We went back in to The District today hoping for the best with regard to cherry blossoms. They are at least a week late this year, and probably more like 1 1/2 weeks late. Today was our last shot at it. The weather was very cooperative. It is still quite cool at night - in the mid to high 30s - but daytime temps were in the high 50s. It was a clear day. Surely there would be some blossoms today....
We were not the only ones who thought this was a good day to be at the Tidal Basin, at the Mall, and around the Smithsonian museums. There were thousands and thousands of people milling around, walking around the Basin, taking photos, vying for places in line for food, etc. But people were generally very well behaved and everyone seemed to be enjoying the "blossoms".
We walked around the Tidal Basin. There really was only 1 place, over by the FDR Memorial, where the blossoms had really started to open. This has to be due to maybe a little warmer air temps at night there due to all the stone in the area reflecting the heat of the day, maybe a little more shelter, who knows. So I took a photo or two over there. The blossoms really are beautiful.
I snapped a few other photos in the area. Washington DC is undeniably beautiful. What was really nice to see was a vast improvement in the walkways, grass, etc. on The Mall. A major renovation has just recently been completed. The last time we were here it looked pretty bad.
The Reflecting Pool
We saw the new Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial. King is depicted emerging from the stone, and we thought it was very effective.
We walked through the National Sculpture Garden and saw my three favorite sculptures again. The perspective of the house is an optical illusion as you walk by the sculpture - the perspective changes as you move. It is one of my favorite contemporary sculptures.
The Hare, another of my favorites.
The Spider. This isn't a very good photo.
A little further on, near the National Academy of Sciences, is the Albert Einstein Memorial.
We also walked through the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. The walls in the lower level of the museum are quite "loud".
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