Needed to get some things from my office so headed into the District at around 0800. It was a beautiful day! I had no trouble finding a place to park - it was a weekend day but the building seemed oddly empty. I grabbed some hand sanitizer from my desk that I'd never thought of using (with the Coronavirus, that stuff was like gold) and hurried back to my car. As I was leaving, I noticed that there wasn’t much traffic - seemed like I’d easily be able check out the Cherry Blossoms before going home. But I hadn’t anticipated the National Park Police Department’s strategy to hinder blossom gawkers: they blocked all the streets nearby with dump trucks. Of course, this didn’t stop anyone from visiting the Tidal Basin. Instead, the large crowds were fed by people who ended up parking blocks away. I wasn’t in the mood for that, so I drove back across the Potomac to see if there were fewer people. I stopped at one of my favorite parks along the G. W. Parkway, the Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove on Columbia Island. Fortunately, I found it practically deserted. Spent over an hour walking along the Boundary Channel between the river and the Pentagon. Highlights included views of the monuments on the Mall (the cherry trees looked so tiny), fields of flowers, cheerful birds and some quiet time at the Navy and Merchant Marine Memorial (built to honor comrades who were lost at sea). I was alone when I started walking on the trails through the grove but it eventually got more crowded. On my way home by 1100. A walk in the woods - even if trapped in the middle of the Megalopolis - was great way to spend the day!
