By Allison Seidel

The cherry blossom trees in the Washington D.C. area are a crowd favorite — a beautiful signal that winter is over. 

Many University of Maryland students have visited the nearby city over the past few weeks, taking part in a tried-and-true weekend activity to officially welcome the spring season to the DMV area. 

Nicole Uhl, a sophomore mechanical engineering major from Bethesda, Maryland, went to see the cherry blossoms with her friends from the UMD CHAARG club. “I live within 30 minutes of D.C., so I usually see them once every year,” she said. 

Although the Tidal Basin area is the most popular place to see the cherry blossoms, the flowering trees can be seen all over the metropolitan area. “There were lots of cherry blossoms around D.C., not only in the Tidal Basin,” Uhl said.

Owen Turnbull, a senior government and politics major from Frederick, Maryland, has seen the cherry blossoms many times, but still appreciates being able to take in the beauty of them each year. 

Turnbull visited Washington D.C. a few weeks ago to see the natural attractions, finding it pleasing to the eye. He didn’t go to any of the events that were hosted during the blooming this year, but he said that he went to the kite festival a few years back.

His favorite part about this time of year is “just being able to kind of sit down in the mall and the places around them and hang out with friends, while you get to kind of look around at the trees,” he said. 

Turnbull said he would definitely recommend visiting the cherry blossoms to friends as a getaway from college life. “Just being at UMD, it’s nice to escape the College Park atmosphere and get down to the city,” he said. 

Maia Dunchak, a junior international business and accounting major from Howard County, Maryland, went to see the cherry blossoms for the first time since she visited D.C. with her family as an elementary schooler. 

Although she didn’t attend any of the events hosted in the city, Dunchak still spent a lot of time appreciating the flora around her. 

“I thought they were beautiful,” she said, “I love the way they frame the Tidal Basin, and I know it takes a lot of work to keep them blooming each year.”

The cherry blossom trees only bloom for a couple weeks each year, so Dunchak sees value in cherishing the beauty of nature while you can. 

“I think it’s important to stop and enjoy nature, especially because we are all so busy,” she said.

Featured image: Cherry trees bloom along the tidal basin in Washington, D.C. The blossoms attract over one million visitors each year. Photo by Allison Seidel.