During the New York trip recently, there were a couple of days that I had to myself after my friends had flown back to California, and before my family arrived in Manhattan. Originally, I had planned on taking it easy for these couple of days. You know, walk around Central Park and read a book, go to a coffee shop and read a book, wander aimlessly through the city.
But, just my luck, the Cherry Blossom trees were actually blooming right at that time (seriously a few days after we left D.C.), and I really wanted to see it. I mean, that’s why the whole D.C. trip happened in the first place! We tried timing the trip around when these flowers would blossom, only to miss it by a few days! The awesome thing is, D.C. is only 4-hourur drive away from New York!
Immediately, I looked up MegaBus’s schedule for the upcoming few days and saw a fare that costs $11 to get there!!! BOOKED! And the return cost was only $14! YES! (By the way, if you’re not familiar with MegaBus, they are an affordable bus company that offers rides starting at $1).
With a 4:30am wake-up call, a train ride to a train station, and a 1 mile jog to the MegaBus meeting place, I made it on the bus, sweating, for the 6 am departure. (You can find my MegaBus review on Yelp)
I arrived in Washington, D.C. roughly 10am and headed straight to the Tidal Basin, also considered the Mecca of Cherry Blossom Trees in the U.S.
As you can see, the weather was very poor. It was heavily overcast when I got there in the morning, with a chill in the air.
The great thing about having poor weather is that there were hardly anyone walking around. I really felt like I had the whole Tidal Basin all to myself! If the weather was summery and nice, I can bet you that this area would be packed by people.
This was my favorite view!
How amazing would it have been to have a morning run underneath these Cherry Blossom trees blooming?
swoon
I spent as much time as I could just sitting and wandering around this area, just absolutely in awe of the beauty. There are nearly 1,700 Cherry Blossom trees lining up the Tidal Basin, and seeing it all blooming with pastel pink petals … sigh. Gorgeous.
Again, imagine feeling like you had this whole place to yourself!
Shortly after I made my way to the Jefferson Memorial, the weather went craaaazy. It was ridiculously windy, and it started raining, that I had to seek shelter. So I had to exit out of this Cherry Blossom Wonderland and wait for my returning bus ride back to New York.
Even though this day trip ended up being only a few hours and the weather was not ideal, I could not be happier about making the trip. I cannot wait to go again in the near future!
