Exit DCA on foot? and Cherry blossoms
 

Flying into DCA Sunday noonish, have time for a stroll, thinking of checking out the cherry blossoms. I gather this is THE peak weekend? And even if the NPS has no funding, the trees are still outdoors :)

Anyway it looks possible to exit DCA on foot at the north end of the airport past the cargo facilities, walk on the Mt. Vernon Trail bike path, and cross the 14th Street Bridge on foot, to arrive at the Tidal Basin right at the Lincoln Memorial. Can anyone confirm that this is possible? Can't really see things like fence lines on the aerial photos at google, and street view doesn't quite cover what I'd like to see. Thanks!

At lunch today the trees looked pretty pink from afar, so they may still be okay on Sunday, unless we get rain or wind in the interim.

The walk is do-able, but it'll take a while (check the distance). Also, I don't know the mechanics of getting from the path up to the 14th St. Bridge. That might require a substantial detour. As an alternative plan, you could take the Yellow Line to L'Enfant Plaza and walk back.

It is certainly possible, though it would be a longish walk. The quickest way to the Mt. Vernon Trail is to catch it on the far side of the Terminal B parking garage— see www.metwashairports.com/reagan/1187.htm . Catching the trail at the north end of the airport is somewhat more direct to where you're headed, but why spend 8 minutes walking through parking lots when you can spend 12 minutes walking down a trail? Watch out for bicyclists.

The pedestrian path goes over the westernmost span of the 14th Street Bridge (the George Mason Bridge, which carries southbound I-395 traffic).

I would make sure to get updated info on the blossoms before making all that effort. They're a couple days past peak now and we're expecting up to an inch of rain tomorrow into Saturday morning. Might not be much left to see on Sunday.

Thanks all for the great info. FWIW, I can see connection from the bike path to the bridge in the Google sat photos, and I estimate very roughly 1.5 miles to get to the District side of the bridge.

ColumbiaPete thanks for bringing that up. I figured since the cherry blossom festival parade is scheduled for Saturday, this would be the peak time, but I see now it's really getting past peak, and a strong storm will do in the remaining flowers. I did find a "cherry blossom webcam" at http://www.nps.gov/cherry/cherry-blossom-web-cam.htm and I'll be really annoyed it they pull power on that if the park service shuts down midnight tomorrow :(

Last weekend was peak bloom.

But there are actually multiple species of cherry trees out there and they don't all bloom at the same time. The difference is on the order of 10 days to 2 weeks.

The later blooms are better seen in the Kenwood area of Bethesda. But I'm not sure how transitable that is. The Washington Post usually has a cherry blossom guide somewhere on their web site.

By the way, in the increasingly likely event of a government shutdown, the cherry blossom parade won't happen, but the Japanese street fair (which is privately funded) will still go.

Correction: the organizers have announced that the parade will go on.

Lots of other things to do will be closed, e.g. the Smithsonian museums, National Parks, Ford's Theatre (except for the walking tours that are put on by a private foundation). And there will be no trash collection in the District, which could make things unpleasant.

You could go to Newseum, the Corcoran, the Spy Museum, etc.

You'll have to pay for them - but that is no different than most other cities...

Mostly, I've got to work - this is a business trip. But I really like the cherries, see them a few times a decade, so... It doesn't seem that the rain has been too bad so far today (I've been watching on the weather radar and the NPS cherry blossom webcam). I hadn't realized this was such a big deal in DC, it really is, isn't it!

If it's the cherry blossoms you want, I suggest taking the Blue line metro to Arlington Cemetery (still on the Virginia side of the river) and then walk across Memorial Bridge towards the Lincoln Memorial. You'll have a great view from the river crossing and once on the other side a nice walk down the river to the Tidal Basin and the Jefferson Memorial. Note that it is the Jefferson Memorial that is near the 14th Street Bridge and not the Lincoln Memorial.

For the return, you can decide if you want to:

-return to DCA the same way
-walk back to DCA via the 14th Street bridge and the Mt Vernon trail
-cut over to L'Enfant Plaza and catch the Yellow Line metro back to DCA.

http://www.wmata.com/rail/maps/map.cfm

That's a great idea, didn't consider it. Probably a nicer bridge to cross too. Thanks!

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8320/4.5.0.81 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/100)

I walked around the tidal basin on Wednesday, and at least half of the blooms were gone by then. It was still an enjoyable experience, but peak has definitely passed.

To make the walk go faster, you can also rent a Capital Bikeshare bike in Crystal City:
http://capitalbikeshare.com/station_map

Take the Mount Vernon Trail spur up to the Crystal City Water Garden and turn left; there's a bikeshare rack within a block. Do keep in mind the pricing scheme for bikeshare penalizes long trips and rewards short, chained trips. The bikes have a front rack that can hold a smallish backpack or briefcase ("personal item" in flight attendant parlance).

For future reference, Kenwood isn't easily reached by transit, unless you want to walk from the Bethesda metro. It's about a mile and a half on the crescent trail, I did it two weekends ago along with hundreds of my closest friends and neighbors. I grew up a half mile from those trees, and it used to be a very pleasant and quiet viewing experience...now it's a zoo.

Kenwood actually isn't that bad to get to - the walk
that joanek cites is pretty pleasant. One can take the
T2 bus from Friendship Heights to Brookside Drive
(ask for the Whole Foods) and approach it from the
other side as well.