Lamenting the inevitable decline of Bobby Bowden and the Florida State University Seminoles. Is there hope in Jimbo Fisher?

BOBBY! PUT ON THE HEADSET, DAG GUMMIT!





Should I buy season tickets and airfare or ESPN GamePlan, a flat-screen TV, and a gas grill???

2008 Football Schedule
September 6 Western Carolina
September 13 Chattanooga
September 20 Wake Forest
September 27 Colorado
October 4 at Miami (FL)
October 16 at North Carolina State
October 25 Virginia Tech
November 1 at Georgia Tech
November 8 Clemson
November 15 Boston College
November 22 at Maryland
November 29 Florida





Two days, seven rounds and 252 picks are in the books for the 2008 NFL draft. Three players from Florida State were drafted-in the third, fifth, and sixth rounds-the fewest since the 2002 NFL draft.




Florida State University Draft Picks and Bowl Games 1996-2008

2008
Draft Round(Overall Draft Pick)
3(87) Andre Fluellen DT Lions
5(152) Letroy Guion DT Vikings
6(175) Geno Hayes OLB Buccaneers
2008 Music City Bowl vs Kentucky Wildcats 28-35 L


2007
1(15) Lawrence Timmons LB Steelers
3(69) Buster Davis LB Cardinals
3(71) Lorenzo Booker RB Dolphins
3(91) Mario Henderson OT Raiders
4(128) Chris Davis WR Titans
2007 Emerald Bowl vs UCLA Bruins 44-27 W


2006
1(9) Ernie Sims OLB Lions
1(13) Kamerion Wimbley DE Browns
1(14) Brodrick Bunkley DT Eagles
1(19) Antonio Cromartie CB Chargers
3(95) Willie Reid WR Steelers
4(117) Leon Washington RB Jets
5(138) Pat Watkins S Cowboys
5(157) A.J. Nicholson LB Bengals
2006 Orange Bowl vs Penn State Nittany Lions 26-23


2005
1(16) Travis Johnson DT Texans
1(19) Alex Barron OT Rams
2(62) Bryant McFadden CB Steelers
4(105) Ray Willis OT Seahawks
4(116) Craphonso Thorpe WR Cheifs
4(117) Jerome Carter SS Rams
5(152) Adrian McPherson QB Saints
6(186) Eric Moore DE Giants
2005 Gator Bowl vs West Virginia Mountaineers 30-18 W


2004
2(53) Michael Boulware LB Seahawks
2(55) Greg Jones RB Jaguars
3(64) Darrell Dockett DE Cardinals
4(107) Kendyll Pope LB Colts
5(164) P.K. Sam WR Patriots
2004 Orange Bowl vs Miami Hurricanes 16-14 L


2003
2(54) Anquan Boldin WR Cardinals
2(59) Alonzo Jackson DE Steelers
4(102) Montrae Holland G Saints
4(113) Brett Williams T Chiefs
7(225) Todd Williams G Titans
7(231) Talman Gardner WR Saints
2003 Sugar Bowl vs Georgia Bulldogs 13-26 L


2002
1(20) Javon Walker WR Packers
3(94) Chris Hope DB Steelers
2002 Gator Bowl vs Virginia Tech Hokies 30-17 W


2001
1(10) Jamal Reynolds DE Packers
1(28) Derrick Gibson DB Raiders
2(42) Tommy Polley LB Rams
3(67) Tay Cody DB Chargers
3(77) Marvin Minnis WR Cheifs
3(83) Brian Allen LB Rams
3(85) Travis Minor RB Dolphins
4(106) Chris Weinke QB Panthers
7(242) Char-ron Dorsey T Cowboys
2001 Orange Bowl vs Oklahoma Sooners 2-13 L


2000
1(4) Peter Warrick WR Bengals
1(6) Corey Simon DT Eagles
1(17) Sebastian Janikowski K Raiders
3(66) Ron Dugans WR Bengals
3(78) Laveranues Coles WR Jets
4(101) Jerry Johnson DT Broncos
6(180) Mario Edwards DB Cowboys
2000 Sugar Bowl vs Virginia Tech Hokies 46-29 W


1999
2(40) Tony Bryant DE Raiders
2(56) Larry Smith DT Jaguars
4(113) Dexter Jackson DB Buccaneers
6(195) Lamarr Glenn RB Buccaneers
1999 Fiesta Bowl vs Tennessee Volunteers 16-23 L


