Our experience far exceeded any
expectations we had. Recommended by
many, we eagerly made this one of our first stops in the week. As you enter the museum, its lobby truly
disguises the size of the entire floor plan.
As we begin the tour, we are encouraged to choose an identify for our
cover. As we try to memorize the
information, my husband and my daughter are fully engaged in the activity. My six year old is roaming around looking at
the pictures. We get instructions for a
young museum employee who seems to be speaking louder that she knows. As we watch others try to memorize some of
the characters, we are again, startled by the museum employee with a new set of
instructions – this time, not only is she loud and startling, but she is
speaking so fast that we are unable to catch all that she is saying. Suddenly, my husband looks at us and says,
“What is she saying?” With that, my
mother and I burst out laughing and were unable to stop. We both are laughing so hard our eyes are
tearing.
We move through the museum to
learn all about the different tools and gadgets used by spies. Mini cameras, hidden cameras, and even
bugging devices all seem cool and all of us from my kids to my mother are all
fascinated by the gadgets of yesterday and today. Each of us found the information and format
of the museum fun and engaging.
From the moment we walk into this
magnificent museum, we realize that we are in for something special. Because we had my 6 year old with us, we
chose not to go through the permanent exhibits upstairs. We began in the children’s exhibit, “Daniel’s
Story.” Through Daniel’s diary, photos
and models of his home and war camps, children experience Daniel’s life. It is an excellent children’s exhibit and it
ends with note cards for you to write to Daniel. Both of my kids wrote several notes
expressing their gratitude to Daniel for sharing his story.
3.
Monuments by Moonlight
This is truly one of the best
tours I have been on and definitely one of all ages. Beginning at Union Station, the charming tour
guides drive through Washington, DC and Virginia to showcase the most
fascinating moments in our history. The
highlight for our family was walking up the Lincoln Memorial. As we stood together at the top, in awe of
the statue of President Lincoln, I began to read the Gettysburg Address to my
daughter. She listened intently and we
even discussed it a little. This was an
incredible family moment.
After five days in Washington, we knew that we could have
spent five more days there. We all
promised to make another trip soon. What
I have described are some three highlights, but I promise that every moment in
Washington was great. Our family will
definitely be back soon.
