Rolling and dragging our suitcases through baggage claim, my husband Mart and I walked outside the terminal. We crossed the drop-off lanes and headed to the median to get an Uber.
As we waited for a guy named Isaac with a black Toyota and XCL on his license plate, I looked across the pick-up lanes and got my first glimpse of unexpected beauty in DC, at the airport, no less.
Pink petals littered the ground beneath a row of cherry trees that were covered with the full pink blooms that make them famous.
And then I realized: the Cherry Blossom Festival.
Mart and I had just arrived in Washington DC for a work project that included attending Tartan Week festivities. But, unbeknownst to us, Tartan Week in DC coincides with the Cherry Blossom Festival.
It may have been unexpected for us but not for the 1.5 million visitors or so who come from around the world every year to see it.
I’ve heard about the Cherry Blossom Festival for years but didn’t know much about it. Heavy traffic leaving the airport confirmed that we’d happened upon something big.
As we made our way along the line of cars—Isaac our driver grumbling under his breath—we saw scores of people walking, running, and playing in the park along the water. Riding over the bridge, we caught a glimpse of some trees in the distance, every one of them dressed in pink.
Wow.
We immediately made plans to go to the Tidal Basin and see the beauty up close.
No doubt many cities have cherry blossoms blooming in the spring, but Washington DC has the oldest, most well-known festival in the US. How did it come about?
In 1912, Japan’s Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo gifted 3,000 trees to the city of Washington, DC, to “[celebrate] the enduring friendship between the people of the United States and Japan.”
It’s a gift that keeps on giving.
On Monday morning, Mart and I left the hotel and walked down Independence Avenue, passing office buildings on the left and museums on the right. As the sun climbed higher, so did the temperature, making it quite hot for early April.
Soon, several small groups of people headed toward the basin along with us.
When we got to the intersection of Independence and 15th Street, Mart and I stopped at the Washington Monument grounds to take photos, the monument in the distance.
Next, we crossed another smaller street and came to the Tidal Basin. Here and all along the water in the Floral Park, fellow admirers stood gazing at the trees and taking photos underneath with the water as a background. Women and little girls wore white and pink dresses, ready for photo ops and perhaps a fancy celebration afterward. Their smiles added to the beauty of the scene.
As we walked to the left in the park, we could see the Jefferson Memorial across the water. Paddle boats with intrepid pedalers dotted the water as planes flew overhead.
The trees stood almost all the way around the circular basin. When we got closer to the Jefferson Memorial, I took this short video of what we saw.
Standing under those 100+ year old cherry trees, seeing that incredible sight, and knowing we “just happened” to be there during blooming season—well, I was so delighted and so grateful that my spirit soared.
I couldn’t believe that much beauty had been there all this time and we were able to see it under a brilliant blue sky.
It was truly an unexpected, unforgettable morning.
When have you been surprised by beauty? I’d love to know. Leave me a comment below or on Facebook @glimsen.
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