I Spy...An Empty Wallet

INTERNATIONAL SPY MUSEUM

GALval:  3.0 

Living (guess I'm more of a temp resident) in a city where nearly everything you'd ever want to do is free, it's hard to convince yourself that anything is worth sacrificing even one little copper Lincoln.

But I somehow managed to do it.

SUCKED INTO THE GAME

I was convinced/tricked into going to Washington's own, International Spy Museum.  You can tell from the website and its 10--soon to be 12--ticket options that this place was created to financially rape anyone easily seduced by neon lights and James Bond (and who isn't??).

Yes, I, like the rest of the giddy, dewy-eyed flock, was drawn in.  And once you're in, there's no way out.

In a trance, I laid down my $18 admission fee.  Then, I opened my wallet even wider, determined to prove that, yes, I could be a spy.  In fact, with my last $28 I made myself a Double Agent (it's just a deceptively cool way to say I bought an Operation Spy ticket and a museum ticket, i.e. I saved four bucks).

Couldn't decide between my Portuguese and Polish heritage--

who to spy for?

YOU DON'T PLAY THE GAME--THE GAME PLAYS YOU

Without giving away any spoilers, let me just say this:  Operation Spy is an operation best appreciated by the young (we're talkin' eight-year-olds, here) and imaginative.

It's a nice little group exercise, a kind of surreal life version of a Choose Your Own Adventure book.  Or at least that's what they tell you.  I'm of the opinion that the operation is static...and I don't have enough money to go back and find out.  (Damn those clever curators!)

An interesting option for the 14 and under crowd, but not worth the $14 (or $10 for you Double Agents out there) if you break the 5' mark.

A MUSEUM IS A MUSEUM IS A MUSEUM

I wasn't particularly taken by the museum, a melange of authentic and replica artifacts that see-saw between real-world spies and their fictional counterparts.   But then, I'm not particularly taken by the spy genre.

The structure of the museum, to its credit, is very user-friendly and interactive; it was a welcomed change from the doldrums of traditional setups that limit museum-going to a spectator sport.

While I'm no espionage fiend--though I can quote every Austin Powers movie--I can't dump on the International Spy Museum entirely.

It's hard to deny the wonderment of seeing, first-hand:
James Bond's real Aston Martin DB5 in all its silver splendor.

A piece of the infamous Berlin Wall.

A letter penned by George Washington imploring his "intelligence director" to create a spy network.

(Look for the pigeon exhibit--by far my favorite!)

*All of the above photos of the International Spy Museum were "illegally" taken against museum policy.  So shhhh!