So Tuesday I went to the U.S. National Arboretum for the first time. Arboretum being Latin for place with a crapload of trees. For some reason, I was totally amazed at the number of trees there. I really don't know why. It could be because I've never been to an arboretum, let alone arboreta, so I didn't know what to expect. It could be because to bike there, I biked through some ... um ... working class neighborhoods that I'd only heard about when in a news story about a murder or stabbing or stabbing murder. Or maybe because I'd just seen a lot of trees in the past.
This place was beautiful. It was so serene. You're surrounded by a river, railroad tracks, and the busy New York Avenue corridor, a place which has parts that could be enhanced by a small nuclear device (ya know, cleared out of most people first). Once you enter the gates, it's like you're in a forest. I mean, duh, it's an arboretum, so it would be known to have forest-like qualities. It's just that it's so quiet, so nice, so bucolic (how's that for a $20 word?!?). It has some really nice trails so you can drive, walk, bike, blade, or Rascal around the place. Supposedly it has about nine miles of paved road and trails, and I think I got lost in most of those miles.
Maybe I'm not a tree guy. I mean, they're nice and all and serve an important part in the world and junk. But looking around at the National Grove of State Trees, all I could think was "Tree. Tree. Tree. Another tree." And there are 51 of them in the grove (I think DC renegades planted one of their own, and all those random territories may have conquered trees planted here too), and most of them are different. I think a few states colluded and picked White Oak because that way they could swap trees if need be and be cool like Maryland. There were supposedly ones from Hawaii and Alaska, but I never saw them. I felt a little cheated. But the flowers were beautiful. I stumbled upon a little trail cul-de-sac that had benches, and the random purple, red, and pink flowers were pretty and nice. I know, that sounds really lame and cheesy, but the flowers were nice. Maybe I'm too simple to appreciate the beauty of the trees, or something, and the bright shiny colors of the flowers are able to hold my short attention ... plastic bag, plastic bag, does anyone want cheese? I was able to get some good pictures of the flowers, all up close and everything. The bees got out of my way, not realizing I would have liked to take their pictures too. Oh well, that's why they're bees - because they're stupid.
Another random thing in the Arboretum was this patch of columns. Now, even I was smart enough to realize they are not trees. You can see how I would easily be fooled. And I know I had not stumbled upon some lost Greek outpost (I thank Steve "Malaka Jones" K. for that knowledge), or even the Greek embassy in Washington (there was no sign of lamb or Windex). So, despite my legs barking at me, I went for a closer look. Apparently, these are the original columns from the east side of the U.S. Capitol. Every president from Andrew Jackson to Dwight Eisenhower was sworn in near these columns, on the Capitol Hill side of the Capitol. In the 1950s, they decided the Capitol needed a little more room (I wonder if they took out a home equity loan or something), so they knocked down a few walls, added a spare bedroom, a new bathroom, and a mancave. They decided these columns couldn't stick around, so they just picked them up, hauled them up Maryland Avenue, and plopped them down in the Arboretum. I know what you're thinking: DG, those aren't trees. They're not even flowers, which could cheat their way into an Arboretum the same way Tex-Mex finds its way into the "International Foods" aisle at Safeway or South African runners make their way onto the pandering ESPNDeportes updates on SportsCenter. But they're a really neat addition, and they're up high on a hill so you can see them from a good part of the Arboretum. Try and get something similar at your local Trees-R-Us.
All in all, I give the Arboretum a big thumbs up. For a free place, and a tucked away from the tourist mess place, it's pretty cool. It's nice that I could bike around on a Tuesday at lunchtime and be alone for most of the time. I'm sure the place is really nice in the spring when things are in bloom, or in the fall when the leaves start turning. I was told the Bonsai Garden is also amazing to check out. Somehow I missed that. What a yutz. The surrounding neighborhood may leave something to be desired. But it was a cool place to bike around, free, and I would say a nice hidden jewel in your nation's capital. Oh, and it has a lot of trees.Title is from the song "Feed the Tree" by Belly. I haven't the faintest idea what this song is about - not trees - even though I read the lyrics a dozen times. I just remember it from MTV's Buzz Bin back in the mid '90s.
