I could tell you about our trip, but....
Monday, October 27th, 2014 11:31 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lizvogelGot back late Saturday from our jaunt to Washington, D.C., which was mainly a pilgrimage to the International Spy Museum.
Which is awesome.
The trip there was several hours longer than anticipated, and significantly more stressful; I have come to the conclusion that I do not like driving in the mountains in Pennsylvania. Especially in the dark... in construction... with a cross-wind. And apparently nobody in the entire state knows how to bank a curve correctly. However, we made it, and aside from the mountains it was an easy drive.
Our hotel proved to be excellent: friendly staff, very nicely appointed, and they'd found us a room with two double beds instead of the one that the website listed. Quite decent breakfast if you're into that sort of thing, and a handy shuttle service to the commuter train.
DC's Metro is clean and quiet, compared to, say, Chicago's, and very convenient, with pretty good signage that the uninitiated can figure out, and a payment system that's accommodating to visitors as well as regular commuters. And scowling, serious security guards who promptly turn smiling and helpful if you're having trouble getting your pass-card to work the first time through. ;-)
In fact, almost everyone we dealt with around DC was friendly and helpful. I don't know if it's due to some Southern influence or the multi-culturalism or just that they're used to a lot of tourists, but it really added to the enjoyability of our visit.
So we got in late Wednesday night, and on Thursday we started with the Spy Museum. Their website says to allow two hours... we spent two days. Granted that was with generous breaks for food and such, but we could have had a third day without any danger of running out of things to do. It was so much fun, from the guy at the desk the first day who waved us through because we got his joke (I was wearing my camo "Now you can't see me!" t-shirt... he asked the housemate who she was there with.) to the security-warning elevator (if you're ever about to get on it... look up) to the exhibits which were a nicely-balanced blend of games for the kiddies (and the adults) and serious exhibits and informative videos. We stopped part-way through the World War II exhibit not because it wasn't fascinating (it was compellingly so) but because there simply wasn't time to do it justice and still get something to eat before the Valerie Plame talk that evening. Which was also cool, though of course she still can't personally say a lot of stuff that everybody knows. (If you haven't read Fair Game and would like your blood pressure raised at governmental stupidity, I recommend it.) I picked up the first of her fictional spy series; haven't read it yet, but FG was engaging enough and I was won over by her comment that one of the unrealistic things in spy fiction that really bugs her is female operatives wearing high heels when they may have to run. ;-)
I wanted to see at least a little bit of DC outside of the Spy Museum, and it occurred to me on waking Thursday morning that if we got started early, we could maybe fit in some regular tourism before the museum opened. Housemate was very amenable for being woken up to the idea, so off we went to the Washington Monument. Which is really astoundingly, vertigo-inducingly tall. We didn't go up, but just standing near it is impressive.
But before we got there.... The National Mall has an energy about it that really struck me. Serious thoughts about important matters have been thought in that space. It might be different when more crowded, but we were there early enough that the people were pretty sparse, and that big open space spoke of.... yeah. The writer has no words.
I wanted to walk the Reflecting Pool, which we did. I'd forgotten about the WWII Memorial being before it. Ulp; pretty affecting. Especially for these two history junkies, but if you can read the inscriptions and walk the ring of state-and-territory pillars and stand before the wall of stars and not get a little choked up, you're just not human.
The Reflecting Pool, site of so many TV spy meetings, is a lot bigger than it looks on TV. The gulls were paddling peacefully, which after the WWII Memorial struck me as about the best statement that could be made.
And, well, since we were right there, we nipped up to the Lincoln Memorial. Which is also quite impressive; the words of the Gettysburg Address take on an additional weight, inscribed there in the wall. Which I'm glad they did, along with the oversized statue (which was about the only roped-off thing we saw, amongst all the public monuments); from all I know of the man, he'd much rather his words were preserved than his image.
Then it was time to scoot back to the Spy Museum. Hiking uphill (of course; I think the National Mall is the largest flat space in the area) from Lincoln to the nearest Metro stop, we came upon some security guards and gates that had obviously been pasted on after the fact... we just happened to be walking past the Department of State. Which filled me with glee, even with the ugly 60s architecture.
The Spy Museum continued to be awesome. We did the rest of the WWII section and what there was of the modern era (much of which had been displaced, I think, to make room for the James Bond exhibit). The housemate dove head-first into the Bond exhibit, while I skimmed through it in favor of a talk/book-signing with Peter Earnest, the museum's Executive Director. Which was a low-key and fascinating kind of nifty.
I caught a little more of the Bond exhibit after (highlight: video of real intelligence officers describing their "Bond moments"), and then we went shopping. Because there is, of course, a Spy Store in the Spy Museum. And they have books. Oh, my, do they have books. (And mugs and t-shirts and many other fine things... did I mention the books?)
We also had some very fine food. Highlights included District of Pi (how could we pass up that name?), which has possibly the best mozzarella I've ever tasted on a pizza. We attempted to go out to Burma on Friday, but the restaurant was closed. (Permanently, by the looks of it.) This turned out to be a feature rather than a bug, since we decided that if we couldn't have Burmese food, which we'd never tried before, we'd go for Belgian food instead, which we'd also never had. So we trekked a little farther to Brasserie Beck... which was amazing. Absolutely astonishing food (roasted squab, and a cafe mocha creme brulee to die for), good service, and patio seating with funky enclosed columns of fire and the sun setting over the DC skyline as we ate. Fabulous.
We were responsible the next morning and headed home. The housemate took the wheel during the worst of the mountains, which made it a lot more relaxing for me. (And yes, I am one of those people who doesn't relax when other people are driving; it was still better.) It still took far longer than it should have, but we got home with enough brains left to appreciate the cats being glad to see us.
