When I was in fourth grade and the time to order books came around (do they still do that?) I had a book catch my eye that I had to get. It was titled Is James Bond Dead? and was a collection of short stories about actual missions taken on by actual spies. When I opened the book, I was a little disappointed because there was very little mention of Agent 007, but lots of talk of people I had never heard of who did what he did in real life. Now it was my fault that I did not read the description, but it was probably one of the best mistakes of my life! I was exposed to a world where writers, entertainers and regular people put their lives on the line for their countries. I gained an appreciation for the real world of espionage after that. Jason Bourne and James Bond were and always will be cool with me, but to know that there’s a shadow war going on that the news doesn’t cover? That’s the stuff… and that is what you get at the International Spy Museum in Washington DC.
Our visit began with lining up with our team in preparation for Mission: Spy. This interactive mission takes place in a “foreign land” and your agency is trying to contact their undercover agent and stop the transfer of a nuclear device… in a country on the brink of civil war, no less. From tapping into surveillance cameras to scanning stolen documents to rendezvousing with a helo, this mission has it all!
From there we lined up to enter the museum. To begin you go to “spy school” and learn the difference between a cover and a legend. After that you have five minutes to pick one, learn it and proceed into the museum area where there are periodic kiosks that will test you on your cover and legend during your stay. The museum tracks the history of espionage and intelligence gathering from the earliest Biblical accounts to modern day. There is all manner of gadgets for listening, hiding microfilm, code breakers, and weapons. Yes, they do have an umbrella gun that worked as well as a one time use gun cane.
One of the coolest things was the 50 Years of Evil: The Villains of James Bond exhibit. It wasn’t enough to have some of the props from the movie, no. The museum took it a step further and showed the real world inspiration for some of the villains. I know that I got more out of that part of it than if it was just showing off items from the movies.
Honestly, I could go on, but any more would be spoiling it. I do strongly suggest that, if you are in the DC area, cut out about three hours and treat yourself to the place. The are way worse ways to spend a day!