the country of your “assignment.” Fortunately, I was able to “enter the country” without suspicion and then given further details about my mission. (I did not get a picture of this because there was a line of people behind me…)

Here are some pictures…This is the Atomic Spies room, where we learn more about The Manhattan Project and the development of the atomic bomb. Near the end of the story, the room turns red and you can feel/hear the “atomic bomb” going off as it counts down to zero. Very cool.

This is a model of the tunnel between East and West Germany that the Allies used to spy on East Germany. Supposedly, the Soviets of East Germany knew about the tunnel, but did not do anything about it because the tunnel wasn’t supposed to exist.

This is the Cloak & Dagger theatre, which led the way to a hallway with a gallery of “celebrity/Hollywood spies.” Interestingly enough, Julia Child is one of them… and, unfortunately, is the only person I recognize. Hahaha.

Hoo-zah! Of course, the museum would not be complete without ninjas! Unfortunately, they just dedicated one room to them x_x

There is a good tradition of female spies, yay!, and a whole room was dedicated to the spies of the very olden days. It’s called the Sisterhood of Spies. I’m not sure what else the items represent besides what they are in face-value. I’d assume that maybe they were used as ways of communicating between the women spies?

At the very end, there was another sort of checkpoint where you can take the test to see if you achieved your mission and if you are able to leave the country and go back to your country of origin. I passed with flying colors! Yay! Unfortunately, like the first checkpoint, the line of people behind me made me unable to take a picture of the last checkpoint.

The very last stop was the museum store, where I got myself this ninja shirt. Yay! All in all, it was a very fun time!

Hopefully, next time I’ll be able to do Operation Spy. It’s described as:

Operation Spy is an active experience for ages 12 and above. Participants will encounter some low light levels and confining spaces, an elevator, motion simulators, sound effects, and physical and mental challenges.  There is one set of stairs that participants must walk up and down; however, there is no crawling, climbing, or jumping. Operation Spy is accessible.