Cherry Blossoms 2015 in Washington DC have finally arrived!

With the bitter cold February and March the Washington D.C. Metro area saw this year, it felt like spring never would arrive. However, in this second week of April, it is well on its way.

In the downtown area near the Tidal Basin, the cherry blossoms for 2015 have reached their peak views, right on schedule as predicted by the National Park Service (NPS). "Peak" is designated when at least 70 percent of the (primarily) Yoshino cherry trees around the Tidal Basin are in bloom with white and pink flowers.

The cherry blossoms look so beautiful reflecting in the water

We took the Metro and got downtown around 9 a.m. and while the Metro wasn't so bad in terms of crowds, lots of people were already downtown (I already knew from previous experience standing room only would be lucky if we left any later, one year we went there was not enough room for people to get on). The 10K and other races were going on, so we found getting to the Tidal Basin was tricky. The race was fun to watch for a while.

We didn't want to cut through the runners (people were doing this...disrupting the runners' pace) so we backtracked to the Washington Monument and circled around that way. This was the first time I'd been downtown during the race so wasn't sure of the race route. If you ever do go down during the race day, don't try taking the usual routes to get to the Tidal Basin from the center of the Mall - there is no place to cross. Instead cut through near the Washington Monument where the race ends.

The blossoms were beautiful. Yesterday was the last day of the National Cherry Blossom Festival, but we didn't spend any time there other than walking through as it was way too crowded. Weekdays are better for poking around the tent area, so we focused on walking around the Tidal Basin and taking photos.

[Related reading: Guide to the National Cherry Blossom Festival ]

Washington Monument reflection

There are a few "sweet spots" to take photos of the Jefferson Memorial during cherry blossoms. This is one of them in my opinion.

Only one or two of the trees this year appeared to be a darker pink on April 12, 2015

Close up of blossoms and buds

After we walked the Tidal Basin and then checked out the National Tulip Library before visiting the American History Museum. Beautiful weather, beautiful day! If you haven't seen the blossoms yet and are in the vicinity to do so, there's still a day or two left of peak and, depending on weather, possibly several more days of blossoms.