1998
1(3) Andre Wadsworth DE Cardinals
1(11) Tra Thomas T Eagles
2(39) Sam Cowart LB Bills
2(46) Samari Rolle DB Oilers
3(71) E.G. Green WR Colts
3(83) Greg Spires DE Patriots
4(99) Julian Pittman DE Saints
6(184) Shevin Smith DB Buccaneers
7(229) Kevin Long CB Oilers
1998 Sugar Bowl vs Ohio State 31-14 W


1997
1(4) Peter Boulware DE Ravens
1(6) Walter Jones T Seahawks
1(12) Warrick Dunn RB Buccaneers
1(14) Reinard Wilson DE Bengals
4(100) Henri Crockett LB Falcons
5(159) Vernon Crawford LB Patriots
7(225) Byron Capers DB Eagles
1997 Sugar Bowl vs Florida Gators 20-52 L


1996
3(67) Clay Shiver C Cowboys
4(130) Danny Kanell QB Giants
6(199) Philip Riley WR Chiefs
6(200) Orpheus Roye DE Steelers
1996 Orange Bowl vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish 31-26 W

Summary of Draft Results and Records
Year (Total Draft Picks(First Round Picks))
2008 (3(0)); ?-?(?-?)
2007 (5(1)); 7-6(4-4)
2006 (8(4)); 7-6(3-5)
2005 (8(2)); 8-5(5-3)
2004 (5(0)); 9-3(6-1)
2003 (6(0)); 10-3(7-1)
2002 (2(1)); 9-5(7-1)
2001 (9(2)); 8-4(6-2)
2000 (7(3)); 11-2(8-0)
1999 (4(0)); 12-0(8-0)
1998 (9(2)); 11-2(7-1)
1997 (7(4)); 11-1(8-0)
1996 (4(0)); 11-1(8-0)

Despite the impotent "3rd and 18" offense replete with shotgun draws and swing passes; and the worst overall and conference records since I was baptized a fan in 1996, the 2006 NFL draft class-8 overall draft picks with 4 first round picks-was arguably the best since 2001. Only two drafted offensive players were mentored by the notorious Jeff Bowden, namely wide-receiver Willie Reid and running back Leon Washington. The remaining drafted players have Mickey Andrew's stamp. Notwithstanding the notion that the talent at Florida State is declining, it seems that every year a handful of players, both offensive and defensive, are among the drafted. The 2008 NFL draft could be a mere outlier.





Fisher to replace Bowden at FSU when he retires
By Joe Schad and Ivan Maisel
ESPN.com
December 7, 2007

FSU offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher will succeed Bobby Bowden when he retires, the school will announce at a Monday morning news conference, multiple sources close to the situation said Wednesday. The school will announce that Fisher has agreed to a three-year deal that will pay just under $1 million per year. When Bowden retires, the school has told Fisher he will succeed the legendary coach. If for any reason Fisher is not named coach at that time, the school would pay Fisher a multimillion dollar buyout. Fisher had been contacted by Southern Mississipppi and Arkansas, among other schools, gauging his interest to become their head coach.

No exact date has been given for Bowden's eventual retirement.

"I plan to keep going," Bowden told ESPN.com's Mark Schlabach in an interview in Tallahassee late last month. "I have no desire to quit. I have no desire to retire. That sounds stupid at my age, but I still want to win a national championship. I think I've got the staff to do it. I've always said I'd coach as long as I stay healthy and win enough games."

"I feel good, and that's the key to it when you get to my age," Bowden said. "I can't even believe I'm 78. I thought I was a kid. If you're in good health, who cares how old you are?" Fisher, who has never been a head coach, came to Florida State earlier this year from LSU to replace Bowden's son, Jeff. Bowden's 373 career wins -- the most among major college coaches -- are two more than Penn State's Joe Paterno, who turns 81 on Dec. 21.

Bowden has 300 wins at Florida State, where he has won a pair of national championships and 12 Atlantic Coast Conference titles during his 32 years at the school. Bowden, whose present five-year contract expires in early January, was paid $2,023,689.15 in 2006, state records show.





Fisher commitment fraught with risks
By John Romano
St. Petersburg Times
December 6, 2007

The folks at Florida State have not hired a head football coach since 1976. Perhaps they've forgotten how it's done. Because, typically, it calls for a search that goes beyond the third-floor vending machines. It usually requires the interviewing of at least several candidates. And, in most cases, it involves something called a vacancy.

