DC - day 6 - Smithsonians, Spy Museum

Today we had our timed tickets for the International Spy Museum at noon. First, we headed to the Museum of American History. This museum houses all kinds of exhibits covering a variety of topics in U.S. history from transportation, to electricity, to presidents and first ladies. I decided to give a press conference while I was there to reassure the public during these troubling economic times.

Next up, we headed to the International Spy Museum, which is quite a treat. You go through a briefing, assume a new identity, learn all about the history of espionage, including the techniques, gadget, and people. Interactive consoles throughout the way test your knowledge of your spy identity. Misty assumed the name Greta Smith, born in Bornstedt, Germany. She was in London on business. She is astronomer. Having gotten into London, she was able to visit the Royal Astronomical Society and talk to Phoebe Ridley about the Lenton Grant... Alan, aka Gary Wozniak, was born in New Zealand but now teaches in Canada. He was on his way to Singapore to learn about setting up a foreign exchange program. Both Greta and Gary were on secret missions and were acquiring top secret information on microdots. Gary did arouse suspicion and is not allowed back in Singapore.

After the Spy Museum, we headed to the Museum of Natural History, which houses dinosaur bones, gemstones, stuffed mammals and everything in between. We had a lot of fun in the butterfly pavilion trying to track down and shoot (with a camera!) these beautiful creatures. I think we got several nice shots. It's worth the sweltering heat and humidity needed for the butterflies.

For dinner, we headed to a fun Ethiopian restaurant called Dukem where we got a platter with 3 spicy meat dishes, 5 veggie ones, and a home made feta-like cottage cheese. We asked for everything to be as mild as possible and for the most part, they were, only one was a bit too hot for us to handle, but mixing in the cheese helped a lot there.

After dinner, we took a special, romantic night walk down the National Mall with our cameras and a tri-pod, snapping long exposure night shots from the Washington Monument down to the Lincoln memorial. We did get a couple decent shots. Just a word of warning, you are not allowed to use a tripod on/in the memorials or monuments. You can use them in the surrounding grass.