Cherry Blossom Festival

When you think of DC in the spring, one of the things that immediately comes to mind are Cherry Blossom trees. After living in DC during this time of year, I acknowledge that the trees are pretty, but I don't quite see what all the fuss is...certainly not worth the traffic jams and massive numbers of people making my drive to and from work even more of a headache than what it already is. The tidal basin around the Jefferson Memorial is definitely the most well-known spot to see the 2,000+ trees, but it's also the absolute LAST place you want to be during the festival...for views void of tourist heads and obnoxious cameras flashing from all angles, I recommend meandering through DC neighborhoods. Many people now plant Cherry trees in their yards, so you can get some great photographs of the trees without the hassle of a zillion people all running into each other at the tidal basin because they are too busy looking up at the blossoms to watch where they are going. But, as you can see from my photo of the Jefferson Memorial and Cherry trees, I did NOT learn this important information until AFTER I was sucked into the festival madness! I can only pass my suggestions to future DC tourists for next year's Cherry Blossom festival :)