We left Vinny & Barbara's around eight AM and got into Washington around noon. The hotel in Arlington let us check in early, so we could ditch the car. We ate a local lunch, and headed off to see the end of the Cherry Blossom Festival.

The weather was warm and sunny—a beautiful day. D.C. was mobbed with tourists taking Good Friday off. With lines around the block, visiting any museums was out of the question. We wandered down to the Tidal Basin and the Jefferson Memorial, the heart of the Cherry Blossom Festival. We enjoyed walking around the Memorial and I took a lot of great photos.

We wandered to the Mall as we continued our walking tour. Lovely sculptures belonging to the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden featured The Burghers of Calais by Rodin, the same sculpture we saw in Paris last year! Then off to the reflecting pool in front of the capital.

Exhausted, but not giving up, Barbara had never seen the White House, so off we went. There we were presented with a special treat. Sasha and Malia Obama came out on the upper balcony and waved to the spectators at the fence. An eerie sight was the presence of sharpshooters standing on the roof of the building.

Back in Arlington, we lucked out with a Spanish Tapas restaurant named La Tasca (not Tosca). A pair of Spanish dancers treated us with stamping feet and castanets—very romantic.

Back at the hotel we were asleep in seconds!