Last Chance to See the Cherry Blossoms in D.C. Before Major Tidal Basin Reconstruction

Did you know 2024 year is an important year for the D.C. Cherry Blossom Festival?

It is the last year before major sea wall renovations force the park service to take down over one hundred and fifty trees. Don’t worry. Trees will be re-planted. This legitimately needs to be done due to flooding on one side of the Tidal Basin.

It isn’t the entire Tidal Basin that is flooding. It’s just the area on one side of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, which I will show you further down in the post.

I wanted to go down there and see it before it becomes a construction zone.

The official dates for the National Cherry Blossom Festival are March 20-April 14, 2004.

My husband, Alan, and I braved the city to check it out on March 19th, and it was definitely peak bloom already. Nature was out there showing off, and people were everywhere.

If it was that crowded on a weekday, in the middle of the day, you know the weekends are much worse. I highly recommend not going in the middle of a Saturday or Sunday, even on foot. If you can find a time to go during the week, or early in the morning, I would highly recommend it.

I sprung the idea of going to see the cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin on Alan very last minute. He works in the city, so I figured we could metro over.

That was the plan. Unfortunately, I forgot to put my military I.D. card back into my purse, so I could not drive on to the military base where Alan works. Instead, I had to pick him up at the gate. Then we drove down to park in the busiest, closest parking lot.

We did have to wait in a long line of cars. But hey, we got a great space!

Our space was so good, I got this photo from right by our car. We parked near the paddle boats. I think the paddle boats may have been open for business when we left, but no one was riding them. It was too cold for that.

I have lived in the D.C. area off and on over the past fifteen years, and somehow I have never taken a ride on those paddle boats. Add that to my bucket list of things I would like to do.

These trees are so majestic. There are many other places you can find them in the D.C. area. For one, Arlington National Cemetery has many of these, and it is much easier to find a parking space over there.

Last year I got to drive though them, as I drove our family into town for their visit. That was not enough for me this year. I wanted to get down there and walk among them, out in the crisp, cold, happy air.

Alan and I went just the two of us since the kids were in school. Besides, they would only complain if we made them go.

We had the best time just walking around, taking photos, and enjoying being out in the sun.

I’m extra proud of this particular photo of the Martin Luther King Jr. Monument. There is so much to take in here. Primarily you have the statue surrounded by beautiful trees. And didn’t they do an outstanding job on this particular monument?

Then you notice all the people in the picture. The D.C. Tidal Basin feels like a giant Instagram station while the trees are blooming. Everywhere you look everybody, and I do mean every last person, is stopping and taking photos. That’s why it is so hard to get down the sidewalk. There are beaten dirt paths by the sidewalks because of all the stopping.

But in this photo, there is so much more going on. There is a girl with a scooter. Ha! There’s a couple embracing in front of the water feature in the background. Then, of course, there are people posing and walking around.

I feel like that photo shows the whole point of festivals and taking part in exciting tourist attractions.

Getting outside and seeing the sights is so good for us. Look how it bonds people and promotes joy.

While we were by the MLK Jr. Memorial, two young women stopped me to take their picture. Now that’s normal, but bless their hearts, they didn’t even have their cameras with them. They asked if I could use my phone to take a photo and text it to them. Of course, I was happy to do so.

People often ask me to do things like that. I think I am a very non-threatening looking person to ask things. I think that also means I don’t have resting *witch* face, so hey, that’s good.

The funny thing is that I often get asked for directions, and if you know me, then you know that is hilarious. Talk about the blind leading the blind.

This is a good view of how the blooming cherry trees encircle the Tidal Basin, with so many famous Washington D.C. sights in the background.

When you get near the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, on the opposite side of the basin from the paddle boats or the MLKJ Memorial, you begin to see the flooded area. It floods twice a day, though it wasn’t flooded when we walked by. You could still see all the dirt and erosion from where it floods so often.

This Stumpy mascot tree is standing beside the tree the District has nicknamed “Stumpy.” It has come to symbolize the flooded area. The flooding has stunted this tree’s growth enough that it is obvious.

I forgot to take a good photo of this famous little tree, but you can find it here. That link also has the news release about the flooding. The sea wall project will not be finished until 2027.

You can see the park ranger giving a news brief on the plans for the sea wall to correct the flooding problem.

The basin is flooding over the sidewalk and past all of this grass, affecting many of the cherry trees and re-routing foot traffic.

You see a lot of people in suits and ties in D.C. I always wonder if maybe they work for Congress, but I never know. I could walk past a famous political pundit, newsperson, or Congress person, or U.S. Senator, and I’d never know it. D.C. is a city I dearly love, but I cannot keep up with all the politics.

I’ll leave you with this blast from the past. This is Alan and me by the cherry blossoms in 2013. That’s eleven years ago now.

I look extremely younger. I think I stressed out too much during those eleven years.

Going to see the cherry blossoms is always worth doing to me. I just love a day out in Washington, D.C. It is by far my favorite city. The next few years will be marked by construction, as they fix up the sea wall. If you get a chance, go see it this year!

Check out these other Washington D.C. posts:

The Best Things to Do in Washington, D.C.

Touring the National Mall with Little Kids