Washington D. C.

[Eyphur]

This afternoon I was talking with a friend of mine who recently took a weekend trip to Virginia and spent a little bit of time in D.C. Now she wants to go back to D.C. for a weekend in the spring and play tourist and I might go along. We would like to see the cherry blossoms so my question is for those who have been there or live in the area "When do the cherry blossoms bloom?"

[Duchess of Lashes]

The whole city is spectacular during cherry blossom season, in particular, Pennsylvania Avenue and the areas around the Tidal Basin.





This is the link to the National Cherry Blossom Festival website which indicates that the festival takes place this year from March 25 through April 9th:

www.nationalcherryblossomfestival.org/cms/index.php?id=390

Hopefully it will have some good info for you but I can honestly say there really isn't an unscenic place in DC during that time of year - just fyi, the cherry blossoms were late last year but early the year before.

[shmeep]

Last year, my mother-in-law was very disappointed to have missed the blossoms in March.



But my parents were excited to have caught them in mid/late April.



I really enjoyed the Potomac boat tour I took with my parents. You get to see everything and it's so fun and relaxing.

I took a Trolley tour with my mother-in-law and that was great too. You get to see everything in the city and you can get on and off whenever you like for an entire day so that's a way to fit in all the places you want to be sure to see. Also, the tour guide/bus driver is very knowledgeable about the city and will point out all sorts of things you wouldn't have known otherwise. A cheaper way to go is the new circulator busses that run throughout the city. They go from attraction to attraction and are fairly inexpensive--but you don't get a tour. These started after my parents' visit, or that's the way we would have gone.

[carl1951]

Then Lucy and I ARE getting to DC just in time for the Cherry Blossom Season.
Mid to late April.

Later, Carl

[bluedelft]

In the chat tonight I mentioned to Alice that I would post some pictures of the WWII Memorial. Right now this is the only one that I have saved on my computer. Need to borrow the cd of pics from my sister.

It's a picture of our Uncle's picture that we left at the WWII Memorial end of April. He was killed at Guadalcanal so we chose to leave the picture at this location of the Memorial.



It was quite an emotional experience leaving the picture there and having people come up and ask us who he was.

A very nice gentleman offered to take a picture of me and my sister near the Memorial with our Uncle's picture. At first we said no but when he mentioned that we will visit the Memorial again but never live the experience of leaving our Uncle's picture we agreed and I'm so glad we did.

Once I have the pictures on my laptop I'll be happy to share more of them with everyone.

[awlrite4now]

Thanks, Jean. That's a very strong picture, and I'm glad you got to honor your uncle that way.

[hoosier]

How nice that someone offered to take your picture so you have a momento of your visit. When the memorial was being dedicated, my brother offered to take our father there. He is a WWII vet but opted not to go. Our mother's brother was killed in France shortly after DDay so I can really appreciate your putting your uncle's picture where you did.

[bluedelft]

hoosier said:

How nice that someone offered to take your picture so you have a momento of your visit. When the memorial was being dedicated, my brother offered to take our father there. He is a WWII vet but opted not to go. Our mother's brother was killed in France shortly after DDay so I can really appreciate your putting your uncle's picture where you did.

We stopped by the Memorial a couple of times during our visit and there were always WWII Vets there. It is so nice that the finally have a Memorial and it really it gorgeous. We had the chance to see it at night and all I can say is WOW.

The funny thing the gentleman who took our picture was from MA and if you look you can see a dog tag in the "G" and the dog tag belonged to hero who was killed at Guadalcanal who was from MA also. The whole experience really was amazing and I'm so glad we have that picture.

I'll be posting more pictures once they are resized down and board friendly.

[bluedelft]

World War II Memorial

The first two pictures gives you an idea of just how big the Memorial is.


View walking back from the Lincoln Memorial


Standing up near the Washington Monument









The Memorial at Night. I had set the camera I was using on black and white and my sister had left the settings on here camera to capture the colors.

[bluedelft]

A few more pictures of DC.

Enjoy!


Changing of the guards at the Tomb on the Unknown. I've seen this a couple of times and would love to see it again. It is really amazing to watch.


FDR Memorial




The stage at Ford's Theater one of the nights we went to see Shenandoah.


President Lincoln's box taken the same night as the previous picture.

The first night that we went to the play we were sitting in the balcony on the same side as Lincoln's box. From out seats you could look into the box.

[hoosier]

WOW! Your pictures are gorgeous! Washington is such a beautiful city. The memorial is impressive in daylight and at night. Thanks for sharing.

[bluedelft]

hoosier said:

WOW! Your pictures are gorgeous! Washington is such a beautiful city. The memorial is impressive in daylight and at night. Thanks for sharing.

You're welcome! Always happy to share what I have.

Glad you enjoyed them.

[Duchess of Lashes]

Bluedelft: I live about 40 miles outside of DC and I haven't been in to see the Memorial yet so I thank you for sharing the pictures - it was something that was far too long in coming.

About 3 1/2 hours southwest of Washington lies the little town of Bedford, Virginia, scenic and quiet. It may seem an odd setting for a renowned World War II memorial but this community suffered the greatest per capita losses in the D Day Invasion of June 6, 1944, and was therefore honored as the site for the memorial.

If one can call a war memorial spectacular, it is - the statuary is amazing and there is no way to look upon it without it invoking some very deep emotions.







Should you ever have occasion to venture a little further than DC, and make your way through Virginia on Highway 29 south, this little detour is definintely worth the time and the effort.

[bluedelft]

Longlashes when you have the chance make the trip to see the Memorial. The pictures really don't show the beauty of it and the size.

Thanks so much for the pictures and information on the Memorial in VA. Next trip to Williamsburg we just might be making a detour.

[shmeep]

I'm loving all this DC talk because--ahem--that's where I am right now. I know my profile says I live in DC, but that's not strictly true. I work in DC and live about ten miles Northeast of the city in a Maryland suburb just outside the DC beltway. I put DC on my profile because I generally post on the board from DC since I don't go online at home very often.

I go around to the memorials and museums when friends and family come into town and I'm always amazed by how much more there is yet to see.

Here I am at the Capital:


That's about three blocks from where I am right now. I see it coming into work every day.

That's a view from the Old Post Office. The nearby buildings are Federal Triangle and the Ronald Reagan Building. I've interpreted for the EPA in those buildings before.


This is the IRS. I've interpreted in there too. See the kind of tour I give visitors? Just all the governmant agencies because that's what I see living here.

This building housed prostitutes for the soldiers during The Civil War.

I took my parents on a boat tour of the Potomac:


And to one of the Smithsonians. Mom loved the First Ladies exhibit:


Dad liked the cherry blossoms near the tidal basin by the Jefferson Memorial:


He also liked the Korean War Memorial, because he was in the Navy during that war:


I tried to show my friend Laurel a little of everything:


We had a great time at the Manassas Battle Field...


...where we saw the anatomically-correct statue of Stonewall Jackson's horse:


My apologies for that picture. See...when I was nine, my family was there and the fact that the statue was anatomically correct was the main thing I remembered from that day. My brothers thought it was quite funny. I had to take a picture to show them they hadn't made up that part of the story.

Here's another fun sight. The No Nukes tent lady who lives outside the White House:


And here I am, trying to get a name off the Vietnam Wall for my father-in-law. He was in Vietnam and he wanted us to locate the names of a few of his fallen comrades. It was nice of those two really tall people to come along and help me. Like my humidity frizz?


Another great place to see is Annapolis:


Fun shopping and gorgeous scenery. Can't beat that.

My parents are coming in a month and we are going to hit Williamsburg next. None of us have ever been there.