Liz on the Metro

Liz & I drove down to Washington DC  for the weekend of April 2nd & 3rd, while the National Cherry Blossom Festival was going on. I’ve never really been to DC, I’ve driven around the beltway a bunch of times going to other points south, and I’ve even driven through downtown by the National Mall once, but I’ve never spent any amount of time there walking around and taking things in. We didn’t have time to see everything obviously, but I had a good time, and look forward to going back to see more. Those monuments are a lot more impressive up close than in photos or movies.
We drove down first things Saturday morning to meet Liz’s family in Alexandria, and then took the DC Metro into the downtown area. Before getting  to the Tidal Basin, where the majority of the cherry blossom trees are, we wandered down Independence Ave., and stopped in the Haupt Garden in front of the Smithsonian Castle. There were beautiful pink trees in the garden, and having never been to see the Cherry Blossoms, I thought those were the Cherry Blossoms. Turns out they were Saucer Magnolia Trees, but beautiful none the less.

Smithsonian Castle & Haupt Garden

Saucer Magnolia in the Haupt Garden

Capitol Bikeshare

After wandering around there for a bit, we continued on our journey down Independence Ave., where we happened upon a Capitol Bikeshare station. Turns out there are over 110 of these stations throughout the DC & Arlington area, and you can borrow one from any station, and return it to any other station. You have to first become a member, but they have flexible options, there is a 24-hr, 5-day, 30-day and annual membership. After that, the first 30 minutes of each ride is free, and every additional 30 minutes after that accrues a fee. More details on that can be found here. I think this is an awesome idea, and hope to see it become popular in more cities. My only concern is people who aren’t familiar with cycling in traffic and the laws that apply to cyclists. Hopefully as cycling continues to grow, this will become less of a problem.

Cherry Blossoms over the Tidal Basin

We finally reached the tidal basin, and to say it was crowded would be an understatement. We didn’t make it all the way around the basin on Saturday due to the unpredictable weather. After having to take shelter in the Jefferson Memorial to keep dry, we decided to call it a day and head back to the apartment and try again tomorrow. The crowd inside the Jefferson Memorial was actually a bit scary. The gift shops area on the lower lever was so crowded it must have been a fire hazard, if the building wasn’t made of mostly marble. In the actual memorial, people were all crowded right by the entrance, and I was actually a bit concerned about a stampeding mob of wet people, since more people kept trying to push in, and people weren’t intelligent enough to keep moving inside the monument, instead of staying in the entrance.

Fireworks over the Washington Channel

Later in the evening we came back to see the fireworks. I didn’t feel like lugging my tripod around, so I did my best with my Canon G9 and bracing it against things. I got a few decent shots, but one came out really amazing in my opinion.
Sunday involved a lot of walking. We bought another National Park Passport book and got some more cancellation stamps for monuments we saw. We saw three different bride & groom couples over the weekend, and one actual wedding. It was a fun time and a welcome break from the stress of work and school. I’ll let the photos do the rest of the talking.

Washington Monument

WWII Memorial & Washington Monument

WWII Memorial Fountains

Washington Monument & Reflection

Washington Monument

There are a few more photos not posted here on my Flickr Account.