KENWOOD NEIGHBORHOOD
IN BETHESDA, MARYLAND
Cherry Blossoms
Credit: c3nsored
To see a beautiful mingling of brick, mortar, and flower, head to
the tree-lined streets of the Kenwood neighborhood in Bethesda,
Maryland, where 1,200 cherry trees bloom thickly. Road traffic can
snarl the scene at peak, so make sure to ditch the car and walk or
bike. Start on the Capital Crescent Trail on Bethesda Avenue, which
leads into the neighborhood. Or, if feeling physically ambitious,
ride the seven miles of trail from Georgetown. Once in Kenwood,
the best cherry blossom viewing is along Kennedy Drive, Dorset
Avenue, and Kenwood Avenue.
MEADOWLARK BOTANICAL GARDENS
In nearby Vienna, Virginia, Meadowlark Botanical Gardens offers
yet another spectacle of cherry blossoms inside the gorgeous
95-acre piece of land stocked with lakes, wildflowers, gazebos,
birds, butterflies, walking trails, and more than 100 cherry trees,
which bloom among tulips, daffodils, and forsythia. About 60 of
the trees surround Lake Caroline, lined by a paved walking trail, and
many more populate the Korean Bell Garden, another highlight of
Meadowlark.
THE BASILICA OF THE NATIONAL SHRINE
OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION
The largest Roman Catholic Church in North America, and the 10th
largest in the world, also hosts some of the best cherry blossom
viewing in the city, with more than 150 on the grounds. They look
particularly at home among the impressive Romanesque-Byzantine
architecture of the building — constructed entirely of stone, brick,
tile, and mortar, and no steel beams, framework, or columns. The
result is a sanctuary both inside and out.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial with Cherry Blossoms
Credit: GPA Photo Archive
SPRING 2020 65 FLYWASHINGTON.COM