Every year, from March through April people gather to celebrate the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington DC. The trees were a gift from a Japanese Mayor named Yukio Ozaki.
This was our first time attending the Cherry Blossom Festival. My mother told me that my grandmother would take her Japanese Wive's Club every year, so it felt good to do something that my grandmother loved to do. She died before I was born, so I've always been curious about what she was like and what she enjoyed.
It seemed like a struggle to get there because the traffic was terrible as we got closer to Washington DC. We actually stayed in Alexandria Virginia, and took the Metro (train) back and forth. It cost about $8 USD per day to ride the train, which isn't bad for a tourist visiting, but seems like it could get expensive for a local. When we arrived, the Kite Festival was taking place. I got some amazing photos!
When I first stepped off the Metro at the stop called the Smithsonian Station, I was amazed at how close the Washington Monument was to the Capital Building and Smithsonian Museums. My mother brought me to Washington DC when I was a child, and it seemed like all of these landmarks were so far away. It's interesting how we see things differently as we age. However, you will do a lot of walking in DC! We walked over 55,000 steps in 3 days.
We were starving, so we were very pleased to see all of the food trucks lined up by the streets. My husband said the travel shows always talk about how great the food trucks are in Washington DC. Let me be the first to tell you, they are not great at all and it reminded me of food trucks you would see at any other festival. You know when you are really hungry, and it makes food tastes so much better?... well, I can't even say that was my experience at all. Sorry, not sorry.
I really loved how beautiful the Smithsonian Castle was! I captured it from two different angles, the second shows the garden which is where my husband and I sat for a break and watched children play and people pass by.
I mentioned in a previous post where we visited Arlington Cemetery, that the people who constructed the memorial's in Washington DC really thought it out with an artistic eye. I am going to take you through a visual tour of how well thought out the placement was.
We started walking towards the Washington Monument as the sun was setting and came up to the very beautiful cherry blossoms all around this area. I wish I could have taken better photos, but the crowds taking photos around the trees were like busy bees pollinating the flowers. They were swarming the trees to the point that I couldn't get a single good shot without someone in it. This was the best I could do:
And here is a closer photo of the Washington Monument:
Once we got past the Washington Monument, we walked up to the World War II Memorial.
In the next picture demonstrates where you can see some of this artistic flare in the placement of these memorials and monuments. From the World War II Memorial, you can see the Washington Monument in the background.
We kept walking towards the Lincoln Memorial, and came to the Reflecting Pool that is famously in Forest Gump, where Jenny and Forest run towards each other. I tried to get my husband to reenact it with me, but he wasn't having anything to do with that, plus the water looked disgusting!
To get to the Lincoln Memorial, you have to walk up lots and lots of stairs, unless you take the elevators which we did not know about until after we trekked all the way up them!
That first photo is quite deceiving, I bet you are thinking that's not too many stairs, but wait! There is more!
Any finally, we made it to see this guy! A man who's choice towards equality, ultimately lead to his unfortunate demise.
His courage to be the one person to make a change when so many others turned a blind eye is heroic. And that is why I took this fan girl photo:
The dramatic visuals are not over yet! Below is my last attempt of showing this artistic mastery with placement of these memorials. From the Lincoln Memorial, it overlooks the Reflecting Pond, the WWII Memorial, the Washington Monument, and the Capitol Building. The helicopter in the photo was from the white house, so I have no idea if that was Trump flying over our heads overlooking the festival.
It is amazing how you feel like the Washington Monument follows you everywhere. On our last day we went down to the Tidal Basin where the Cherry Blossoms were supposed to be peaking into full bloom. Once I was there, I was amazed that I could see the Washington Monument in the background from there also!
Here are my favorite photos from the Tidal Basin:
I would have loved to paddle boat around, but it was extremely cold that day, and they were not allowing rentals. :(
We went into a few of the Museums. They are completely free, which is always nice for someone traveling on a budget. We visited the Native American Museum since my husband is Native American. We also visited the Holocaust Museum, which I strongly recommend. I didn't capture any photos because the images were horrific, but it was a moving experience. There was a section in the Holocaust Museum designated to show what is going on in Syria and it is quite heartbreaking and terrifying. Our final museum was the Space and Air Museum.
I was excited to learn that MGM built a casino near Washington, DC in Maryland. We drove there to check out the casino. It was quite nice, here is a photo of the lobby:
Here is a view from outside the casino:
From the Casino's deck, you can view the National Harbor:
I have shared some of my favorites from my trip to Washington DC's Cherry Blossom festival! I hope you have enjoyed my post, and got some helpful ideas on what to see if you visit this area!