occasionally nods to southern flavours, and an atmosphere that suggests something exciting is being discussed at the next table.
occidentaldc.com Alternatively, dine at the Capital Hilton, where Nixon spent so much time that he had a phone installed.
hilton.com
l MARYLAND An hour outside of Washington, the National Cryptologic Museum is dwarfed by its neighbour. The National Security Agency is the largest employer in the state, and its headquarters are built on a 140-hectare site. The relative size of its channel to the public – the museum next door – seems a reflection of how much we are allowed to know, compared with how much we are not. But while it may be diminutive in comparison, the museum is packed with fascinating detail on historic events and declassified technology. It is here that curator Patrick
Weadon lets me use a real Enigma machine. It seems impossible that this small wooden box with keys like an old-fashioned typewriter can create more permutations than there are stars in the universe. As well as detail on the US
involvement in breaking Enigma, there are exhibits on the cracking – and creating – of other significant codes, and how the intelligence gained or hidden was pivotal, particularly in many Second World War battles. I loved the GI Joe doll that speaks in a code developed from the Navajo language. Admission is free, and guided
tours can be organised in advance. Maryland may be home to the headquarters of government surveillance, but it produced an anti-establishment heroine too. Harriet Tubman was born a slave here in 1822, and during her incredible life not only escaped to freedom in the north herself, but also returned repeatedly for about 70 family members and friends.
During the Civil War, she was a spy for the Unionists, and in the post-war era, she campaigned for women’s suffrage. We begin our quest to discover
more about this remarkable woman in Cambridge, at the Harriet Tubman Museum and Educational Center, and after getting a broad overview of her life, we are ready to hit the road – the Harriet Tubman Byway, to be exact – to follow in her footsteps. Our first stop is the Bucktown Village Store, where at 12, Harriet was hit over the head while trying to help a fellow slave escape from an overseer. The current owner of the store – and operator of Blackwater Pedal and Paddle canoe, kayak and bike rental – Susan Meredith is on hand to talk about the incident, and much of Harriet’s wider history. “If they had caught her, they would have hung her, but she came back over and over again,” she says. Susan’s passion for her subject
A Harriet Tubman re-enactor
is palpable, and after a few more revelations – “Harriet was America’s first cougar; after her first husband died, she remarried a man 20 years her younger” – it is as if Harriet has come to life in front of us. The sites of interest dotted along the eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay relate to Harriet’s activities as an active member of the Underground Railroad. This had no engine and no tracks – it
54 •
travelweekly.co.uk — 22 January 2015
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