While traveling with us to Washington DC, don’t forget to visit the International Spy Museum because Washington, DC is the home to the only spy museum in the United States. The museum was built in July 2002 by Milton Maltz & the House on F Street, L.L.C. at a cost of approximately $40 million.
The International Spy Museum is the first and the only public museum in the United States solely dedicated to espionage and the only one in the world to provide a global perspective on this all-but-invisible profession. It features the largest collection of international spy-related artifacts ever placed on public display: gadgets, weapons, bugs, cameras, vehicles, and technologies used for espionage throughout the world. In this museum, you will have the chance to find out why and how these artifacts were developed. Stories of individual spies from Moses to Harriet Tubman, Elizabeth I to George Washington, Cardinal Richelieu to Joseph Stalin are uncovered at the International Spy Museum. The stories of individual spies, which are told through film, interactives, and state-of-the-art exhibits, provide a dynamic context to foster an understanding of espionage and its impact on current and historic events.
The newest exhibit, Exquisitely Evil, is a tribute to the villains who have taken on one of the most famous fictional spies of all time -James Bond, 007. You will see more than 100 film artifacts from both old and new Bond movies and experience interactive exhibits that allow you to take over the controls of a villain’s lair, brave the depths of a virtual shark tank, play spy against spy with other visitors, disarm a missile before time runs out and more.
The museum also has an interactive exhibit called Operation Spy, where visitors assume the roles of covert agents and participate in a one-hour Hollywood-style spy simulation, in which they move from area to area and are faced with puzzles, tasks, motion simulators, sound effects, and video messages as they work through a mission involving the interception of a secret arms deal involving a nuclear device.
Official web-site of the Museum is here:
www.spymuseum.org
In addition to the Museum, the Complex includes a Museum Store, private dining and event facilities, and two restaurants: Zola and Spy City Cafe.