FSU seems willing to skip all of those details for the university is expected to announce next week that Jimbo Fisher will succeed Bobby Bowden as the head coach. Trust me, I know there are legitimate reasons for doing it this way. For instance, it keeps Fisher from taking a job as a head coach at a school such as Arkansas. It answers the questions of recruits who wonder what happens when the 78-year-old Bowden retires. And it provides a certain continuity in a program that has seen very little change in the past 30 years.

Those are all very sound reasons.

But do they outweigh the simple truth that FSU is preparing to make the most important hire in the athletic department in the past three decades, and it has already decided to close the door on a world of candidates?

I'm not saying it's a mistake to hire Jimbo Fisher. I'm saying it's a mistake to limit yourself to Jimbo Fisher. Maybe I just think more of the program than FSU officials do, but I tend to believe a job opening in Tallahassee would attract some of the finest coaches in the nation. I think West Virginia's Rich Rodriguez would be interested. I think Georgia's Mark Richt might be willing to talk. I think the next Urban Meyer - whoever that might be - is just now beginning to make his mark at a smaller school, and will be a hot commodity when the time is right for Bowden to step down.

I think FSU is taking a risk committing to Fisher so soon.

Look, I know the guy has a great track record, and was considered an offensive Svengali at LSU. It is not a stretch to say he may be the most highly regarded assistant coach in the nation right now. Just remember he has never been a head coach, and he did not perform miracles in his first season at FSU. If you want to keep him, give him a contract extension. If that's not enough, give him a fat raise. If he still wants more, give him custody of Gene Deckerhoff.

But promising him the keys to the program several years ahead of schedule seems a bit extreme.

Look at it this way. A year ago, Jeff Bowden was supposedly so wretched as an offensive coordinator that the university and boosters were willing to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to get rid of him. Fisher is supposedly so valuable as an offensive coordinator that the university is committing more than $1 million to keep him. So how come the Seminoles scored more points when the other guy was in charge? How come FSU had 36 offensive touchdowns with Jeff Bowden, and is on pace to score 26 with Fisher? They sound like snarky questions, but don't you think they have some validity? Even if there were extenuating circumstances, even if the offense showed progress later in the season, shouldn't there have been a more obvious sign of Fisher's genius?

A few years ago, LSU was looking for a head coach to replace Nick Saban. Fisher had been in Baton Rouge for five seasons, including the 2003 national championship season. And, yet, the Tigers hired Les Miles. Last season, Fisher was a candidate to be the head coach at the University of Alabama-Birmingham but supposedly priced himself out of the job. The point is, how does he go from being a candidate at UAB to the head-coach-in-waiting at FSU after one season as offensive coordinator?

Again, this is not meant to be a slam against Fisher. Obviously, he is a very charming and astute man to have so quickly won the confidence of Florida State officials. And others around the country also think highly of him. But this seems to be a drastic step to take for a coach who has all kinds of potential and absolutely no experience when it comes to being a head coach of a college football program. Would it have been the worst thing in the world to let Fisher go to another program as a head coach, and then try to rehire him down the line? What happens if Bowden decides he wants to continue coaching five or more years, as he told Times columnist Gary Shelton last month? Will FSU officials begin nudging Bobby toward the door because Jimbo is tapping his feet? And what happens if Fisher's offense struggles in the next couple of years? Does FSU pay him an obscene amount of money to buy him out of this contract? And what if someone else emerges as the perfect candidate?

I'm sure FSU officials have contemplated all of these possibilities, and have decided Fisher's talent warrants this rare accommodation for an assistant coach. Heck, maybe I'm too worrisome and Fisher will turn out to be a great head coach. Maybe he is absolutely the right man for the job in Tallahassee. I just wish FSU would have waited a few years before making that decision.

Did you get that memo?

Marcy, fortunately, is no stranger to firings, pink slips, and involuntary terminations. I fired her as navigator in Cheyenne, Wyoming; and again in Illinois at Quad Cities; and again in South Bend, Indiana; and again in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She did, however, redeem herself with the GARMIN nuvi.



Did I get the "soccer dad" memo?

Who decided that a pique cotton two-button polo or a promotional giveaway t-shirt, cargo shorts, and white running shoes were standard issue? Did the soccer game interrupt the ditch digging or mulch shoveling? We are all consumers at some level, but this is an epidemic.







They were a dime a pathetic dozen except for...





Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooal!!!





That's an orange (not high fructose corn syrup in the shape of an orange wedge)!

