Today is Andrews day for the museum! We have been to 4 space museums and it is his turn! As Canadians we cannot have a tour of the FBI building (you have to be a US citizen) this is the 2nd best! We took the metro again and it is a building that sure sticks out with Spy Museum written on red on the side. Easy to see when walking there from the Metro.
You enter the building and are whisked to the 5th floor to begin your “experience” as an agent. The Spy Museum is very ADA and other conditions, such as autism and PTSD aware. They warn you that the elevator ride is very loud and has lots of visual effects so we opted to the one without any additional “features” so that I did not have any issues. Once upstairs, you pick up your agent badge and then proceed through the displays which were excellent! The only downside for us is right on our heels was a large group of tweens visiting the facility so it became very busy and loud very fast. We visited the 5th floor as you can see below and then I needed a break from all the “input” and my legs were getting really sore and I had not brought any medication with me. Along the way on the 5th floor you “checkin” with your agent badge and do various tests with the agent id – like your assigned cover name, city, assignment and various other pieces of data that are given to you along the way.
At this point in time, we took the elevator down to the entrance and skipped the 4th floor and Bond exhibit so I could get some quiet and a drink. We ended up in the Hiton hotel which was behind the Spy museum where I hung out for the next while, so that Andrew could go back and complete the 4th floor and the Bond Exhibit. I relaxed and spoke to a friend on the phone along with my parents and soon Andrew was back to retieve me! We decided to take the Metro back and the front desk told me that it was just down the elevator and then down the ramp outside. About 8 blocks later and a different Metro station as the 1st one they sent me to had no elevators, and in pain, we went down a LONG escalator, again with Andrew in front protecting me, just to get to the Metro as no one knew where the elevator was. While the Washington DC Metro system is nice and clean and seems pretty well laid out, I would give it only a fair for accessibility downtown – which is a combination of lack of elevators and awareness – like showing where they elevators are on maps.
Here are the pictures that Andrew took of the James Bond exhibit at the Spy Museum:
Now back at the hotel, we patronized the drug store next to the hotel to aquire some more Tylenol along with a heating pad to sooth my aching legs! There were some other items purchased like GF Mint Oreo’s which also helped with the situation! It was then back to the room for our left over dinner meal and to bed as tomorrow we are visiting the new Smithsonian American History Museum and then we are moving to the airport to prepare for our flight on Friday.