Cherry blossoms start to rim the Tidal Basin on April 7, 2013. Every year, the National Cherry Blossom Festival marks the start of spring in Washington D.C., celebrates the cherry blossom tree gift and signifies friendship between the United States and Japan.

Through Tidal Basin Paddle Boats, you can rent a boat for a hour to cruise around the basin.

Luckily, I saw this fun adventure in advance and reserved a boat for noon. If we had not, we would have stood in a long line.

As we paddled across, the wind picked up making it even more difficult to paddle.

We paddled and paddled to make it all the way across the basin. Cole did most of the work. We learned, not surprisingly, that I was a little weak.

We maneuvered our boat near the edge to see the blossoms. The sidewalks along the budding trees were packed with people.

In 1912, Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo gifted 3,000 cherry trees to the city of Washington DC.

Since their planting in 1912, the blossoms have brought beauty and celebration to D.C.

Today, more than 1.5 million people come to view the blossoms.

The average day of peak bloom is April 4.

In the original batch of 3,000 tree, 12 varieties bloomed. Today, the Yoshino and Kwanzan dominate.

From 2002 to 2006, 400 trees with genetics of the first trees were planted.

Along the Tidal Basin, First Lady Helen Herron Taft and Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese ambassador, planted the first two cherry blossom trees.

The memorial of American Founder George Mason was completed in 2002.

Cole looks up at the Albert Einstein Memorial near the National Academy of Science.

A scaffolding-covered Washington Monument creates symmetry in the Reflecting Pool.

Paddle boats dot the dark water in the Tidal Basin.

Our trip across the Tidal Basin was bumping and tiring.

Happy National Cherry Blossom Festival!