The Smithsonian, Snow, Studying and Shindigs: The International Spy Museum, Ford's Theatre and the National Archives

Today was a busy day filled with walking, sight seeing and historical learning with a group of friends. I had never been to any of the places that I went to today so that is something I am proud of. We started off the day riding the metro to get to the International Spy Museum with my trusty groupon in hand (53% off--yay!). The museum was larger than I was expecting and had some very interesting artifacts and exhibits inside. The highlights for me were cameras hidden inside men's ties, weapons and materials to pick locks hidden inside of seemingly benign objects, a detailed description of an encrypting device that seemed so complicated it surely couldn't have been cracked by anyone but it actually was and a placard next to a dated trumpet describing how an army used deception (playing their instruments loudly and throughout the night) to fool their enemies into thinking they had much more man power than they actually did.

After finishing at the museum we asked a friendly passerby for a restaurant recommendation and ended up having some decent Asian food and then proceeded to Ford's theatre. I especially enjoyed the life size statues of Lincoln's cabinet and also Lincoln himself! Entering the theatre is an interesting experience because it is still an active and running theatre. On the stage, sets were currently being built so it felt like a very interesting contrast between preserving Lincoln's legacy in the President's box while still focusing on what is current and looking forward to continuing to present live performances. Not too far away from Ford's Theatre was the National Archives. Along the way we passed the FBI building, the Department of Justice and the home of the Internal Revenue Service--interesting! The National Archives were a fun sight to see and I was definitely interested in the Faulkner murals. We did some more exploring of the city and finished our journey at the Federal Triangle metro station. We have some big plans in store for tomorrow so hopefully I will see some great sights!