How many of you thought cherry blossoms were pink? Well some are pink I suppose, but I thought that the blossoms specific to the Tidal Basin in Washington DC were a soft blush pink color. With all the photos I have have seen, that is what they looked like.

Wrong!

They are are bright beautiful white! So white, that my camera did not believe it and underexposed ALL of my photos! Ug! But don’t worry, I fixed them! 🙂

J and I decided to partake in the festival while we were here. We spent the night before at a hotel in DC (to beat the traffic) and partook in the parade and street festival.

I’m glad we went, but never again! We got to the parade route about an hour and a half early so we could get a good view. But as soon as the parade started, every asshole elbowed and nudged their way through the crowd to stand right in front of us!

There was an insane amount of people there, and not an insane amount of manners! Every. single. line we had to stand in, we got cut in front of. And I have zero patience for ignorant, self-important assholes who think the world revolves around them!

The street festival was so over crowded that we basically just spent an entire hour standing in lines! And then the food sucked. 😦

It made for some very interesting people watching though. Some people dressed up as…well I’m not quite sure. Some were dressed at baby dolls, one girl had fox ears and a tail, there were a lot of masks and crazy wigs. It must be some Japanese thing…to dress up… as something.

We tried to go see the White House. The line was insane! You have to stay on the sidewalk between the tall fence and the roped off road, so there is no room for expansion. And there were so many people trying to get in and out… it’s toe-to-heel shuffling. Unless you were the jerk who elbowed your way ahead of and through everyone. Grrrr!

I did get to see the gorgeous Magnolia Tree on the south lawn in peak bloom though! I just LOVE those Magnolia trees! ❤

Magnolia Tree, White House South Lawn

So, we went, they are beautiful, but I will not go on “peak bloom” day again!

Side note: you don’t have to go to the Tidal Basin to see cherry blossom trees. Or to DC even. There are cherry blossoms all over the Washington Mall. They are really beautiful at the tidal basin because they canopy over the walkway next to the water, but you can see the trees anywhere. Even in northern Virginia, about 50% of the houses in my community have cherry blossom trees. They are not special to the Tidal Basin, and they are not pink! (mostly).

Enjoy the pictures! 🙂

Japanese Lantern at the Tidal Basin