Sometimes I feel like I am blind to DC. I travel all over the world and write about my adventures, but when it comes to my own hometown, the place where I actually LIVE, this blog is mostly silent. Which is pretty ridiculous considering it’s a major city for tourists and a pretty freaking awesome place in a lot of ways that visitors don’t even know about.
So this summer I am going to write more about Washington DC. I hope to show you guys that there is a lot more to this city than the National Mall, and that it’s actually a really interesting, diverse and cultural place. So for starters I am dedicating this week to all things DC.
But first, I’ll show you flowers. One of the highlights of being in DC during the springtime is the plethora of flowering trees and bushes: azaleas, magnolias, dogwoods, daffodils and more. Then there is the crown jewel: the cherry blossoms. They actually bloom all over town- there are two in my yard, but the most beautiful and iconic ones are the National Cherry Blossoms down by the tidal basin. Given to the nation by Japan, they bloom for just about a week every year and are a major tourist attraction.
Because they only bloom for 7-10 days, there’s a very small window for appreciating the trees. This year, the year of endless winter, they bloomed very late, not until mid-April. When Mike and I first tried to go see them they were still just on the verge of bursting into bloom:
Pretty, but not quite the look we wanted. So we came back a week later and got to see them in all their glory:
Soooooo pretty! I’m glad they finally decided to bloom! Still bummed that I missed them, but I guess that means I’ll just have to come back sometime!
I know, what a bummer! You ended up missing them by a whole two or three weeks! So crazy.
Isn’t it funny that we have such a hard time appreciating our own hometowns? I feel the same way about Seattle. I almost never get out to really see anything when I go visit my mom. It’s just about hanging out at her house, usually. We live in Portland now and since I’ve been here the majority of 15 years now, I usually forget to appreciate the little things that draw tourists to our fair city. Although, we generally get to play tourist with my in-laws when they come to visit every summer. Beautiful shots. LOVE cherry blossoms.
Omg I love all these pictures (especially the second to last)! I wonder if the DC cherry blossoms are different than the ones here in Korea. I’m trying to compare the pictures from my blog and yours, but it’s hard to tell. Can’t wait to hear more about DC!
I can assure you that my home town isn’t anywhere near as interesting as DC would be!
But, there is a lot of truth in being blind to the places you know best.
Hurray for hometowns! I love DC and missed it when I moved to Boston. I really took the neighborhoods for granted and realized how fun they were after I left. I missed it so much that I just moved back! 🙂
Looking forward to comparing DC notes with you in this week’s posts!
Awesome! I’m headed to DC in just three weeks, it’s one of my favorite cities. These pics are getting me excited!
That shot of the blossoms on the verge is actually really cool, I’ve never seen them like that before! Of course they’re all lovely. I was fantasizing about driving down there earlier this spring to see them, but school sort of got in the way 🙂
thanks!
Can totally relate, I live right next to Hadrian’s Wall (which maybe isn’t the biggest tourist destination) But as we learnt about Hadrian’s Wall and the Romans to the death, going there wasn’t very exciting – that and the fact that every school trip involved going there! Now, I appreciate how much of an amazing site it is along with the fact, that you can reenact the first scene of Robin Hood:Prince of Thieves at Sycamore Gap!
Can so relate. Also living in a huge tourist destination (Los Angeles) I rarely write about my own city. I think it’s actually hard to come at it from a tourist point of view. It wasn’t until I went overseas and asked everyone what do they even come to see in LA, because I really had no idea.
this is awesome news – i’ll be in the dc area this summer for three weeks in june/july time. I’ve done the touristy bits before so any more unique places to visit would be awesome 🙂