crime and punishment

Yesterday, we ventured into DC to check out a new-ish museum we had never been to before - The National Museum of Crime and Punishment.  I've always had a minor obsession with serial killers and mass murderers.  I don't know why, but I've enjoyed reading about true crimes for as long as I can remember.  I think it stems from just trying to understand what goes on in peoples' heads that can make them flip out to that extent.  And the boys love anything having to do with weapons. 

We read that the museum is kid-friendly, with lots of interactive exhibits from the Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and the bottom level of the museum is also the studio for America's Most Wanted.  We thought if perhaps we came across something too scary at the museum, we'd just turn their attention to the next exhibit.   But it wasn't too scary at all.  On the contrary, it was such an interesting place!  The boys really enjoyed all the weapons, and learning which presidents have been assasinated.  The lie detector was a bit hit too.   We spent quite a while reading about the history of crime and criminals from medieval times, to current.

Our first stop was to grab some lunch, and we did so at a pizza joint near the museum called Pi.  It was tasty, and a really cool space.  Best of all, the boys were on their absolute best behavior all day, which just makes for an awesome time together.

Then, it was onto the museum..  I couldn't use my flash inside the museum so some of these are a bit dark. They have tons and tons of archived documents throughout the place, so they keep the lights dim.

Right away, I knew we were going to see lots of cool things. Especially when the infamous Ted Bundy's VW was in the lobby.

We read about the Pirates of Ocracoke Island, NC.  We'll be going to that island this summer when we go to the beach.

They had an old Western shootin' gallery, which the boys always love..

The car used in Bonnie and Clyde



 some of the actual guns used in Scarface and the Godfather movies

I had forgotten about the D.B. Cooper hijacking of 1971.  They never found any trace of him or his parachute after he jumped out the plane.

They had tons of artifacts from infamous serial killers, including John Wayne Gacy's creepy clown make up kit:

and David Berkowitz "Son of Sam" (a creep birthday card he sent to someone):

They had a police line up you could stand in and pretend someone was trying to identify you, Andrew and I enjoyed that one.  And the boys loved the lie detector.  I'm not sure Dylan passed?...

A prison cell, complete with hole dug out of the wall to crawl thru to the other side, which Andrew did.

A wall of the FBI's Top Ten Most Wanted Fugitives

Police Motorcyle and car simulators

One of our favorite parts was the shooting range.   There was a guy working the computer and he had different scenarios to pull up on the screen, i.e. carjackings, robberies, etc.  When it was your turn, you got to shoot at the perpatrator.  Then he'd tell you how many times you fired your weapon and how many hits.

The boys both did great, but when Andrew and I got up there, I missed every single shot.  We were too busy laughing that if anyone ever breaks into our house, they better watch out for Logan, who had the best aim of all.

A totally cool museum, with so much to see and do.  It way exceeded my expectations and I'd love to go back sometime, when some of the temporary exhibits change.  Its right  next to the Verizon Center, and half a block from the Spy Museum as well, so you could really hit a couple of other places and make a whole day of it.