Cherry Blossoms for Dummies

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any advice on Metroing in with a 2yo? I'm thinking it'll be easier to Metro it than drive, or is that a bad idea?

Never taken DD on the Metro yet, but if it'll be a chaotic mess, I wonder if we should just drive.

Metro will be crowded but parking nearby will be a nightmare. You could try driving and parking further away but then you would have quite a distance to walk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My two year old LOVES metro! And definitely much easier than driving. Get off at the Smithsonian stop, and take a stroller. Distances on the mall are deceptive.

22:13 poster here.

Thanks! That's encouraging. DH takes the Metro every day, but we've never done it with DD.

I saw that L'Enfant Plaza was another Metro option. But, Google says it almost a half hour walk. I'll definitely take the stroller.

[Anonymous]

Any good food options in the area with kids? We're thinking of bringing in sandwiches and doing a picnic. Or is it too crowded to picnic? Do they expect you to keep moving?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any good food options in the area with kids? We're thinking of bringing in sandwiches and doing a picnic. Or is it too crowded to picnic? Do they expect you to keep moving?

Probably too crowded to picnic at the Basin. Maybe have a picnic somewhere else on the Mall.

[Anonymous]

Thanks. We'll plan to picnic on the Mall instead.

[Anonymous]

You can picnic at the Roosevelt Memorial or the lawns in between Jefferson and Roosevelt Memorial. Or along the banks of the Potomac towards Haines Point if you drive in.

THere aren't any good food options. Also fun for kids are the paddle boats on the Tidal Basin.

On a similar vein, go to the National Arboreteum in a couple of weeks for the azaleus (also google it). Amazing, beautiful. Take bikes and picnic. Great day.

[Anonymous]

One last question - I'm the picnic poster.

We're driving in from Montgomery County. I'm thinking we'll park at the Parking on NY Avenue and 9th street. Can we just come down CT Avenue? Or are we still better off coming in at Haines Point.

It'll be a weekend, so parking is cheap at that garage, but if traffic will be backed up along CT Ave, then maybe not a great idea?

[Anonymous]

I'd lived in Bethesda 4 years last year before I pestered my DH nonstop about cherry blossoms. Before that every other year it seemed I was away for my job. When I said I wanted to go to the Tidal Basin he looked at me and said I was crazy and that it was a madhouse.

That weekend we took the baby to Kenwood. It was incredible! It was like every dumb anime I ever watched that had *Hero poses in dramatic wind filled with cherry blossoms* moment. I felt like I was walking through a pink cloud. Best of all, there were people but not tons of them. I can't wait to take the kids picnicing there this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I see plenty of those kind of white poofy flowers on trees in the neighborhoods where I live and I doubt they are Cherry Blossoms (but heck maybe they are! I have no idea!)

Probably they are cherries--anyone is allowed to have them! In fact, we just planted one in our yard last year.