Library of Congress, Spy Museum

June 6, 2013



We both slept well here at The Americana. I had crazy vivid dreams, and journaled them upon waking, so I could catch all of its utter weirdness before it disappeared into the ether. We had an early morning tour booked, so with a simple continental brekkies down in the lobby, we hit the Metro to get to our Library of Congress tour by 8:45. The Metro is so easy and convenient, second only to the London Underground, in my book, for public transport. New York has nothing on these two cities, and in fact, the NYC subway system is the most confusing train system that I’ve ever used.

Now, how many times have I mentioned the walnut? Probably hundreds of times in this whole blog. Well, a walnut-sized bladder and my IBS are two major stressors for me, especially when travelling. And in most cities, public toilets are fiercely protected by businesses that insist on buying product before peeing. I don’t mind that, in fact, I would buy whatever just for the privilege of pissing without risking a ticket for urinating under a park tree, or worse, pissing my pants outright. The latter was almost the case this morning. In DC, as you can imagine, security is very high. You cannot just walk into the Library of Congress and find the nearest toilet. Though it is free entry, the security checkpoint seemed to take ages, and I wiggled all the while. Finally, FINALLY we got in and the bathroom was blissfully close. Our tour set off immediately after and I have to say, it was one of the most awesome tours I have ever taken.











To say that the Library of Congress is awesome, cool, beautiful, amazing is just not doing it justice. The interior is covered in marble and art by loads of artists. There are sculptures, paintings and stained glass. The whole building is a mastery of craftsmanship. And apparently, how it looks today is how it looked when it opened, save the soot stains that were meticulously cleaned throughout the years. Our tour guide was funny and after the tour, we could wander around and take photos of the architecture, though no photos allowed of anything behind glass, including the library cove itself. As an art history lover, I was in awe. I could have photographed every single painting and analyzed them. Instead, I tried to take various photos that included most of the elements.



















We checked out artifacts and books and maps, Mayan calendars, and Gershwin’s piano in a room where a lady triggered a scary alarm by leaning in too far into a display! We ogled all of that before making our way into the shop and picked up a giftie for Mum, and a funny little William Shakespeare fridge magnet for ourselves. I also HAD to buy these cute little owl book magnets that were super cute.



We decided it was time for lunch at the Capital City Brewing Company where we shared a Cubano, sweet potato fries and a couple of beers. A few blocks away was the Spy Museum (where no photos were allowed), and we had no idea what we were in for. I thought at first it may be kind of a smallish museum, mainly because it didn’t seem to be well advertised. But man, that place was PACKED with stuff to see, and it was really big. It took us over three hours to make it through half the museum, and my horrible, hurting, old-ass feet drove us out before we could even finish. They had tons of exhibits on the history of spying in different countries, loads of displays on all the tiny spy gadgets that secret agents used and still use: cryptic codex decoders, lock pick sets issued to CIA agents, clay putty they used to make duplicates of keys, glasses that contained cyanide pills so an agent may choose death over torture if caught, shoes telephones, hollow nails, the tiniest cameras you’ve ever seen, bugs of all sorts, explosives in teeny-weenie cases, invisible ink and ciphers, Morse code telegraphs, they even had a car that was all James Bond that had spinning hubcap thingys, a bullet proof shield that extended up from the trunk, headlights that fired bullets. There was a lot of stuff on Russian and Nazi spy tactics, highlighting more than a few historic monsters. They featured celebrity spies (Marlene Deitrich, Julia Child, singer/burlesque dance Josephine Baker, Director John Ford, baseball player Moe Berg) and also spies made famous for their skill at spying or for treason. They had a bunch of movies and videos about various espionage missions. They had TONS of exhibits. There was no way were going to make it all the way through, especially with my feet crapping out on me (I’m such a joy to travel with. You’d think I was 98 years old.)







Between my barking dogs and the threat of rain, we decided it best to head back for coffee and snacks at the hotel. We are now chillaxin’ with the news and feet propped on the cushy bed. I gabbed a long while with Mum, getting the kitty news and sourdough starter status and just to hear her voice ☺ Sounds like all is well at home, but the kitties miss us, and we miss them!! I can’t wait to see my furry nutters again!!!
Love & hugs, R&J