5 under-the-radar Washington, DC, museums to visit this summer
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International Spy Museum – Photo courtesy of Albert Vecerka / International Spy Museum
Washington, DC, is known for its museums, and figuring out which ones to visit while in the nation's capital can be daunting. Instead of hitting the tried-and-true institutions on the National Mall, why not seek out the more unusual museums? DC has a treasure trove of under-the-radar museums highlighting everything from French decorative arts to one of the world's rarest stamp collections. Here are five lesser-known museums in Washington, DC, worth visiting the next time you're in town. The International Spy Museum
International Spy Museum – Photo courtesy of Taylor Mickal / International Spy Museum
Be prepared to go undercover at The International Spy Museum, an immersive museum dedicated to the history of espionage. Start off your visit at the museum's briefing room, where you'll be asked to adopt an alias, before being tested on your skills as an undercover agent. The Spy museum's interactive exhibits celebrate the world's top spymasters, gadget makers, scientists, and engineers and their contributions to the world of intelligence.
Explore interactive exhibits about the Cold War, code-breaking, and the art of disguise. Visitors can learn how spying has shaped history, from the American Revolution to modern-day cyber warfare. Collection highlights include James Bond's 1964 Aston Martin and a lipstick pistol.
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Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens
Hillwood Estate Museum and Gardens – Photo courtesy of Erik Kvalsvik
A visit to the Washington, DC, estate of heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post is like stepping back in time. At the heart of Hillwood is a 1920s Georgian-style mansion, which served as Post's home from 1955 until 1977, when it was opened to the public as a museum. As one of DC's most legendary hostesses, Merriweather Post cultivated a refined estate filled with antiques and 18th-century French decorative arts. Post was a serious collector of Russian art; Hillwood boasts the most comprehensive collection outside of Russia. In addition to the museum, you can explore more than 25 acres of gardens. National Inventors Hall of Fame
National Inventors Hall of Fame – Photo courtesy of National Inventors Hall of Fame
Located south of DC in Alexandria, Virginia, is the National Inventors Hall of Fame, a free museum celebrating the innovation of America's creators and entrepreneurs. Start your visit in the Gallery of Icons, a stunning visual display of more than 600 inventors inducted since the museum's founding in 1973. The Women in Innovation exhibit honors female leaders in science, engineering, and technology. Other permanent exhibits include one dedicated to automotive design and technology, and a trademark exhibit that explains the importance of intellectual property and includes artifacts from brands like Hershey and Major League Baseball. Planet Word
Planet Word – Photo courtesy of Duhon Photography / Planet Word
Opened in 2020, Planet Word is an immersive experience dedicated to the language arts. The world's first voice-activated museum, Planet Word offers interactive exhibits suitable for all ages. It's an entertainment and educational destination ideal for anyone who's ever wondered about the origins of language or the power of the written and spoken word.
Go on a word-sleuthing adventure in Lexicon Lane, where you'll solve puzzles, follow clues, and take apart riddles to solve a themed mystery. To learn more about foreign languages, explore The Spoken Word exhibit, which examines the origins and diversity of world languages.
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Smithsonian National Postal Museum
National Postal Museum – Photo courtesy of National Postal Museum
OK, technically this is part of the Smithsonian, but it's a Washington, DC, museum that's often overlooked. Ever wonder what happens to a letter once you drop it in a mailbox? The National Postal Museum answers this question and so much more. Dedicated to celebrating the mission of the United States Postal Service, the Smithsonian National Postal Museum explores the history of the mail service, from colonial times to present day through a series of interactive exhibits that tell the story of how our nation communicates through mail.
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Learn about how the U.S. Postal Inspection Service prevents fraud and catches drug traffickers. Step inside the William H. Gross Stamp Gallery to see the world's largest stamp collection dedicated to philately, the study of postage stamps. The impressive collection brings to life the stories behind some of the world's most rare and collectible stamps. The museum's fascinating array of artifacts includes mail reclaimed from the wreckage of the Hindenburg disaster and a flight suit once worn by pilot and philatelist Amelia Earhart. Pop culture enthusiasts also will enjoy seeing the postal uniform worn by the fictional mail carrier Cliff Clavin from the television show, "Cheers."
