The Amazing Adventures of los von ZauRunyon!: Cherry Blossoms!

On St Patrick's Day we braved the marathon traffic in DC and went on a short cruise to see the cherry blossoms! Each spring DC is filled to bursting with beautiful pink and white blossoms, and slightly less beautiful hordes of tourists. But this is early season and it was mostly manageable. After the cruise we had a loverly seafood lunch and then walked around a bit of the Tidal Basin, home to the cherry trees, and temporarily choked with pedestrians, strollers, photographers, and random bikers who think it will be nice to ride along the water in spite of the hordes of tourists, pedestrians, and strollers. C'est la vie, right? We all have to get along!

Hayes Point Park, lined with flowering trees, but not all of them cherry trees. It was still pretty! Must admit though, I'm an evergreen snob, and while this is nice, I wish the not-yet-flowered trees didn't look so dead!

The Washington Monument... again. It's amazingly visible from the river parts of DC!

It's not only the pink trees that are pretty right now - there are yellow ones too!

Very Von Zaurunyonesque: the Jefferson Memorial and cherry blossoms.

Ian with Marta and baby Maggie. She's the sweetest baby ever!

Ian is a good sport. I told him to look tall, and he obliged nicely. What a guy!

After lunch we walked around the Tidal Basin where the more than 3000 cherry trees are planted. The trees more or less ring the basin and were a gift from Japan in 1912. This is the 100th year of cherry blossoms in Washington. This stretch of trees goes towards the Jefferson memorial.

The cherry trees with Rosslyn, VA, in the background. The white monument on the left side of the photo is apparently the new Martin Luther King, Jr, memorial. Apparently it's nicer from a distance, but we haven't been to see it close up yet.