Normally an April event, the peak cherry blossom bloom this year was predicted to be 22 March by the Park Service thanks to a moderate winter and some early season warming. I can’t remember if we had been back since 2017 but I was up to my usual pre-blossom viewing grumbles this year. Rain all week and a beautiful sunny day on the weekends always means disastrous crowds. Do we have to go?

Flowers were good but man, the crowds were rough this year! I’m sure the COVID years didn’t help and created even more pent up demand. Suffice to say, this was the busiest day I can remember and it was too much. It started with a failed metro ride with 45+ minute delays on the tracks. We ended up jumping out at Arlington Cemetery and walking instead. We tried to avoid the bulk of the crowd by snaking our way counter-clockwise around the basin on Ohio Dr. This worked until we rounded horn past the Jefferson Memorial and slammed into a wall of people on Maine. Totally crazy. We ended up bailing on the basin and walking back to Arlington Cemetery to get a less-delayed metro car out of the madness. Thank goodness it wasn’t hot and the kids were tough cookies; we logged some serious miles on our feet! Not a single complaint and we did get a few okay pictures so not a total bust…