We are coming up on two years of living here in VA and have really not done any sight seeing in DC. As I felt that this might be our last chance, I wanted to make sure to see the cherry blossoms this year.
I have had a lot of anxiety with traveling into the city. I hate the traffic, crowds, dealing with hard to find and pricey parking... But I didn't want to let my fears prevent me from seeing the cherry blossoms, for what could have been my last chance while living here.
I did plenty of research and reading online tips for getting to, parking at and enjoying the cherry blossoms. We decided to go on a Sunday morning at sunrise as I read that to be the best time. We left a little later than I would have liked, my fears trying to keep me home until the last minute, but we made it into the city by about 6:30, just at sunrise.
Despite my extensive research I neglected to see that there was a run going on that morning. While from what I read, the place is normally empty until 8, but this morning it was busy as I think the run was starting at about 7. It took quite a while to get to where I wanted to park as lots of the roads were closed due to the run, but we finally managed to get to where we were wanting, and were able to still find plenty of free parking.
From where we parked we had about a 15 minute walk to Tidal Basin, but the walk was along a pretty, blossom lined street.
Sadly there were already TONS of people at the Tidal Basin. It. Was. Gross. It was honestly a little disappointing as it was essentially impossible to get a clean shot without the crowds.
It wasn't a total waste though, I still got plenty of good shots, and could edit the people out of some of them.
Thanks to Dave for this shot of me!
We walked around for about an hour and then the crowds started getting really hairy, so we decided to hit the road to still try to make it to church (which we did!)
Tuesday I ended up having a free day, so we decided to take the last minute opportunity to head into DC one more time.
We decided if we could easily find parking easily and it wasn't too busy we would walk around. Amazingly, since there wasn't a run going on, and it was a bit rainy, we were able to find tons of open, free parking, only a couple minutes from Tidal Basin.
It was perfect. There was hardly any people, everything was extra lush and green thanks to the rain, and the blossoms were slowly falling through the air with each gentle breeze, coating the grass, path and benches. It was heaven. I got the shots I was dreaming of, and without having to edit out any people (mostly)!
Then we made our way over to find a food truck - The DC Taco Truck. We had to do a few circles to get to the right street, but we eventually found it, I even parallel parked! That's a pretty big deal guys.
We ordered tacos, with just 15 minutes to spare till closing time! The tacos, while over priced were really good, but tasted EXACTLY like the shrimp tacos I make. So they were good, but not worth the price when I know exactly how to make them myself.
We then decided to go to Lush since we were close to one of the few in the area. All that stuff is delightful! I want to try everything! Can't wait to get my hands on more! Another blog post on all that later!
I am so grateful for Dave for helping encourage me to not let my fears override and keep me from accomplishing my goals. Now that I have officially ripped the DC band-aid off and know It's Not That Bad, I am excited to make more trips in and now finally do some proper sight seeing and DC food eating! Yay! Thanks for reading if you stuck the whole way through!
xoxo
I have had a lot of anxiety with traveling into the city. I hate the traffic, crowds, dealing with hard to find and pricey parking... But I didn't want to let my fears prevent me from seeing the cherry blossoms, for what could have been my last chance while living here.
I did plenty of research and reading online tips for getting to, parking at and enjoying the cherry blossoms. We decided to go on a Sunday morning at sunrise as I read that to be the best time. We left a little later than I would have liked, my fears trying to keep me home until the last minute, but we made it into the city by about 6:30, just at sunrise.
Despite my extensive research I neglected to see that there was a run going on that morning. While from what I read, the place is normally empty until 8, but this morning it was busy as I think the run was starting at about 7. It took quite a while to get to where I wanted to park as lots of the roads were closed due to the run, but we finally managed to get to where we were wanting, and were able to still find plenty of free parking.
From where we parked we had about a 15 minute walk to Tidal Basin, but the walk was along a pretty, blossom lined street.
Sadly there were already TONS of people at the Tidal Basin. It. Was. Gross. It was honestly a little disappointing as it was essentially impossible to get a clean shot without the crowds.
It wasn't a total waste though, I still got plenty of good shots, and could edit the people out of some of them.
Thanks to Dave for this shot of me!
We walked around for about an hour and then the crowds started getting really hairy, so we decided to hit the road to still try to make it to church (which we did!)
Tuesday I ended up having a free day, so we decided to take the last minute opportunity to head into DC one more time.
We decided if we could easily find parking easily and it wasn't too busy we would walk around. Amazingly, since there wasn't a run going on, and it was a bit rainy, we were able to find tons of open, free parking, only a couple minutes from Tidal Basin.
It was perfect. There was hardly any people, everything was extra lush and green thanks to the rain, and the blossoms were slowly falling through the air with each gentle breeze, coating the grass, path and benches. It was heaven. I got the shots I was dreaming of, and without having to edit out any people (mostly)!
We ordered tacos, with just 15 minutes to spare till closing time! The tacos, while over priced were really good, but tasted EXACTLY like the shrimp tacos I make. So they were good, but not worth the price when I know exactly how to make them myself.
We then decided to go to Lush since we were close to one of the few in the area. All that stuff is delightful! I want to try everything! Can't wait to get my hands on more! Another blog post on all that later!
I am so grateful for Dave for helping encourage me to not let my fears override and keep me from accomplishing my goals. Now that I have officially ripped the DC band-aid off and know It's Not That Bad, I am excited to make more trips in and now finally do some proper sight seeing and DC food eating! Yay! Thanks for reading if you stuck the whole way through!
xoxo
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