Pedal Boats on the Basin

This Spring has been different from last year. Wild variations  of temperature (It was 87 yesterday and will reach 47 tomorrow), and much more gray and rainy. It was odd seeing the cherry blossoms bloom in an atmosphere of gloom!

Our original plans to rent paddle boats were canceled due to weather. We had decided we'd just wait 'till next year's Cherry Blossom Festival, when we had an unexpectedly warm day. I had piano students in the afternoon, but as soon as I finished at 5:00, I grabbed the kids, drove to DC, parked, ran several blocks, and met Graton just in time to get on the last boat.

As usual, the paths around the tidal basin were a zoo with tourists taking  photo ops approximately every 2 inches. But out on the water, I reveled in the serenity, the smells, the beauty.

We had some snacks with me and thought it would be cute to feed the ducks. Within seconds, every seagull East of Virginia had descended on us, and from across the water, the paddle boat employees were yelling at us to knock it off. The poor ducks followed us for a while before they had to accept that opportunity was no longer knocking.

I love the Washington Monument. It's always a point of reference for me when I'm driving. It's fun how it looks like it's right behind this cherry tree, thought it's actually a bit of a distance.

I also love how the cherry trees "rain" cherry blossoms.
(on the land, and water. Not so much on the car).

We wanted to pedal over to the Jefferson Monument,

but the water was too choppy.

So instead, we watched the sunset,

and dreamed of summer sailing