D.C. ~ in Bloom

Spring is for lovers…and cherry blossoms.  Despite love’s penchant for sometimes proving elusive, over a million people can be counted on to flock to Washington, DC to immerse themselves in pale pink when over 3000 cherry trees unfurl to full bloom.  A gift from the wife of the Japanese ambassador to the United States 107 years ago, Viscountess Chinda presented them to President Garfield as a gesture of lasting friendship between the two countries. Usually reaching peak in late March to early April, the trees now symbolize the unofficial arrival of Spring and an irresistible draw to people from all over the world.

The crowds and celebrations commemorating the pink explosion are nearly as impressive as the natural beauty painting the capital when the trees are in bloom.  Under the warm rays of a bright sun, the panoramic sweep of the tidal basin is breathtaking. To help visitors time their trips to coincide with the trees’ flowering, the National Park Service begins posting bloom predictions four to six weeks in advance of peak.  With parades, fireworks at the city’s gleaming restored harbor, kite festivals and food tie-ins at chic restaurants, festivities surrounding the splendor can border on lavish. 

Easily the most popular place to see the trees is along and around the Tidal Basin, the site of the trees first planting with the Jefferson Memorial anchoring the vista’s south end.  Arriving early before 8 would be prudent. Paths threading around the Basin may be slightly less thick with people and cameras at that hour.  Even in the early morning chill, women will be wearing sleeveless sheer pastels as they strike pose with clouds of cherry blossoms filling the background of their photo ops.  Tripods proliferate like sunglasses in Cannes. It’s at the Tidal Basin that the sheer scale of the event becomes visceral.  Thousands of people gathered in one spot to take in the abundant beauty of a 100-year-old gift with iconic monuments in the distance and the majesty of a nation’s capital all around you. 

Less frenetic opportunities to absorb the spectacle are plentiful.  Pockets of calm can be found in late afternoon on quiet walks like the short stroll from Union Station to the Library of Congress. The sidewalks on Independence Ave. are open and wide with a small postcard worthy  park filled with resplendent cherry trees and serenity just to your left.

Like any leisure visitor to DC, taking advantage of the chance to gorge on the endless trove of treasures found in many of the capitol’s excellent museums and galleries should be considered mandatory.  And while finding them may require recommendations from locals, Washington is also loaded with one of a kind jewels in the neighborhoods you’d be remise to ignore like Eastern Market and Union Market; both in NE. 

Eastern Market with its red brick facade and wide variety of specialty meat, fish and other premium concessions is like a micro version of Philadelphia’s massive Reading Terminal Market. Neighborhood scaled, there’s always a long line queued up on weekends for killer blueberry pancakes at the rustic eatery in the market’s north end.  Outside, artists and craftsmen from high to not-so-high sell everything from remarkable pottery and rare maps to cleverly irreverent T shirts and eclectic clothing; making the scene a swirling confection of counterculture and fine art. 

Union Market; newer, sleeker, hipper has proven itself a formidable rival and has the Fishmonger among its many superb culinary charms in its quiver.  It’s Mahi Mahi fish tacos are so bountiful, fresh and delicious, they shoot the standard for excellence up at least ten notches. You can also find one of a kind unisex shoes from the tiny company Sabah.  Made of water buffalo hide and hand stitched, their simple beauty ooze of classic good taste and comfort.

Back in the city’s center and along the Mall, the thrills are all visual and housed in sensational architecture.  As one of the oldest public buildings in Washington, The National Portrait Gallery is Greek Revival at its finest and now home to a painting that’s been boosting the gallery’s foot traffic since with was installed last February.  Much like the Mona Lisa at the Louvre, the official portrait of President Obama by Kehinde Wiley has taken on a life of its own with people lining up to take selfies in front of the life size portrait backfilled with bright leafy green. 

From one of the city’s oldest public structures, it’s about 3 miles to the far end of the mall and one of the newest and most celebrated buildings in town, the National Museum of African American History and Culture or NMAAHC. Directly across from the still closed Washington Monument, the NMAAHC has been racking up acclaim since it opened two years ago and to date has hosted over 5 million visitors.   Long waits and crowded galleries were the norm for months and tickets nearly impossible to secure.  Even now, with visitors from around the globe and across the country filling Washington, the mass of people flowing through the museum’s five remarkable floors are imposing and occasionally daunting.  As the museum settles into itself and the consciousness of the country, the diversity of visitors continues to expand.

Neither an art gallery or a house regaling the wonders of the natural world, NMAAHC commemorates a people’s past and chronicles their journey to the present.  A place where that  past is remembered soberly and compassionately.  And one where it and the journey to the present are beautifully celebrated.

David Adjaye, lead designer and Philip Freelon, lead architect brought elements of two worlds together to craft a building whose stately elegance is destined to grow with time.  Using aspects of classic Greco-Roman design for its core, the building is tiered with by a series of stacked crowns “inspired by the three-tiered crown used in Yoruban art from West Africa”.

Like so much of the bounty found in Washington, testaments on this scale can’t be entirely absorbed in a single day.  Which makes the NMAAHC one more reason among many to return to Washington DC in any season.