Marcy, you're fired!

And I also revoke your administrative blogger rights.

"It is hard to be a gangster...with a basket on your bike" Bushwalla

Review of the Can Can Brasserie (3120 West Cary Street), Style Weekly's 2007 Restaurant of the Year.

Scrilla: $$$$$ www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=scrilla

Atmosphere/Ambiance: C-
Can the Can Can please hang one more French flag? We get it...French cuisine. The noise cacophony was not only deafening (See New York Times story below) but also annoying like a fire alarm harmonizing with a leaf blower. Digits flying. Wicked witch cackling and guttural laughter from the bar. Perhaps a reservation to dine on the patio (next to the Cary Street traffic) would have been preferable. My proclivity for evesdropping on conversations at neighboring tables was severely limited by the decibel level.

Service: A

Food: A
Half-dozen shrimp for an appetizer. Marcy devoured a crispy pork chop with braised escarole, white beans, and roasted lemon ($23.00). I enjoyed the roasted red snapper (and most of Marcy's crispy pork chop) with artichoke barigoule, fingerling potatoes, crostini, and tarragon aïoli ($25.00). No dessert. We were already late for the Jason Mraz concert. We probably should have walked to Bev's for ice cream since the Makepeace Brothers didn't impress.

$ per entree
$=$5.00
$$=$10.00
$$$=$15.00
$$$$=$20.00
$$$$$=$25.00




Marcy scored impossible tickets to Jason Mraz (with Justin Kredible, Bushwalla, and Makepeace Brothers) at The National in Richmond.

Jason Mraz
www.jasonmraz.com
I'm yours by Jason Mraz


Wordplay by Jason Mraz


Shy That Way by Tristan Prettyman and Jason Mraz


Justin Kredible. Like a magician, but cooler.
www.justinkredible.com


Bushwalla
www.bushwalla.net/index.php



A City Where You Can’t Hear Yourself Scream
by Michael Slackman
The New York Times
April 14, 2008



CAIRO — Egyptians in this capital city say it is harder and harder to be heard and to have a voice, but they are not talking politics. Well, not only politics.

What they are talking about, or rather yelling about, is noise, the incredible background noise of a city crammed with 18 million people, and millions of drivers who always have one hand on the horn and a rules-free way of thinking.

“Whenever I talk to people, they always say, ‘Why are you screaming?’ ” said Salah Abdul Hamid, 56, a barber whose two-chair shop is on the corner of a busy street on the north side.

Mr. Hamid was, of course, screaming.

It was 4 p.m. in Rhode al Farag, a typical Cairo neighborhood teeming with people and shops and cars and trucks and buses and horse-drawn carts. From his shop, the landscape of sound revealed a chorus of people struggling to make a living, trying to assert themselves in a city, and in a country, where they often feel invisible.

Noise — outrageous, unceasing, pounding noise — is the unnerving backdrop to a tense time in Egypt, as inflation and low wages have people worried about basic survival, prompting strikes and protests. We’re not just talking typical city noise, but what scientists here say is more like living inside a factory.

“It’s not enough to make you crazy, but it is very tiring,” said Essam Muhammad Hussein, as he sat in a cracked plastic chair outside the corner food shop his family has owned for 50 years. He was shouting as he talked about the noise, though he did not seem to realize it.

“What are we going to do?” he asked. “Where is the way out?”

This is not like London or New York, or even Tehran, another car-clogged Middle Eastern capital. It is literally like living day in and day out with a lawn mower running next to your head, according to scientists with the National Research Center. They spent five years studying noise levels across the city and concluded in a report issued this year that the average noise from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. is 85 decibels, a bit louder than a freight train 15 feet away, said Mustafa el Sayyid, an engineer who helped carry out the study.

But that 85 decibels, while “clearly unacceptable,” is only the average across the day and across the city. At other locations, it is far worse, he said. In Tahrir Square, or Ramsis Square, or the road leading to the pyramids, the noise often reaches 95 decibels, he said, which is only slightly quieter than standing next to a jackhammer.

“All of greater Cairo is in the range of unacceptable noise levels from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.,” Mr. Sayyid said.

By comparison, normal conversation ranges from 45 to 60 decibels, a chain saw registers 100 decibels and a gunshot 140. Because the decibel scale is logarithmic, every 10 decibels equals a tenfold increase in intensity.