Which is awesome.
The trip there was several hours longer than anticipated, and significantly more stressful; I have come to the conclusion that I do not like driving in the mountains in Pennsylvania. Especially in the dark... in construction... with a cross-wind. And apparently nobody in the entire state knows how to bank a curve correctly. However, we made it, and aside from the mountains it was an easy drive.
Our hotel proved to be excellent: friendly staff, very nicely appointed, and they'd found us a room with two double beds instead of the one that the website listed. Quite decent breakfast if you're into that sort of thing, and a handy shuttle service to the commuter train.
DC's Metro is clean and quiet, compared to, say, Chicago's, and very convenient, with pretty good signage that the uninitiated can figure out, and a payment system that's accommodating to visitors as well as regular commuters. And scowling, serious security guards who promptly turn smiling and helpful if you're having trouble getting your pass-card to work the first time through. ;-)
In fact, almost everyone we dealt with around DC was friendly and helpful. I don't know if it's due to some Southern influence or the multi-culturalism or just that they're used to a lot of tourists, but it really added to the enjoyability of our visit.
So we got in late Wednesday night, and on Thursday we started with the Spy Museum. Their website says to allow two hours... we spent two days. Granted that was with generous breaks for food and such, but we could have had a third day without any danger of running out of things to do. It was so much fun, from the guy at the desk the first day who waved us through because we got his joke (I was wearing my camo "Now you can't see me!" t-shirt... he asked the housemate who she was there with.) to the security-warning elevator (if you're ever about to get on it... look up) to the exhibits which were a nicely-balanced blend of games for the kiddies (and the adults) and serious exhibits and informative videos. We stopped part-way through the World War II exhibit not because it wasn't fascinating (it was compellingly so) but because there simply wasn't time to do it justice and still get something to eat before the Valerie Plame talk that evening. Which was also cool, though of course she still can't personally say a lot of stuff that everybody knows. (If you haven't read Fair Game and would like your blood pressure raised at governmental stupidity, I recommend it.) I picked up the first of her fictional spy series; haven't read it yet, but FG was engaging enough and I was won over by her comment that one of the unrealistic things in spy fiction that really bugs her is female operatives wearing high heels when they may have to run. ;-)
I wanted to see at least a little bit of DC outside of the Spy Museum, and it occurred to me on waking Thursday morning that if we got started early, we could maybe fit in some regular tourism before the museum opened. Housemate was very amenable for being woken up to the idea, so off we went to the Washington Monument. Which is really astoundingly, vertigo-inducingly tall. We didn't go up, but just standing near it is impressive.
But before we got there.... The National Mall has an energy about it that really struck me. Serious thoughts about important matters have been thought in that space. It might be different when more crowded, but we were there early enough that the people were pretty sparse, and that big open space spoke of.... yeah. The writer has no words.
I wanted to walk the Reflecting Pool, which we did. I'd forgotten about the WWII Memorial being before it. Ulp; pretty affecting. Especially for these two history junkies, but if you can read the inscriptions and walk the ring of state-and-territory pillars and stand before the wall of stars and not get a little choked up, you're just not human.
The Reflecting Pool, site of so many TV spy meetings, is a lot bigger than it looks on TV. The gulls were paddling peacefully, which after the WWII Memorial struck me as about the best statement that could be made.
And, well, since we were right there, we nipped up to the Lincoln Memorial. Which is also quite impressive; the words of the Gettysburg Address take on an additional weight, inscribed there in the wall. Which I'm glad they did, along with the oversized statue (which was about the only roped-off thing we saw, amongst all the public monuments); from all I know of the man, he'd much rather his words were preserved than his image.
Then it was time to scoot back to the Spy Museum. Hiking uphill (of course; I think the National Mall is the largest flat space in the area) from Lincoln to the nearest Metro stop, we came upon some security guards and gates that had obviously been pasted on after the fact... we just happened to be walking past the Department of State. Which filled me with glee, even with the ugly 60s architecture.
The Spy Museum continued to be awesome. We did the rest of the WWII section and what there was of the modern era (much of which had been displaced, I think, to make room for the James Bond exhibit). The housemate dove head-first into the Bond exhibit, while I skimmed through it in favor of a talk/book-signing with Peter Earnest, the museum's Executive Director. Which was a low-key and fascinating kind of nifty.
I caught a little more of the Bond exhibit after (highlight: video of real intelligence officers describing their "Bond moments"), and then we went shopping. Because there is, of course, a Spy Store in the Spy Museum. And they have books. Oh, my, do they have books. (And mugs and t-shirts and many other fine things... did I mention the books?)
We also had some very fine food. Highlights included District of Pi (how could we pass up that name?), which has possibly the best mozzarella I've ever tasted on a pizza. We attempted to go out to Burma on Friday, but the restaurant was closed. (Permanently, by the looks of it.) This turned out to be a feature rather than a bug, since we decided that if we couldn't have Burmese food, which we'd never tried before, we'd go for Belgian food instead, which we'd also never had. So we trekked a little farther to Brasserie Beck... which was amazing. Absolutely astonishing food (roasted squab, and a cafe mocha creme brulee to die for), good service, and patio seating with funky enclosed columns of fire and the sun setting over the DC skyline as we ate. Fabulous.
We were responsible the next morning and headed home. The housemate took the wheel during the worst of the mountains, which made it a lot more relaxing for me. (And yes, I am one of those people who doesn't relax when other people are driving; it was still better.) It still took far longer than it should have, but we got home with enough brains left to appreciate the cats being glad to see us.
