Ever wonder about some of those imaginative gimmicks you've seen in James Bond films? Yes, there's no question they've often seemed unreal and more than a little off-the-wall.

You'll likely think differently after visiting Washington, DC's International Spy Museum which has rounded up some genuine "tools of the trade" that have been used by real-life espionage agents.

Some of the lives examined there have also been the drama from which action movies have been made.

Ever since the museum opened, enthusiastic visitors have been talking about not only what hat they saw there, but how much they learned.

Under development since 1996, it actually opened in 2002. Boasting the world's largest collection of espionage-related artifacts, they're displayed in a very hands-on way.

For starters, its executive director spent 36 years with the Central Intelligence Agency, 20 of them in the Clandestine Service.

Much of his work was in Europe, the Middle East and the Soviet Eastern bloc area. Son of a Foreign Service officer, his dossier certainly makes interesting reading.

And lest you doubt the museum's remarkable authenticity, its advisory board has included a Who's Who of leading names from the FBI, KGB, NATO, CIA, US Army Intelligence, historians, cryptologists . . . even two former CIA Chiefs of Disguise.

If you think some of things seen on the hit series 24 are far-fetched, wait until you view the museum's star attractions. Its real-life spy stories and the intricacies of their work will have you looking over your shoulder and analysing situations in a new, enlightened way.

Housed in five historic buildings structurally connected and restored under oversight of the Historic Preservation Board, the museum covers spying from Biblical times to the 20th century.

Some 68,000 square feet of space should give you an idea of the extent of displays offered. It's all there . . . a 1944 Enigma machine, the legendary World War Two German cipher machine . . . a "through-the-wall" camera used by East German Stasi for clandestine photography . . . the very deceptive Soviet listening transmitter hidden in the heel of a shoe.

Travelling in the Eastern Zone during the bad old days, this journalist never doubted such equipment existed and acted accordingly. These displays confirmed my worst suspicions.

How about a minuscule KGB camera hidden in an overcoat button or perhaps a KGB-issued poison gas gun from the '50s designed to kill silently and be undetectible at autopsy?

"The Kiss of Death" lipstick pistol was another USSR, KGB issue, vintage 1965. A 4.5mm single-shot weapon, it could be easily hidden in a purse. It was first detected at a border crossing in West Berlin.

I had first crossed that border heading into East Berlin with a journalist friend who later turned out to be "former" OSS (the Office of Strategic Services, a United States intelligence agency formed during World WarTwo and the predecessor to the Central Intelligence Agency).

On a German Government press tour, everyone else had collapsed after our transatlantic flight, but he and I couldn't resist crossing to the East that afternoon while others napped.

Author of Donovan, America's Master Spy, he was in Burma during World War Two and certainly familiar with archival OSS training films also shown at the museum.

This is very much a unique, hands-on interactive experience but too much to cover in one article. Go to 800 F. Street, Northwest, Washington, DC. Telephone: 202-393-7798. Admission: $14 12 to 64, $13 seniors and children $11 aged five to seven. There are also many special events, evening openings, scavenger spy hunts for youths, and so on.

Visitors might want to consider ordering advance tickets for pick up at Will Call. It's become so popular, there are often lines.

In co-operation with Gray Line Bus tours, a 2½-hour very different kind of tour visits Washington locations infamous for their spy associations. Cost of $79 includes same-day VIP museum admission.

The Spy Museum holds the whole family spellbound but so does Florida's Space Coast. This 72-mile stretch of beaches is highlighted by its space-age attractions.

Kennedy Space Centre Visitor Complex is something that will intrigue anyone even mildly interested in space. It offers an insight into space explorations since its very beginning.

There are illuminating briefings on preparations for a shuttle launch, training in an astronaut simulator and very inclusive eye-opening tours of the space centre.

Its "rocket garden" intrigues visitors with a collection of rockets and spacecraft. There's also a full-size space shuttle mock-up Explorer. You can walk into it and get some smalls sense of what it's like to travel in space.

The Astronaut Hall of Fame contains not only astronaut memorabilia, but displays of such historic spacecraft as the Mercury Sigma 7 capsule, the Apollo 14 command module and a Gemini training capsule.

This can easily be an all-day adventure and, in fact, there's so much to cover, many will be ready for an encore visit. This is where NASA made so many international headlines and space enthusiasts can relive and experience it.

Imagine simulating a landing of the space shuttle from 10,000 feet and feeling the pull of four Gs in the G Force Simulator. Certainly you'll find it interesting to take a vertical moonwalk.

It's open daily at 9 a.m. (except Christmas and some launch days) with closing hours varying seasonally. Varied admission fees. Maximum access is $38 plus tax for adults, $28 plus tax for children 3-11. More information can be found at www.kennedyspacecenter.com or 321-449-4444.

There's also the Astronaut Training Experience, a special programme (space limited, reservations necessary) for those over the age of 14. Up close, very personal and interactive, you actually become an astronaut in training. For more information on this programme, call 321-449-4400 or check the www.Kennedyspacecenter.com web site.

Add-ons can also include lunch with a NASA astronaut. This includes a mission briefing, meal and the chance to ask questions and take photos with the astronaut. Daily, 12.30 p.m. $19.99 adults, $12.99 children.

Parking, wheelchairs, strollers and pet kennels are free of charge at the space centre, which is located east of Orlando.

Those also interested in flights of an earlier era will be intrigued by Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum in Titusville, Florida. It's a working museum that not only displays, but restores and maintains military aircraft of all kinds, starting before World War One untill today . . . and that includes bombers of all types: 321-268-1941; www.vacwarbirds.org.

There are many unusual attractions along the Space Coast, but two are particularly outstanding. McLarty Treasure Museum in Vero Beach recalls many shipwrecks that lost their treasures in local waters and those who retrieved such treasures: www.atocha1622.com/ mclarty.htm; 772-589-2147.

American Police Hall of Fame Museum in Titusville is a national police museum dedicated to law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty.

This may be a bit too much for youngsters, with an electric chair and gas chamber in its museum.

Display of equipment ranges from antique to high-tech.

You can investigate a crime scene, even shoot revolvers, semi-automatics and carbines at an indoor shooting range: 321-264-0911; www.aphf.org.

We're running out of space before suggestions. The US Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland is another possibility . . . an impressive collection of attractions in the Norfolk, Virginia area ranging from the Hampton Roads Naval Museum, one of 11 in the US operated by the US Navy, to the world's largest Navy base at Norfolk, are others.

With its great maritime history, these are areas that would be of special interest to Bermudians.

A variety of boat tours in the Norfolk area take visitors past a collection of aircraft carriers, nuclear submarines, guided missile cruisers and an armada of surprising size. We combined it with a trip to Williamsburg and Jamestown, something easily done.

Next week: Charlton Heston films travelled around the world.