Oh, so, to get to the kite festival, I had to ride my bike down 15th street to the Washington Monument. This takes me right past Georgie's house. Apparently, Georgie had been out, and was now coming back. So they shut down the whole street. I guess waiting at red lights is not his thing.
Armed police officers were staked out, holding back cars and pedestrians alike. Yeah, no, wouldn't want to mess with this guy, for sure. Someone with shades like this should clearly be given a wide berth... ;)
I bet he was out running errands. For the four or so SUVs, three full sized vans, and handful of police cars making the trip with him, and for all the cars that sat idling for ten minutes, I sure hope he remembered to bring his reusable grocery bags.
Ok, here we go, lots of pictures of kites in the sky...
(I really liked the little boat one in the middle)
This guy tried to get flying too, and though it was really really windy, he didn't have much luck. Looked like it would've been fun though.
Oh, this guy didn't have much luck either...
I mean, he had a little luck. But not much.
This little guy lost his kite and chased it down across the field that had been blocked off for the giant shark. A whole crowd of people stood on the sidelines and watched. It was like slo-mo. Very dramatic. He did finally catch it. All the spectators walked away feeling inspired.
Here are some solo(ish) shots of kites I particularly liked... or at least kites that held still long enough for me to snap a shot.
swirly tail on the rocket, a very nice touch
Oh, and the dragon was a winner too. There was a whole line of kites with a similar design - butterflies and golden eagles, etc.
and then there was a turtle
and a lady bug with a long, pretty tail
and a ... red... one. classic. red.
My favorite part about the kite festival (ok, maybe not favorite, but a really cool part, at least) was the valet bike parking. It made me feel so classy.
Fighting through the crowds across a couple of streets, I finally made it to the tidal basin. The Jefferson Memorial has apparently gotten very popular...
or maybe it's the cherry blossoms...
They're actually really beautiful. I had kind of expected them to be pretty boring, you know, nice, but nothing to really write home about... but now here I am, writing home about them... yeah, maybe a little bit worth the hype.
They just need to hang out five more days, until my much anticipated "very special guests" arrive. :)
(PS, the side of my face without bangs got TOTALLY sunburned today)
