Web Logs
1/9/2005 - The Spy Museum
We'd been waiting all this time to see the new Spy Museum in DC with hopes that the huge crowds would die down. Our trip to the place yesterday found no such luck -- the crowds were way too large, but the museums was, on balance, worth it.
There are two exhibits at the museum. The first and smaller one which deals with domestic terrorism is called "The Enemy Within: Terror in America". I didn't much care for it. Its one of those annoying "headphone" tours that I can't stand and I found its delivery way too melodramatic. Also, the exhibit never cites change of U.S. policy as a strategy for preventing terrorism -- only military and law enforcement options are discussed. Were violent protestors of the Vietnam war stopped by the FBI or by the U.S. ending the war? Hmm...
The main area of the museum was much better. A little glitzy at times but informational, engaging, and surprisingly wide in its historical breadth. I particularly liked the atomic bomb room and the heating ducts you could climb thru.
Verdict: The Spy Museum is well worth your time, but skip the expense of the terrorism exhibit, and try to go on a weekday when the crowds will be thinner.
