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Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Spy in the City & International Spy Museum - D.C.

On Day 2, Dianna (the lady who put the homeschool travel group together) showed us how to use the Metro system and we were on our own! Our first stop was the International Spy Museum to do the "Spy in the City" tour.
 Here's Alex as we get ready to enter the museum.

 And, Alex with her GPS machine. The "Spy in the City" tour takes you around parts of DC. We took the 1.5 hour tour (there is also a 1 hour tour). We probably walked 1.5 to 2 miles. The GPS system gives you clues about where to go next. 
One of our clues led us to Ford's Theater. Our plans included a tour of the Ford's Theater later in the week, but that ended up being the day that Alex was just too tired and needed to sleep in. So, we never got to go inside. I'm glad we stopped by on this day, though.

Another clue led us to the National Archives. There are so many beautiful buildings like this! And, yes, later we will go inside the National Archives building. As far as the tour, it helped orient us to this part of DC. However, it was a lot of walking and I am guessing we walked about 5 miles per day while in DC! So, this was quite a lot of additional walking. Everywhere you go in DC, though, involves a lot of walking! 

Here's another view of the National Archives building.I know the basics, like what type of columns these are - Corinthian, but I'd like to do a study of architecture with Alex. I learned this while taking Latin in high school, but I'd love a refresher course. So, if you have any ideas, please let me know!

4 comments:

  1. So, did you find the clues to be difficult, or was it pretty easy for you. We actually had one team drop out because the kids were getting stressed. But Cade and one of the other teams were hot and heavy with competition.
    I love your pictures. We have a tour here in Richmond, where the guide explains all about the different architectural features of the oldest buildings. Cade didn't want to go because he thought it sounded boring, but I would have enjoyed it. I'll have to convince him at some point.

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  2. Sounds like a fun trip! I really want to go to the Spy museum. Column ideas-

    Art: http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/high/Kevan-columns.htm

    Parthenon: http://school.discoveryeducation.com/lessonplans/programs/parthenon/

    Another lesson plan: http://ipt286.pbworks.com/Classical-Architecture-Lesson-Plan

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  3. I love the idea of the GPS! Very cool!

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  4. welcome to my neck of the woods. Glad you both enjoyed yourselves.

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