Cherry Blossom Festival

This weekend was the start of the Cherry Blossom Festival in DC. Although the peak bloom is not supposed to be reached until April 1st and 2nd, the trees are already gorgeous. Maria and I had a habit last year of filling our Saturday mornings with Dunkin' Doughnuts and a walk to the National Mall. The start of the cherry blossom festival was enough motivation for us to kick off this tradition again this year. We walked to the mall, picked up a frosted doughnut with sprinkles along the way, and took in the blossoms. 

We had one photographic goal: a shot with both us, the Jefferson Memorial, and some blossoms. 

 

I think we accomplished it quite well.

The trees surround the entire Tidal Basin. There were tons of paddle boats on the water, a pastime my mom and I have enjoyed on multiple occasions. I wish she were here to go boating with!

Maria had not yet visited the FDR memorial, and since we were already on that side of the basin, we made a stop. I think FDR kinda gets the shaft in that regard...you have to walk a lot farther to get to his memorial, and I'm pretty sure that for tired tourists, he's the first to get skipped. This is his dog, Fala.

Unbeknown to us, the first Saturday of the festival is the same day as the DC Kite festival. You can't seem them very well in this picture, but the sky on the mall was absolutely full of kites. Very fun.

After walking to the mall, walking around the Tidal Basin, and then walking home, I think Maria and I put in at least 5 miles. I followed that up by walking at least 3 miles with another friend in the afternoon in pursuit of a book signing, and topped it all off with a flag football game in the evening. By Sunday morning I was really sore and felt like someone had pushed me out of a moving (albeit slow moving) car.

Rainy Times

This is me just after finishing my run for the day. I'm not sure how well it comes through, but I'm pretty sure every DC rat I passed (and I shudder to think how many that was) was eying the bottom of my hair as a good place to make a nest. DC is currently in a flood warning, and we have seen constant rain the past few days. On the plus side, it's not freezing cold any more. So even though every layer of me was wet by the time I finished, I just couldn't help getting outside today and yesterday. Lukewarm rain feels like such an improvement over the weather of late. It's also pretty eerie to see the top of the Washington Monument disappearing into a mist. Even from the White House, which is pretty close, I could only see half of it. We are scheduled for at least two more days of this rain, so we'll see how it goes.

New Orleans

New Orleans!!!! Dee and I went to New Orleans this week to attend the National Child Traumatic Stress Network All Network Conference. The last time I had been to New Orleans was pre-Katrina, so I was very interested to see how much the city had changed. As part of the conference, we took a tour of the city to view the damage as well as the rebuilding. While damage is still very visible, especially in the 9th ward, it seemed that empty lots were homes used to stand were much more prevalent. Even to an outsider it is clear that some neighborhoods are far from being rebuilt.

 

Given the recent weather in DC, I had high hopes for the city. They were crushed. The weather was disappointingly cold, windy, and even rainy. Not impressed, Louisiana! We ate amazing food, including jambalaya, gumbo, red beans and rice, and bread pudding. And that was just my first meal. Throughout the week I also had a lot of good seafood. However I avoided the oysters, and any place that said oysters, at all cost. Not for this kid.

We stayed at the Roosevelt, of the Waldorf Astoria. It was on Canal street, and a huge point of pride for the city, so I was told. It had been closed ever since Katrina, and had only opened a couple of months ago.

 

Of course we did the typical and expected things in our free time. We took in some excellent live music...

Ate beignets at Cafe Du Monde...

And tried our luck at Harrah's Casino.

 

Of course I had to play Village People Party, which is one of my favorite slot machines. And by favorite I mean the one I find the most ridiculous. I also like to play Lucky Larry's Lobstermania because I like to think Larry wants me to win. Somehow that's never actually worked out. Fortunately it only takes 5 or 10 dollars to realize this.