A City in Bloom–Highlights from my Washington DC trip!

Happy Friday!

 

We’ll I’ve finished going through the hundreds of pictures I took in Washington DC and have decided to break my blog post into two parts. Today I’m going to share the beautiful Cherry Blossoms that graced the city and next week I’ll be back with the highlight of the attractions and places I visited and a really cool thing that happened while I was there.

Enjoy part one of my adventure!

First I have to say that if you’ve never been to Washington DC before you must put it on your bucket list.  I think it is one city that every American needs to visit at least once in their lifetime.

Second, I could not have picked a more perfect time to visit the city.  The planets aligned and this was destined to be one of the best trips of my life!  Here’s why…

 #1–My brother recently moved to DC and began a new job at George Washington University.  Going to DC meant spending time with him and helping him house hunt.

Ok everyone, say hi to my brother Dwight!

#2– I was going the day after my birthday so I got to have second birthday celebration in DC.

#3–The weather during my stay was predicted to be between 70 and 80 each day!

#4–  It just so happened that my trip coincided with the annual cherry blossom festival and the trees were going to be at their peak during my visit.

Yippee on all fronts!

Just a couple of days before I got to DC my brother found an apartment so while I didn’t get to help him pick out a place, I am helping him decorate it.

I had a great birthday celebration with my brother which included a free concert at the Lincoln Center and Sunday brunch at the world-famous Georgia Browns restaurant.

The weather was brilliant and it felt so good to spend lots of time in the sun.

And I can’t even begin to tell you how magnificent the trees and flowers were!

One afternoon we headed down to the basin which is a partially man-made reservoir between the Potomac River and the Washington Channel. The basis in part of the West Potomac Park and is a focal point of the National Cherry Blossom Festival  held each spring. The area is just amazing with the Jefferson Memorial, Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial, the Franklin Roosevelt Memorial and the George Mason Memorial situated adjacent to the Tidal Basin.

The trees, which have been around for many, many years had such beautiful trunks and the each tree was overflowing with flowering buds.

And it wasn’t like there was a tree here and a tree there, they were planted in mass all around the basin and created the most beautiful umbrella under the sky.

Here’s a look at the Jefferson Memorial from one side of the basin.

Given that is was the weekend of the Cherry Blossom Festival and the weather was so nice, there were thousands of people out and about, all taking in the beauty of the trees. It was impossible to get a photo without people in the background.

As we walked along the basin we came across a woman painting a portrait of the trees and the water.  I wish I would have asked if she was selling the painting because I would have loved to have it as a reminder of my trip.

In another direction you can see the Washington Monument through the blooming trees.

My brother, who is a pretty good photographer gave me lots of tips on taking pictures so I was able to capture some really stunning images.  I kept finding these spots between the branches that framed the Jefferson Memorial and created really cool photos. Doesn’t this one below look like a postcard?

I was so grateful that my allergies did not act up (they waited until I got back to GA).

The tree branches and trunks were massive in size and twisted and turned in all directions.

There were people lounging about along the water front and on blankets just enjoying the day.

Here’s look across the basin at the trees.  Trees lined the entire waterway and there is a walking path all the way around it which made for scenic views from every angle and great exercise.  DC is definitely a walking city.

You could even rent paddle boats and spend the afternoon on the water.

Isn’t this a great photo of the Jefferson Memorial blurred out the in the background?  This is one of my favorite shots.

In addition to the Cherry Blossoms, there were beautiful tulip magnolia trees scattered about.  They were in full bloom which made the city every prettier and boy did they smell great.

Can you believe all this and I had only been in the city of a day and 1/2? Stay tuned because next week I’ll share the other amazing things I saw and did in DC.  I promise you’ll be as surprised as I was as some of the happenings!