It’s Cherry Blossom Time!

I’m sitting in Washington, DC this afternoon with a sold-out tour to the National Cherry Blossom Festival. Weather on the way here was horrible — heavy rainfall, fog, and lots of traffic to top it off on a Friday morning. But we arrived almost right on schedule, started with a driving tour and within half an hour the sun was out! One brief shower came through, but now the skies are blue, temperature is up to 68F and it’s absolutely beautiful.

But there are no crowds! Washington is the least crowded I’ve seen it at cherry blossom time. I even found bus parking on Independence by the Washington Monument. There was also space at Hains Point, and I’m sure at Union Station, too, although I haven’t checked there yet today (that’s our dinner stop). I’m guessing the rain scared a lot of people away, and maybe the economy affected some, too. Last year it was wall to wall people, traffic was gridlocked; this year traffic is moving smoothly, and while there are people here, there aren’t crowds today like I’ve seen before.

No doubt Friday is a factor, too, and more people will be here tomorrow. I’ll be back here again next Saturday, so it will be interesting to compare. Meanwhile I’m enjoying Washington today more than I expected.

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