Crime and Punishment Museum Re-Cap

So today I went to the Crime and Punishment Museum today in Washington, D.C. and it was probably one of the best museums I've ever been to! I went with my mom and my brother Erick -- mom took the day off work to spend time with me since I'm leaving for school on Thursday. It was completely interactive and I have never learned so much about crime. There was so much that I just can't fit it all into one blog post, it would take up 3 pages worth! But I'll just give you a few highlights from my trip...

I really liked learning about the crime fighting animals like dogs and horses. There was a story of a man who was over in Iraq with a K9 (which apparently is a play on words, "canine"). They loved each other so much that when a bomb went off leaving the man dead and the dog seriously injured and wimpering in pain, the dog stuck to the man refusing to

leave his side when other officials tried to get him out of the action. Obviously touched by this, the family then tr

ied to adopt the dog in honor of their son. Get this -- the military wouldn't let the dog be adopted because they said "he still had 2 years of military service left" -- LOL can you believe that?! Nuts! Eventually they did let him go, making him the first dog to have early retirement from the military. It was nice that they had something commemorating these animals that while they can't speak are still brave advocates against crime -- don't you think they deserve to be recognized?

One of my other favorite displays was the whole America's Most Wanted section. I learned a lot more about it today and it was really cool. I didn't know a lot of John Walsh's stor

y, so it was interesting to learn about Adam Walsh and the "Adam Alert." Did you know that since the beginning of America's Most Wanted 20 years ago they've got over 1,000 criminals!

!! You've got to admit that's impressive! The whole exhibit about the AMW had pictures of the list of most wanted individuals, interactive displays, information and updates on crimes, etc. The best part was where you went into a roomwith a camera and a tv, you sat on a chair and next

to it was a red button. You click the red button and all of a sudden John Walsh comes on the screen and basically starts talking about a criminal that's on the loose with "25 tattoos that all say 'mom' on it" and how AMW isn't looking for them but someone is, and lo and behold, YOU show up on the screen lol! It was very clever, they talked about how you were the criminal! It was hilarious, I was giggling like crazy, and then John Walsh says "the criminal has a childish laugh" and I was like uhhh how'd they know haha! Was that programmed or did it just detect that I laugh like a little kid, OR am I paranoid about my laugh? But that's another story haha! Anyway, it was a blast and one of my favorite exhibits.

I could talk all day about all of the fun things I learned about like Bonnie and Clyde's story, Al Capone's fancy prison cell, the meaning behind gang tattoos, how some prisons help prisoners get a college degree, the evolution of guns, the dumbest criminals, everything you need to know about crime scenes, etc etc etc, but I just don't have all day to type these things out -- I do have a life believe it or not! So I'll leave you with this, GO VISIT THIS MUSEUM, if you don't you'll regret it. It's a little pricey, like $20 for adults, but it's worth it. We were there for like 5 hours and I could have stayed longer if I really wanted to but we were hungry so we went to Chinatown Garden to eat haha! Ultimate lesson: DON'T COMMIT CRIMES, Duh!

Peace & Love,

Candace