Cherry Bl-Awesomes Festival!

Yes, it's bloomin' cherry blossom time! No, this is not a fried appetizer at Outback Steakhouse, although I wouldn't be surprised if flowers could be made tasty bythat dipping sauce... But, in fact, it's that time of the year when our eyes and noses are both attracted to and repulsed by the short-lived bloom of our favorite trees. Aaa-choo! This weekend was deemed the best weekend to see the Cherry Blossoms in Washington DC, and hence, the weekend of the National Cherry Blossom Festival. The festival is lasting into next weekend, when we will have a parade and Japanese Street Festival. There are big things shakin' come cherry blossom time.
Colin and I went to see the Cherry Blossoms around the National Mall in part just for the sights and great opportunity for photos, and in part for a celebration of being boos for two years. Huzzah! We went to the Tidal Basin at the Jefferson Memorial right before dusk, walked around through the literal mobs of people. Everyone was taking pictures of themselves with Cherry Blossoms, putting their babies in trees (this is not actually advised), shaking petals into their hair like a fairy princess would, and in general enjoying the blooms.

Here is Colin being forced into a photograph.There was an actual festival going on , but we spent so much time walking around and looking a the trees that we missed it. It appeared to be just festival food, aka all fried everything. It's hard to say since it was closed down. But I didn't even miss it because we, like many other festival-goers, packed a picnic. Caprese salad, hummus, fruit, Reese Peanut Butter Eggs, and even some adult "juice" that we packed in a Nalgene bottle. Deeeelicious.
The festival day was supposed to include fireworks. OK, well technically I guess it did, but not for all of the people who made the same mistake we did. A large portion of the crowd expected the fireworks to happen at the Tidal Basin,, the place where it would make sense for them to happen. It was packed with people sitting on the steps of the Jefferson Memorial, on the ground, and on the ledge surrounding the water. Suddenly, at fireworks time, there are explosions to be heard but nothing to be seen. We all turn around, and there are the fireworks, barely visible from beyond a concrete wall. It was awesome. No wait, it was the opposite. Maybe we just got left behind with the tourists who don't know the ropes. But fireworks by the Tidal Basin would be nice. It's a (good) suggestion.
All in all, though, this was a great weekend to be living here and going to see the Cherry Blossoms was so fun. There should be more festivals dedicated to trees. I'm even going to be a little sad when I wipe the final sheets of pollen off of my windshield.