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In his role as production and lighting designer, Claude is in charge of designing the show's set and lighting schematic while coming up with the ideas it takes to make it all hit hard while also avoiding de facto electronic live show elements like fire, confetti and soaring LED screens. 'Mike is very involved with his own tour for sure, from the design and the story,' Claude says. 'For this, he wanted something massive — a big set piece, very theatrical, no technology or automation or anything futuristic, just a theatrical set. And black, of course — everything is black with Mike.' 'You have one person on stage who's doing everything with machines,' adds Pilz-Hayot. 'So it's trying to make it almost like a ceremony. That's always been the brief all his life. Of course, we wanted something bigger, that had the spirit of something that would be monumental.' (Adding to the mystery of it all, no one has interviewed Lévy since circa 2014, a streak that would not be unbroken for this story. Pilz-Hayot explains that 'he's always been very protective of himself; what he wants to share with the audience is never the 'behind the scenes.'') Together, the team conjured a design that puts Gesaffelstein on a raised podium, bookended by his equipment and structures fabricated in the shape of long black crystals, a sort of phantasmagorical flourish in an otherwise tidily designed structure meant to evoke the theater. The setup includes between six to eight towering pillars (depending on the size of the stage) with Gesaffelstein and his podium placed atop a set of stairs. Altogether, it gives the feeling that he's playing from within a sort of Blade Runner-style Pantheon — and not even necessarily performing from within the set, but being part of it. 'That's why he's wearing a mask,' says Claude. 'It's not like a DJ or performer on stage. Mike wanted to be part of the design.' The set was built in Burbank, Calif., given the city's proximity to Indio, where Coachella happens. This routine was the same as for Gesaffelstein's lauded tour behind 2019's Hyperion, which also began at the festival. 'We started at Coachella every time on the Outdoor Stage,' Claude says, 'which is very stressful for us, because we have no rehearsals before.' Did everything at Coachella 2024 go according to plan, despite having no official run through? Claude considers it: 'Yes, actually. Yes.' It helps that this current show is easier to pull off than the one for Hyperion, given that it's a static piece that involves less technology and moving parts.'We just wanted to work out the lighting with music, so we don't need technology besides lights and music,' Claude continues. 'The plan was to do something very simple, but intense.' If you've stood in front of the stage on this tour, it's hard to deny the show's ferociousness, which ramps up over the course of the hour-plus show as Gesaffelstein manhandles his synthesizer. Throughout, he's bathed in washes of mostly white light and surrounded by lasers as the music builds to a place of pure pummeling. His only interaction with the crowd is when he briefly turns to face forward, extends an arm and wags his middle and index fingers to make a sort of 'come with me' gesture. Adding to the intrigue is that it's impossible to read his face, given the aforementioned mask. This costume piece, which Pilz-Hayot says was partially inspired by the themes of beauty and sin in Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, became part of the Gesaffelstein canon on the Hyperion tour. This time, however, the eyes of the mask glow unsettlingly, an effect that adds the surreal feel and helps the show achieve its intended sci-fi mood — even if it does also obscure the artist's objectively perfect face. 'When he told me he wanted to wear a mask for the Hyperion tour I was like, 'What the f–k?'' recalls Claude. 'He's like, one of the most beautiful artists in the world, and he wants to hide his face? I was a bit disappointed, because he looks so cool onstage smoking cigarettes or for an hour [while he played]. But when he came for the first show with the mask on, it was like, 'What the f–k — It looks so good!'' 'It's not an artist anymore,' says Pilz-Hayot. 'It's a character.' On both aesthetic and functional levels, the mask also adds to the intensity. While it's thin in design and equipped with a fan, Claude reports that 'it's difficult for him to hear.' He uses an in-ear monitor 'like an F1 driver,' but the situation is exacerbated by the fact that 'he can't see a lot. He can see like, the first row.' But 'for him, it doesn't matter,' Claude continues. 