Washington & The Cherries
With the weather nearly perfect, and the cherries at their peak, we walked from Downtown to the World War II Memorial, sat and had a nice lunch from the Farmer’s Market in Courthouse (where things are picking up, I expect two weeks and we’ll be up to par.), enjoying the throngs around us.
From there, it was to the Tidal Basin, and the stone lantern and the stone pagoda, as well as 100,000 of our closest tourist friends.
We wandered through the FDR memorial, for Jeff hadn’t seen it yet, enjoyed the words of they who’ve gone before us, and the artisans who were painting on the Mall.
The Jefferson Memorial was packed to the gills with folks watching the bands on the stage there, though many were reading the words of the Declaration of Independence, or walking between the columns that surround the memorial.
It was a lovely day yesterday, and a more beautiful one yet today, as I planted my spring garden, including a new azalea. Welcome to the lovely season, DC.
My co-worker who moved here from Boston with her family went to see the cherry blossoms for the first time Sunday and found it a horrendous experience, due to:
(1) crowds (they didn’t know that going at 2pm was not the best time);
(2) trash, trash, trash that people leave behind from their picnicking; and,
(3) destruction of property by people walking through every nook and cranny AND actually picking off the blooms from the trees, despite the signs (if one was even seen).
I guess if you can look past all the above, it was probably a nice day for some people.
The cherries are often a crowded experience, and that’s something to be expected during peak season. Yes, the Park Service does need to work on the trash issue, as that’s a real problem on crowded weekends.
That said, even with the above, I’d say Saturday was one of the prettier days I’ve seen in Washington.