Trailing Spies, Discovering History

Tomorrow is the BIG day, and I’m as nervous as I get waiting in line for the scariest roller coaster at the park.  I know there’s very little chance of anything going wrong, but it’s that infinitesimally small possibility that scares the begeevies out of me.

It doesn’t help to have friends tell me how brave I am to take my kids on a summer-long road trip without another adult.  Makes me wonder if I should be scared.

Anyway, I’m doing a final round of packing, shopping for last minute essentials, and clearing the To Do List.  At the top of the list is a blog post I started while on Spring Break in Washington, DC. about our immersion into the world of spies.

Trailing Spies in Washington, D.C.

On that trip to the DC area, like on any of our family trips, I tried to include excursions that tie in to my kids’ passion-of-the-moment.  My daughter happens to be very interested in spies, and has been researching them for various writing projects.  So, of course, we had to visit the Spy Museum and do the Spy Tour.

Personally, I’d give the Spy Tour a miss.  There is enough interesting spy lore visiting friends in Bethesda, MD; however, this was the one thing that Kayla desperately wanted to do on that visit. 

Early on a Tuesday morning,we boarded a Grayline bus, and entered a world of intrigue.  As recruits in Spy School 101, we put our “spy skills of observation, evasion, and code-breaking … to the test as [we tried to] outwit the enemy.”

The spy recruit scenario, with an assignment that called for code breaking and disguises, was a little hokey.  The real live history of deception and betrayal that was told as we visited the city’s hot spots was interesting enough.  Still, the kids were captivated, so I suppose the theatrics were worth the expense. 

Stealth at the Spy Museum

At the end of the city tour, we were dropped off at the Spy Museum.  This is where all the spy training came in handy as it turned out that photography was not allowed in the exhibits.   I used my new spy skills to avoid detection as I captured these off-limit images:

 

Perhaps the Spy Museum management was afraid that I would reveal secret technology like how to plant a microdot:

   

Yes, folks, watch out the next time you receive a postcard.  You never know what secrets are concealed beneath an image lovingly selected by a friend.  Is is just a photo of Mt. Rushmore, or is it something more?

Spy Books 

And now, for the real reason that I wanted to post this article before heading out on vacation.  I’ve had a stack of books that we collected as part of our spy investigations sitting on a counter, waiting for me to list them, so that someday, we’ll remember what to look for when they’ve scattered. 

I figured that if I was going to make this list, I might as well post it in case you have a budding spy aficionado.  Even if you don’t, these are a great way to introduce kids to a mesmerizing subject that will also allow you to sneak in a little history and math.

Nonfiction:

• Who Hates Whom – Well-Armed Fanatics, Intractable Conflicts, and Various Things Blowing Up: A Woefully Incomplete Guide by Bob Harris.
• The Cryptoclub: Using Mathematics To Make and Break Codes by Janet Beissinger and Vera Pless
• Blowing My Cover: My Life As A CIA Spy by Lindsay Moran
• I Lie For A Living: Greatest Spies of All Time by Antony Shugaar
• Top Secret (The History Channel Presents: History Undercover) by Cameron Banks
• Spying: The Secret History of History by Denis Collins
• Spyology: The Complete Book of Spycraft by Spencer Blake

Fiction:

• The Alex Rider Series by Antony Horowitz
• The Gallagher Girls Series by Ally Carter
• The Specialists Series by Shannon Greenland

Did you spot my daughter blending in?  She copied the Moscow Rules into her reporter’s notebook, and is using them as a general guide to life.

Related Articles:

• Scoring White House Easter Egg Roll Tickets
• Hunting Obamas at the White House Easter Egg Roll
• Top 10 Kid Faves at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.
• We’re Just Here For The Dogs!

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