'His music is intense, so he doesn't want to have a good time on stage. He just doing his job.' In terms of lighting, the one moment of color comes during the slinky, G-funk inspired 2013 classic 'Hellifornia' during which the stage is bathed in deep red light. 'We really wanted to have a dirty strip club mood,' Claude says of this color choice. Given the emphasis on simplicity, Claude worked to 'hide all the technical stuff.' Lights, lasers, cables and even musical equipment are hidden behind columns and under the steps, which are in fact just props and unable to support any weight, making them easier to transport. With no technical elements visible, Claude says the show is almost the 'total opposite' of the current lights and lasers bonanza that Gesaffelstein's friends Justice are currently touring with. The producer and his 10-person touring team have brought the show to dance-focused festivals around the world. U.S. stops included San Francisco's Portola, San Diego's CRSSD, Miami's Ultra Music Festival and last month's EDC Las Vegas. Given that some of these dance fests have stage that are fantastically shaped liked butterflies and flowers, Claude says it's often 'very difficult' for him to adapt the minimalist show to the whimsical surroundings. (To wit, it was a striking juxtaposition when Gesaffelstein played EDC's lotus flower-shaped NeonGarden stage as a fireworks finale lit up the sky behind him.) 'There is not a place that really suits him,' says Pilz-Hayot. 'He's obviously very different from what happens in the EDM scene globally, musically or in live production.' Still, the dance festival world has warmly welcomed him, and Pilz-Hayot says the team received many show offers after the 2024 Coachella debut. (This type of organic marketing is helpful, given that he doesn't speak publicly or even have an Instagram account.) His sound also makes it possible for him to exist at major multi-genre festivals at Coachella, Paris' We Love Green (where he plays this Saturday, June 7) and San Francisco's Outside Lands, where he plays in August, while making him a fit for other genre-focused events, like Germany's Rock am Ring and Rock im Park metal festivals — where Gesaffelstein played in 2014, taking the stage after Iron Maiden. 'We were the last act,' says Claude. 'The metal fans walked towards the exit and Mike was playing there, and they all stopped and really enjoyed [the performance],' with Gesaffelstein's heavy canon sharing obvious DNA with the hard, loud and head-banging metal realm. This ability to exist across worlds while also doing something uniquely his own has arguably been the draw for pop stars like Gaga, Charli and The Weeknd, the latter of whom collaborated with Gesaffelstein on 2019's 'Lost In the Fire.' 'He's so outside of trends and really wants to follow his path and his artistic proposal,' says Pilz-Hayot. 'In a way, he's been doing this same approach and very particular sound since day one, so the way he produces is so specific that people just want Gesaffelstein's stamp on their music.' But those bewitched by the darkness of his sound should not discount the pop sensibility that also lies within. 'He has a very strong sense of melody and pop,' continues Pilz-Hayot. 'You hear it on the Charli song and the Gaga song, especially on the track 'Killah.' It's the meeting of two artists who really understand each other musically. It's been the easiest collaboration.' But you will not hear the track or any of his other pop collabs (which include an official remix of Gaga's electro smash 'Abracadabra') in his current setlist, which instead pulls from his own catalog, and builds to a place that feels like blissfully getting punched in the face with a battering ram of drums. He's got festival dates on the calendar through mid-August, then, Pilz-Hayot says, 'I guess all he wants is to be back in the studio and making new music. You never know what happens next… but clearly a new album would be the next target.' When this new album is ready to tour and further build out the dark kingdom of electronic music's so-called dark prince, fans will be ready, and the team will be too. 'I'll be touring with him forever,' says Claude. 'He's a good friend, and I f–king love his music.' Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Janet Jackson's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits H.E.R. & Chris Brown 'Come Through' to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart
