Blossoms

When we lived in Washington, D.C., spring was our favorite time of year. More specifically, we loved cherry blossom season. Of course, cherry blossom season meant the Cherry Blossom Festival which meant even more tourists blocking the escalators and generally being in my way, but it was worth it. Those blossoms were gorgeous, particularly around the Tidal Basin and around the Washington Monument. We tried to take them in as much as we could during our three years there, and even had our engagement pictures taken at the Tidal Basin during cherry blossom season.

A few of our D.C. cherry blossom pictures, including one of our engagement pictures

We also loved the spring in D.C. because of the tulips. There were tulips everywhere! I grew up with tulips in my yard, but this was Eric's first tulip encounter and he is now a big fan. Everything was just so pretty in the spring.

Tulips in D.C.

This past weekend we considered going down to D.C. for the weekend. We haven't been back since moving to New York, but still have many friends there. Since we didn't have any plans for the weekend, we thought it might be a good chance to get down for a visit and to see if any of the cherry blossoms or tulips were still in bloom. For various reasons, however, we decided to postpone our D.C. trip until this summer.

So we were still plan-less for the weekend. Then, via Twitter, I learned that the cherry blossoms were in peak bloom at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens. What luck! The weather was pretty dreary all weekend, but we made plans to go out there anyway. One thing we definitely learned in D.C. is that when those blossoms are in peak bloom, you better get your blossom-loving self out there A.S.A.P., or run the risk of missing them altogether. If they're in peak bloom today, they'll be gone by next weekend. If you get some wind or rain, they'll be gone sooner than that. We learned this lesson the hard way our second year in D.C., when we made plans to visit the blossoms the following weekend but thanks to a rainstorm, they were gone by then. Bummer.

So, off to Brooklyn we went on Sunday. I have to say, it kind of takes a lot for us to venture out to other boroughs. We're pretty big Manhattan snobs. (Although I will ALWAYS go to Brooklyn for Grimaldi's pizza.) But, this visit proved worth it.

We had a great time wandering through the gardens. The first very exciting part was the tulip display. It reminded us of the tulip garden they have in D.C. every year, with tons and tons of different kinds of tulips all grouped together. It really is beautiful. Eric just loved it and he snapped about a gazillion pictures. What can I say? The man loves a good tulip.

If you look really, really closely you might be able to make out a little white wall way off in the distance. That's how far the tulips stretched.

I liked all the purple, pink and white tulips behind me

Eric in tulip heaven!

So many different kinds of tulips!

After taking pictures of tulips for about three years, we passed through the Fragrance Garden (pretty, but my sense of smell must suck, because I didn't smell anything) and continued on to the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden, which was really beautiful. That was also where we started to catch sight of a few cherry trees, including some weeping cherry trees, which are my favorite.

Japanese Hill-And-Pond Garden

More Japanese Garden

In the Japanese Garden

Pretty waterfall

I liked these turtles. That one is laying on his buddy and he's all, "what's up? Like my rock?"
(At least I hope that's what's going on, and not something inappropriate...)

By a pretty waterfall

As we made our way out of the Japanese Garden, we just saw a fluff of PINK in front of us. We had made it to the Cherry Esplanade! And it was so gorgeous. We were so glad we made the trek to Brooklyn for this. I mean, there are cherry trees in Central Park, but we really missed the beauty of them en masse like they were in D.C. But the Cherry Esplanade gave us just that - we walked through underneath a canopy of beautiful pink blossoms, then back down an open grassy area lined with cherry trees. People were everywhere, taking pictures, laying under the trees, running, playing, etc. It was so nice to just relax and enjoy such pretty scenery.

Under a canopy of cherry trees

Eric enjoying the blossoms

Beautiful

Lovely place to spend an afternoon

Me under the trees

Eric

VIDEO: A look around the Cherry Esplanade

By the time we finished with the cherry blossoms, we were pretty ready to go. We had seen what we came to see! We did pass through the Rock Garden on our way out, then made our way to the exit and back to the subway.

In the Rock Garden

We had a great time at the garden, and continued our fun afternoon when we got back into the city. We stopped for lunch and did some shopping (Eric got a new golf club, which he was pretty excited about), then we stopped to pick up some Crumbs cupcakes on the way home. After leaving Crumbs we came up on a group of screaming girls, which can only mean one thing - celebrity heartthrob nearby. Sure enough, as we continued on, there were the Jonas Brothers. We snapped a couple pictures, and laughed over how crazy it all is. Not that we're big Jonas Brothers fans (don't bother asking me which Jonas Brother is which - I have no idea), but it just always amazes me when we randomly encounter celebrities in everyday life. You just never know what could happen when you're out and about in the city (and that's why I always carry my camera in my purse)!

There goes a Jonas brother!

Hey, there's another one. We didn't get pics of the third one, but he was there too.

And that was our fun, springy Sunday! I do love this city.