Noise at the levels commonly found in Cairo affects the body. It can cause elevated blood pressure and other stress-related diseases. It can interfere with sleep, which almost always makes people more irritable. “People need a chance to sleep, to have a chance to think, in quiet,” said Dr. Nagat Amer, a physician and researcher with the national center.

But quiet is in short supply, especially in densely packed neighborhoods like Rhode al Farag, where the streets are alive 24 hours a day with people struggling with one another to eke out a living. In the last six weeks, 11 people have been killed in fights in lines to buy some of the cheap subsidized bread many rely on to feed their families.

While noise is never cited as a reason for the spasms of violence, it is a silent enemy that makes the pressures of life that much harder to cope with, people on the streets here said.

“The noise bothers me and I know it bothers people,” said Abdel Khaleq, driver of a battered black and white taxi, as he paused from honking his horn to stop for passengers.

“So why do you do it?” he was asked.

“Well, to tell you I’m here,” he said. “There is no such thing as logic in this country.”

And then he drove off, honking.

In general terms, the noise is a symptom of an increasingly unmanageable city, crowded far beyond its original capacity, officials at the National Research Center said. The main culprit is the two million cars, and drivers who jam the city roads every day.

But Egyptians also like to live loud, preferring community to private space, mourning a death and celebrating a wedding with a good dose of noise. Muezzins’ calls to prayer wail from loudspeakers in the minarets of thousands of mosques in the city. The problem is there are more people now, more cars, more competition for a sale, more jockeying for a spot on the road. And with that much more, there is less consideration for the person behind or next door, social commentators said.

“We like to live our life with people around us — there is no privacy,” said Ahmed El-Kholei, a professor of urban planning at Monufiya University in the Nile Delta north of the city. “This is not a bad thing in itself, but the way it is expressed is wrong. Before, when someone held a funeral, the neighbors would postpone a wedding out of consideration. Today, you see the funeral and the wedding all howling in the microphones at the same time.”

Still, Egyptians do not, as a rule, complain about noise.

“What noise?” asked Madbouly Omran, who has run a small nut stand on Rhode al Farag Street since 1970.

The trucks rumbled by. A pickup truck hit its air horn. Taxis honked.

Moustafa Abdel Aleem, who works in the booth with Mr. Omran, said, “The noise is not something I want, but I can’t do anything about it; it’s forced on me.” So he turned on the radio in search of a song he liked, and of course, turned the volume up.

In a nation where about 40 percent of the population survives on about $2 a day, people understand the struggle to feed a family. In Rhode al Farag, men worked on cars in the street, butchered meat in the street, blasted radios and turned up television sets. Like shellshocked war veterans, residents sat out on the street, sipping tea, oblivious to the cacophony.

Even when it came to the shop run by Mahmoud Faheem, people did not complain. Mr. Faheem rents out concert-sized speakers, and he displayed his speakers on the street, offering the entire block a never ending thump-thump of dance music. “Let him eat bread,” said Atef Ali, 45, the owner of a food shop next door, using an Arabic phrase to explain why he did not complain, even while he detested the music.

And so the people shout, and shrug.

They shout to be heard, and shrug because they say there is nothing they can do but join in, honking, banging, screaming, whatever they need to do to make it through the day — or the intersection. The noise is the cause and the reaction, they say.

“Life is like this,” said Ahmed Muhammad, 23, who makes his living delivering metal tanks of propane to homes. He hangs four tanks off the back of a rusted bicycle, then rides with one hand on the handlebars, the other slamming a wrench into one of the tanks to announce his arrival to the neighborhood. “Making money is like this,” he said. “What am I going to do? This is how it is.”

Man Panty Emergency!

Preston was baptized and confirmed on Saturday, April 12th.



I misplaced his white man panties in the laundry. And we scrambled to find replacements...white Transformer man panties.



Fortunately, Uncle Clark was on-call and arrived with a six-pack of boxer briefs before the opening prayer.









After the baptism, GARMIN suggested Winger's Grill & Bar.



Review of Winger's Grill & Bar

Scrilla: $-$$ www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=scrilla

Atmosphere/Ambiance: B
It's Wingers.

Service: A-
Aunts Deeanna and Darla shared the "Sizzlin' Fajitas," a good choice if you have dental insurance. The manager sent three Asphalt Pies (mint chocolate chip ice cream on an crumb crust, smothered with caramel, and topped with mounds of whipped topping) and a copayment for a dentist appointment.

