Cherry Blossom Time

The annual rite of spring in these parts is the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, DC, which started today. It's always a challenge to park in DC on normal days, but today's schedule of events made it ridiculous. Along with the cherry blossoms, there was also the Smithsonian Annual Kite Festival on the Washington Monument grounds. Then there was the Sun Trust National Marathon, which necessitated some rerouting and street closings. In addition, the Washington Nationals baseball team, whose regular season begins tomorrow, had an exhibition game today at their brandsy new stadium. To top all that off, the powers that be decided, on this most popular (and populous!) of all weekends, to CLOSE a well-used parking lot near the Tidal Basin! Lovely, just lovely... wonderful planning on someone's part.

So, with the blossoms being in full bloom and at peak performance, the day being a decent one weatherwise, and not having a lick of better sense, we decided to take our chances and mosey on down the road anyway. Arrghh!! Needless to say, with the massive influx of native Washingtonians, visitors from nearby surrounding areas, baseball fans, and tourists from all over the world, there was no way we were going to get anywhere near the Jefferson Memorial/Tidal Basin. Plan B was Lady Bird Johnson Park, which has lovely views from across the Potomac River, but oh no, not today - that was closed due to some kind of construction. Grrrrr. Soooo, kicking in Plan C, we went on over to East Potomac Park/Hains Point instead, where the blossoms are just as breathtaking and beautiful, but in a different setting. As you can tell, it was well worth the effort. A gorgeous outing!

Looking across Washington Channel to Fort McNair

East Potomac Park/Hains Point

There are more photos on my Lil Bits Project 365+1 and over at Lews Pics. Enjoy!