Cherry Hill Park is a very nice RV park with around 400 sites. Please see our RV PARK REVIEW BLOG under Maryland to see a review and more pictures of this RV park http://charleston-rv-park-review.blogspot.com/
CHERRY BLOSSOMS
Spring in Washington DC means thousands of blossoms turning the sky pink around the Tidal Basin. In 1912, Japan’s gift of 3,000 Yoshino cherry tress by the mayor of Tokyo to the United States, was the culmination of the work of private and public citizens. The trees were planted around the Tidal Basin which was once considered too rough and swampy. The Cherry Blossom Festivals is a celebration to honor this gift of 98 years ago. The festival is planned to coincide, as nearly as possible, with the average date of blooming for the trees (late March to early April). And every year one million people come to see, eat under, admire, ride by and walk among these famous trees.
We arrived in the area on Friday for the last week of celebration. On Saturday we took the Metro to the Smithsonian Mall and were totally unprepared for the crowds of people there. Not only were the crowds there for the festival, it was spring break. There where hordes of young people with organized school trips. It truly felt like there were a million people walking along the Smithsonian Mall. The Tidal Basin is walking distance from the Mall and we attempted to walk over there to experience the glory of those thousands of pink blossoms. But it was just too crowded. We decided to wait a few days and visit during the week. Maybe the crowds would thin out a bit. So we enjoyed the pink blossoms that were around the Mall. 
That Saturday was the start of a 4 day heat wave that hit the DC area. The temperatures got up into the low 90’s and the humidity was terrible. We delayed visiting the Smithsonian Mall area because it was just too hot and we didn’t want to deal with crowds and heat at the same time. Spring break was in full force the week following that first Saturday and the crowds did not let up. Unfortunately when we finally did visit the Tidal Basin, there were very few blossoms left.
We figured that the heat wave forced the new buds to push out the blossoms causing a lot less blossoms for the second week of festivities. We should have been there the first week of festivities or the week before. The crowds would not be there and the blossoms would have been at their peak. Just a bit of advice to anyone who wants to see DC’s cherry blossoms. Do not go during the Cherry Blossom Festivals or when it’s spring break. The crowds are really unbearable. And do not go in 2012. That will be the 100th anniversary of the Japan’s gift of Cherry Trees. There will probably be 2 million people there instead of the normal 1 million.
SMITHSONIAN MALL
James Smithson is the founder of the Smithsonian Institution. He was born in 1765 and died in 1829. James Smithson was an English scientist and devoted his life to research in chemistry, mineralogy and geology. He never visited the United States, but upon his death he bequeathed his estate of $508,318 (about $12 million in today’s dollars) to establish an institution for the “increase and diffusion of knowledge” in Washington DC. In 1903, Smithsonian regent Alexander Graham Bell, had Smithson’s remains brought from Genoa, Italy to Washington and interred them in a crypt in the Smithsonian Castle located on the Mall. Today the Smithsonian Institution consists of 17 museums, galleries and a zoo. The African American History Museum is coming soon. About 13 of those are on the Mall. The rest are nearby or a few Metro stops away. Over 7 days we visited the National Museum of American Indian, American History, Natural History, Air and Space, and the National Zoo. We took our time (you had to move slowly with the crowds) and came back to revisited some of them. A few times we could not get into a museum as the lines were out the door and onto the street. We had to come back later.
There was a special exhibit of art made with recycled stuff. These 'totem poles' are made with backpacks.
Take a closer look at this picture of the spider. Click on it to enlarge. You will see that it is made with bugs, bugs, and more bugs. It's very interesting.This is about our 4th visit to the DC area and we have seen all of these museums many times. But this trip we did not recognize a lot of the exhibits. They are constantly changing things around and of course new things of being brought in. Each time you visit, it’s a new adventure.
ALEXANDRIA
One day we drove to nearby Alexandria to visit the old town section. Alexandria was established in 1749 by a group of Scottish merchants and named for John Alexander, who had purchased the land in 1669. During the Revolutionary period Alexandria was a principal Colonial port as well as a trade, social and political center. George Washington’s estate, Mount Vernon, is in this area. This plantation and grounds is a very interesting place to visit. We’ve visited it a few times before so did not see it on this trip. We just spent our day on the main street in the ‘old town’ section, checking out the shops. We found a great place to have lunch. Good food and a great atmosphere.
We spent a lot of time in the Torpedo Factory Art Center. This building was built for the manufacture of torpedo casings for World War I and II. Today it contains 82 studios and six galleries where visitors can watch artists and crafters at work. I enjoy visiting these kinds of places because, being a gallery member my self, I like to exchange questions about running galleries and how business is doing. I also like to seek out bead and yarn shops to find unique items. And we found a bead shop right on the main street. I found and bought some unique beads there. Also bought some nice hand dyed yarn at one of the shops in the Torpedo Factory.
We came across a man standing at a table with different size gobblets with water. He was 'playing' them. This was very fascinating.
MONUMENTS and MEMORIALS
At one end of the mall is the Washington Monument with the Reflecting Pool behind that.
The first memorial you come to at the beginning of the Reflecting Pool is the World War II Memorial. This is fairly new and it is amazing. Beyond that we visited the Vietnam War, Combat Women’s Memorial and Korean War Memorials (my father was in the Korean War). In between those memorials and at the other end of the Reflecting Pool is the Lincoln Memorial. We visited these monuments and memorials towards the end of the week. By then the temperatures had really cooled down. It was in the high 60’s and a sunny, breezy day. We took our time strolling along the Reflecting Pool, enjoying the sights and reflecting.
LAST DAY
The Cherry Blossom festivities were coming to an end and spring break was ending. On Saturday, they had the big Cherry Blossom parade and Japanese craft fairs. We decided not to attend. We just didn't want to deal with the crowds. Instead we returned to the National Zoo to see the rest of it. It was another beautiful, sunny and warm, but breezy day. It was a good day to be outside.
We returned to the Smithsonian Mall on our last day. The Cherry Blossom festivities were coming to an end and spring break was ending. It was a Sunday and everyone was heading home so the crowds had really thinned out. We strolled several blocks north of the Washington Monument on 15th Street. Across the street from the Department of Treasury (the White House is next door to that on the East side) we stopped at a place called Old Ebbitt Grill.
This grill is a historic landmark, and a favorite of Presidents. The décor in this place is real fancy with a lot of wood and elaborate paintings. And it serves good food. This place was highly recommended to us by the staff at our RV Park. As we were walking towards this restaurant we noticed a lot of police cars and blocked streets around this fancy hotel near Freedom Plaza. The next day on Monday a large summit meeting (on nuclear arms) with world leaders is being held. So Monday it will be a busy place downtown. Good time to be leaving the area.
After lunch I visited the Holocaust Memorial Museum. We tried 3 times to visit that museum. The passes would run out for the day (by 10am in the morning). I finally got in on the 3rd try and on our last day. (Dave visited the Air and Space Museum) This is an excellent museum. There were a lot of young people visiting this museum and I was amazed at how quiet they stayed. It was a very awakening experience for them. I could see it in their faces.
Our next destination will be Chincoteague and Assateague Islands along the Maryland and Virginia coast, where the wild horses run free.
Remember to look for "TT" (Traveling Turtle). He will be in many of the pictures.
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