Cherry Blossom Festival 2014

I started going to the Cherry Blossom Festival in DC in 2008 and have gone pretty consistently ever since. However, the past two years I was unable to because I was in Texas and it broke my heart. It's usually a tradition that my mom and I share, but she was in Florida this week so I took it upon myself to go on my own.

If you're ever worried about traveling to DC on your own, don't be. As long as you're by the monuments and Smithsonian, there is always security and usually a lot of tourists. If you decide to venture behind the Eisenhower Building and White House into "real DC," then you may want to take other people with you.

BUT the Cherry Blossom Festival is a beautiful celebration of the 3,000 cherry trees that were gifted to the United States in 1912 by the mayor of Tokyo in Japan. There are parades, famous cameo appearances, special art galleries and tons of Japanese culture that flood DC for two weeks. If you want more information on events (the festival ends on Sunday), click here to find out more.

Here are some tips that I have for making the most out of your experience:

• Get to know the camera you're using before you go. There are various settings you'll need to be acquainted with and you don't want to be stuck standing around the Tidal Basin looking at your camera like a foreign object. There are a lot of photographers that go, and they can get cranky if you're in their shot.
• Leave early. I drive from Washington County, and it can take a good hour and a half without traffic to get to Downtown DC. I woke up and left around 5 am and still hit traffic on 270, but I got there in time for the beautiful sunrise. It's probably the most beautiful thing you can see and take pictures of while there.
• Know where to park. If you get there early, the East Potomac parking is free and it's right by the Tidal Basin. Always my go-to when I go to DC. They also change the traffic patterns, so have a GPS handy if you're not good with maps and be free and open to having to change your route often.
• Have a tentative schedule in mind. Like I mentioned earlier, there are a ton of things going on during the festival. Weekends are always the busiest, so make sure you know what's planned. Even if you leave early, you're probably still going to run into crowds throughout the day. DC is a big city that's hard to realize when you're walking around such big structures, so plan time to walk between places and make it to your desired events early.
• Carry something to eat and drink with you. Always. This is probably a no-brainer, but something you should always do.

Happy traveling, folks!