Cherry blossoms

We visited the cherry blossoms this afternoon. There were too many people and the traffic was at a standstill, but the blossoms were spectacular! It was well worth the effort.
The extra is of one of the very damaged trees. Twice a day high tide floods over the tidal basin walls. The river water, combined with the heavy foot traffic, has severely damaged the trees. 
After this year's Cherry Blossom Festival the NPS is scheduled to renovate the tidal basin. One hundred of the trees will be replaced, and the wall around the tidal basin will be elevated.