In the first weeks of April, a magical thing takes place in the Nation's Capital. The magnificent trees gifted to the United States by Japan in 1912 blossom into thousands of white and pink flowers. Yes, I am talking about the Annual Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington DC. Having been a local resident off and on for about 10 years, I've been to the Tidal Basin to see the trees a few times. Currently working in DC allows me the privilege to see them more often and also go run around the Tidal Basin before peak tourist hours.
This year, we made the journey early one Saturday morning during peak viewing times because Scott, despite having lived in Northern Virginia for almost 17 years (off and on), had seen them once as a child and didn't really remember the visit. Traffic was chaotic and we had to park about a mile away on the opposite side of The Mall but it was a beautiful Spring day. At 8:30am there were already several thousand people taking pictures and walking around the trees. We didn't have a lot of time because I had a class I needed to get to at 10am so we walked around for about 45 minutes, taking pictures and enjoying the trees and the weather.
After leaving the blossoms behind, we drove to Alexandria for me to learn how to use my new bike and commute in traffic. I got a large gift at Christmas in the form of a Cyclocross bike which is part road bike in frame and part mountain bike in tires (thinner tires like a road bike but nubby like a mountain bike tire). I have this crazy goal of biking to work this summer so I wanted to learn how it is to be done. There is an organization in DC called Washington Area Bike Association (WABA) that holds classes for adults and children to teach them skills from how to ride a bike to city/commuting tips. I knew a lot of stuff going into the class but it taught me confidence more than anything which I was grateful for.
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| Enjoying a break from learning |
When the class ended, I took my new skills on the road with me and biked the trails to get to Falls Church, VA. Scott had dropped me off to run errands and met me with the car after my 2 hour bike ride that took me about
17 miles from start to finish. We had a fun lunch at a little diner called The Virginian (appropriate I thought) then finished it off with some amazing frozen custard in the heart of Vienna, VA.
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| Not the best picture but it was a fun place |
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| Scott contemplating his custard |
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| Cherry infused custard in honor of the Festival |
The rest of the day we relaxed and I was pretty tired from my ride so it was all for the best. It was a great weekend!