Food: A (if you order anything with Sticky Fingers)
The Sticky Fingers (tender, boneless chicken breasts bathed in Original Amazing Sauce or Fire Sauce) and the Sticky Finger Quesadilla (two tasty tortillas stuffed with our signature Sticky Fingers and jack and cheddar cheeses served with creamy Amazing Sauce) never disappoint.

$ per entree
$=$5.00
$$=$10.00
$$$=$15.00
$$$$=$20.00
$$$$$=$25.00



Guitar Hero III Nintendo Wii





Keller and Preston showcased their dexterous and deft hands at Guitar Hero III. I struggled with Slow Ride by Foghat.

Guitar Hero III Song List

1. Starting Out Small
"Slow Ride" Foghat(1975)
"Talk Dirty to Me" Poison(1986)
"Hit Me With Your Best Shot" Pat Benatar(1980)
"Story of My Life" Social Distortion(1990)
"Rock and Roll All Nite" Kiss(1975)
"Sabotage" Beastie Boys(1994)

2. Your First Real Gig
"Mississippi Queen" Mountain(1970)
"School's Out" Alice Cooper(1972)
"Sunshine of Your Love" Cream(1968)
"Barracuda" Heart 1977
"Bulls on Parade" Rage Against the Machine(1996)
"Reptilia" The Strokes(2003)

3. Making the Video
"When You Were Young" The Killers(2006)
"Miss Murder" AFI(2006)
"The Seeker" The Who(1971)
"Lay Down" Priestess(2006)
"Paint It, Black" The Rolling Stones(1966)
"Suck My Kiss"Red Hot Chili Peppers(1991)

4. European Invasion
"Paranoid" Black Sabbath (1970)
"Anarchy in the U.K." Sex Pistols (2007)
"Kool Thing" Sonic Youth (1990)
"My Name Is Jonas" Weezer (1994)
"Even Flow" Pearl Jam (1991)
"Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll" Blue Öyster Cult (1972)

5. Big House Blues
"Holiday in Cambodia" Dead Kennedys (1980)
"Rock You Like a Hurricane" Scorpions (1984)
"Same Old Song and Dance" Aerosmith (1974)
"La Grange" ZZ Top (1973)
"Welcome to the Jungle" Guns N' Roses (1987)
"Helicopter" Bloc Party (2005)

6. Hottest Band on Earth
"Black Magic Woman" Santana (1970)
"Cherub Rock" The Smashing Pumpkins (1993)
"Black Sunshine" White Zombie (1992)
"The Metal" Tenacious D (2006)
"Pride and Joy" Stevie Ray Vaughan (1983)
"Monsters"i Matchbook Romance (2006)

7. Live in Japan
"Before I Forget" Slipknot (2004)
"Stricken" Disturbed (2005)
"3's & 7's" Queens of the Stone Age (2007)
"Knights of Cydonia" Muse (2006)
"Cult of Personality" Living Colour (2007)

8. Battle for Your Soul
"Raining Blood" Slayer (1986)
"Cliffs of Dover" Eric Johnson (1990)
"The Number of the Beast" Iron Maiden (1982)
"One" Metallica (1988)
"The Devil Went Down to Georgia" Steve Ouimette(2007)

It was interesting to listen to Keller sing along with Metallica, Guns N' Roses, Pat Benatar, and Rage Against the Machine.

National Cherry Blossom Festival

We just returned from the National Cherry Blossom Festival (NCBF) in Washington DC. The cherry blossom trees line the riverfront of Potomac Park and pepper the city. They are truly spectacular in bloom.





The NCBF is a spring celebration in Washington, D.C. commemorating the March 27, 1912 gift of Japanese cherry trees from Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo. Mayor Ozaki donated the trees in an effort to enhance the growing friendship between the United States and Japan.










Two years earlier in 1910, the first trees that Mayor Ozaki and Japan sent to the United States were infested with insects and nematodes and subsequently burned.

The festival begins on March 29th and ends April 13th. Some festival events include kite flying, soccer tournament, sushi and sake tasting, regatta, fireworks, 10-mile marathon, charity golf tournament, and a parade. For $125 per person, you can enjoy a gala dinner cruise aboard The Odyssey.



Jackets are recommended for men and cocktail attire for women. Translation...no jeans, shorts, wife beaters, halter-tops, gym shoes, or flip-flops.





Mmmmmm! Julia's Empanadas! The Salteña is especially delicious (shredded chicken, potato, green peas, hard boiled egg, raisins, green olives and onion)