Sights to see!

The next day we spent the good part of the day in D.C. Sean’s friend suggested we go to Old Ebbitts to get a bite, a restaurant from 1856. An American artist covered the walls with impressionist paintings; I don’t remember his name though. The food was really good too! Sean had a Maryland crab cake and I had the jambalaya. After getting some food in us we asked our host what museums were the closest. We wanted to check out the Spy Museum and Air and Space. After about a 10 minute walk we ended up at the International Spy Museum. At first I thought it was going to be more for little kids, but it turned out to be a really informative and interesting place. The over all theme was “Nothing is as it seems.” It was fun to know that gadgets from the James Bond movies were actually used. I liked the button camera and the bullet pen. I had a try at one of their interactive spy games. My mission was to find the Russian spy in disguise. I didn’t do very well, but Sean spotted him easily. I don’t think I’m cut out for espionage…I would get the wrong man. One of the more interesting facts was about a seal that was given to President Eisenhower by soma group of Russian school children. Turns out years later they discovered a bug in it! They pulled the old Trojan horse trick on us…kind of. Another reality that kind of made me think was after WWII how Berlin was divided and friends and family kept from each other. They used spies in that case to infiltrate any plans by either side. What was also crazy was how people would be moved from side to the other, cramped into cars, hidden under seats and trunks, they would do anything to escape. It just made me think why we would do that to each other!
Another little fact I learned was how in WWII the French underground would communicate via radio and poems! So a certain line meant something different than it sounded. Oh yeah! And at D-Day, to confuse the Nazi’s the allies created inflatable tanks and dummy weapons to make it think they were assembling there for the attack. It seems so juvenile, but they fell for it. Or maybe they realized it when it was too late.
Overall it was a great time! There was so much to learn and discover about the history or spies and espionage. I highly recommend it. As we were leaving they had some facts about covertness and surrounding the museum, there are 10,000 intelligent agents. Crazy
It was almost 5 by the time we were done with the Spy Museum, so checking out any others weren’t going to an option. We decided to walk around DC instead and see the monuments. We went to White House, but President Bush wasn’t home. Right next to that is the Eisenhower building that is really beautiful, some really incredible architecture. We strolled to the Washington Monument and realized we could go up to the top and that tickets were free. We had about an hour so we walked to the reflecting pool and then the Lincoln Memorial. That was something else. The statue of Lincoln doesn’t demand respect, but it’s a natural feeling that comes over you once you walk into its presence, and you can given nothing but it. Needless to say, it was beautiful.

The ride up the monument was 70 seconds. Our elevator man shared some facts with us. Bad weather will put the tours to an end since it is the tallest structure in the city. Fortunately for us it was only overcast skies, but no stormy weather. Once up there you can see out the small windows in all 4 directions. They had comparisons of the city, what it looked like form that point in the early 1900’s, then 50’s and then the current view. Dusk was just setting in, so we were able to see the city all lit up. That was a highlight of the trip.
Time for dinner! I remembered seeing a Rosa Mexicana next to the Spy Museum, so that was going to be our dinner spot. Dinner was delicious as usual! Every city deserves of those, but then again, maybe it wouldn’t be the same. It was on our list to go there one more time before we left CT, so we were happy we got to experience it in D.C.!!
That night Barack Omaba was giving his acceptance speech at the DNC as the presidential candidate. Sean’s friend Matt met us out and we listened to the speech, best we could, at a local bar. I thought that was pretty exciting, being in DC and hearing that speech. There wasn’t too much buzz in the air, but still, it was neat when you think about the history of it.