MUSEUMS
The National Museum of Crime & Punishment and the International Spy Museum are two creepy, interesting alternatives to the Smithsonian.
Spies and bad guys -- Washington is full of them. But you won't find them lurking in parks or waiting in the shower with a knife. Instead, they're concentrated in two newish if pricey museums in the District. If D.C. is on your itinerary this summer, the National Museum of Crime & Punishment and the International Spy Museum might provide a nice break from the heat and humidity, because they're almost guaranteed to give you chills. I visited the Spy Museum with a former
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF CRIME & PUNISHMENT
VITALS
575 7th St. N.W.; (202) 393-1099; www.crimemuseum.org; $19.95 for visitors 12 to 59; $14.95, 5 to 11
FUN FACTOR
*** (out of a possible 5)
The museum does honor law enforcement, but the accent is often on the grim and grisly. (
MISSTEPS
Exhibits weren't up-to-date on a visit in late March: the
SCARIEST MOMENT
Looking again at modern-day serial killers such as Richard Ramirez, Angelo Buono and Kenneth Bianchi. That funny feeling on your back? It's a little rivulet of sweat now running down your
BEST FOR AGES
12 or older
SEE
The re-creation of
SKIP
CSI Lab; TV already does it better.
INTERNATIONAL SPY MUSEUM
VITALS
800 F St. N.W.; (202) 393-7798; www.spymuseum.org. $18 for visitors 12 to 65; $15 for those 5 to 11.
FUN FACTOR
**** (of a possible 5)
History through the prism of espionage and chicanery is a refreshing take on the same stuff that seemed stultifying in school.
MISSTEPS
Stories of such real-life scoundrels as Robert Hanssen, indicted in 2001, and Britain's
SCARIEST MOMENT
Listening to the story of how Aldrich Ames was captured. The double agent was
arrested in '94; his betrayals led to the death of 10 CIA agents.
BEST FOR AGES
15 or older
SEE
The story of the tunnels under the Berlin Wall.
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