By traveler 
Last year, I did a boat tour with three of my siblings. This year, I tried a solo excursion of the famous Japanese cherry trees in the DMV by bus. The tour picked me up near the Archives Metro rail station. At the time, the Navy band was playing marches, including some of my favorite Sousa pieces, as an opening for a program.
The buses used weren’t accessibility friendly–in fact, another passenger fell and sustained some injuries climbing up the bus’ steps–so I immediately decided that I would rely on whatever picture taking I could do from my seat. Still, it was a beautiful Tuesday, April 1st, day, and the previous weather damage to the trees’ blossoms wasn’t bad enough to affect their appearance much. While there were signs of construction at the Tidal Basin, I got the impression that efforts had been made to minimize its impact on the scenery overall. The crowds that day at the Cherry Blossom Festival were lighter, as I hoped.
The cherry blossoms were the main draw of the tour, but we made several stops where passengers were invited to get out and walk with the tour guide along the way, including the Tidal Basin, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, US Capitol and the Lafayette Park across from White House. One historical event that was occurring as we visited the Capitol: Senator Corey Booker was in the midst of his 25-plus hour filibuster protesting the actions of the current regime. I had a shot at getting a picture of the former Black Lives Matter site, which I recently posted about, but a large white truck pulled up beside the bus just as we crossed the intersection, totally obstructing the view. Guess I have to drive over myself.
We returned to the Archives pretty much as scheduled, so I decided to walk down to the Waldorf-Astoria in the hope of entering the Old Post Office Tower and getting some pictures from one of the highest points in Washington. Unfortunately, elevator in the century-plus year old structure was down for repair. I was advised to check the National Park Service’s site before trying again to get an update on accessing the tower. After the long (for me) walk there, I was grateful that the Federal Triangle Metro station was across the street.
I’m going to let the pictures below speak for themselves:
The rest of my photos are available at https://singin1.pics/piwigo/index.php?/category/Seein-the-DMV-Cherry-Blossoms-and-More-040125.
I’m hoping this is the first of what will be a busy summer of traveling.