Arlington Cemetery, Virginia

Joe and I took the metro to Arlington Cemetery today, while Ian had his last day of birding with his friend Paul. Tomorrow Ian and I drive to NJ and leave this beautiful city of Washington DC, it's been a quick 2 months. Joe will be working in DC for another month and comes back to Massachusetts in May. The 3 of us have lived well in our small apartment in Virginia and enjoyed exploring the many grand and free sights of the area. We truly have an extraordinary capital for our country, of all the large cities I've been in, Washington DC is my favorite.

Entrance to Arlington Cemetery.

Changing of the guard. Only one guard changed every half hour. I was underwhelmed by the whole procedure, it was very robotic, but then I guess that's the point of it.

Joe and our flag.

An impressive amphitheater just behind the unknown soldier memorial.

Me.

Queen for a day, or a year, or longer :-)

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with the city in the background.

The Cherry Blossom Festival in Full Bloom.

The official National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington DC 2009 is from March 28th to April 12th.  The festival commemorates the 1912 gift of 3,000 cherry trees from Japan to the city of Washington. From what I can see, the blossoms hit their glorious peak on Tuesday, March 31st, everything was blooming in the sunshine.  The Festival is run by the National Mall and Memorial Parks.

There are daily Ranger programs, bike tours, Jr. Ranger programs, and Lantern walks.  Joe, Ian and I just walked around on our own exclaiming on the beauty of so many flowering trees in one place, it was spectacular!

Weeping Cherry tree in the gardens of the Smithsonian Castle on the National Mall.

The Castle.

Magnificent Magnolia Trees.

Magnolia flower.

Many photographers out and about, it was a perfect day.

Washington Monument.

Tidal Basin welcome area.

Even monks like to take pictures.

Thomas Jefferson Memorial on the Tidal Basin.

Me.

Ian and Joe.

The White House with a man apparently in mid air??

Close up of Cherry blossoms.

Thomas Jefferson Memorial.

Another variety of Magnolia.

Daffodils.

A commuter grabbing a few winks, I shot this from the platform and he was inside a metro car.

Catching the Spring Blossoms in Washington DC

March 31st was the peak of the cherry and magnolia blossoms, what a special, sunny, perfect day to enjoy Spring!  People from many nationalities were walking around the Cherry Blossom Festival area near the National Mall and cameras were clicking every second. There must be thousands of photos on the web covering the beauty of  Washington DC.  Here are a few more :-)

Ian and I drove to Haines Point in the morning to look for birds and blossoms, then we met up with Joe at 3:30 pm, his usual get off work time. We took the metro in the afternoon, parking was extremely scarce and the metro is easy.

A very cooperative Ring-billed Gull at Haines Point.

So very, many blooming trees, I took a whole lot of photographs. It looks good in photographs, but in real life it's truly stunning!

After many years of shooting birds I finally got one in flight that has the body in focus!

Cherry tree blossoms.

Reagan Airport opposite Haines Point.

Budding willow tree.

Getting the metro at Pentagon City, a block from our apartment.

Daffodils.

Joe.

Ian.

Hirshorn Museum bag people sculptures with Joe and Ian.

Ian, me and Magnolia blossoms.

The Castle  and more blooming Magnolias.

Weeping Cherry.

Magnolias.

Enid's gardens at the Castle.

Magnolia blossom up close.