Lady’s Guide to the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, DC

Today I want to bring you my guide to the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, DC. This annual celebration of spring is a great way to get into the seasonal spirit in the US capital.

National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, DC

I’ve always wanted to visit Washington, DC for the annual Cherry Blossom Festival. I never thought it would happen while I was living overseas, but that always seems to be the way life works out.

My good friend got married on Saturday in Washington, DC, so my boyfriend and I jumped across the pond for the weekend to celebrate with her and her husband.

We went to Heathrow on Friday morning and were pleasantly surprised to find we’d been bumped up to business class since the economy section was oversold. All my crazy flying is finally starting to pay dividends.

We arrived in Washington, DC after a grueling seven-hour layover in New York City (I think we could have walked faster than it took us to fly there).

We checked into our hotel, The Westin Washington, DC City Center, and got ready to explore.

In the short day-and-a-half we were in the US capital we managed to see five of my boyfriend’s high school friends, one of my good friends from when I worked in Paris, and of course, the happy bride and groom for whom we traveled to DC in the first place.

But first the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, DC. It makes the city one of the best spring travel destinations in the world for good reason.

On Saturday morning we took advantage of our jet lag and went to see the famous blooms. Having never seen pictures, I didn’t really know what to expect other than a lot of pink.

When we arrived I discovered that the whole area from the Washington Monument to the Jefferson Memorial was bursting with life.

The tiny pink flowers were strewn from branch to branch and tree to tree like an endless string of cotton candy. It was beautiful.

Speaking of beautiful, the wedding, while less pink and more white, was also lovely. My friend looked so elegant, and the ceremony was a wonderful event for her and her husband to take their vows.

The reception was a grand affair. We had a great time meeting friends and family of the bride and groom, dancing, and enjoying the celebration.

My friend’s family certainly knows how to party, not least her 88-year-old grandfather, who led the group in a conga line even after the band was done for the night.

On Sunday morning it was time to do our last-minute “let’s take advantage of the weak dollar” shopping in Georgetown.

Afterwards we waved good-bye to the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, DC, checked out of our hotel, and headed to the airport for our trip home to London.

It still feels weird saying “home” to London, particularly after all the traveling we’ve done this month.

But when we got out of the tube in Hampstead this morning we ran into one of our neighbors and we felt a bit more like locals. London really is starting to feel like home.

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