Accelerated Decrepitude: Sakura Matsuri 2009

Beautiful women, festive costumes are order of the day at Sakura Matsuri

49th Annual Sakura Matsuri
Saturday, April 4, 2009
12th Street & Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C.

I feel like taking my clothes off, dancing to the Rite of Spring
And I don't normally do this kind of thing - Pet Shop Boys

After a miserable initial exposure to Sakura Matsuri - Washington D.C.'s annual Cherry Blossom Festival - two years ago, when it rained all day long and I got a traffic ticket on the way back home to Baltimore, it was a hard sell trying to motivate me to make the trek this past April 4, even though it was a beautiful and sunny day. "All that driving on I-95, then the transfer to the Metro in Silver Spring, and I'm trying to save money and...." I whined to my girlfriend.

"But there'll be lots of pretty Asian girls there, sweetie" Amy pointed out.

SOLD!

See, this is why I love my girlfriend; she understands me. And all my peculiarities. (I also love her because she's apt to blurt out things like "God I LOVE rock and roll!" when she hears T. Rex's "20th Century Boy" come on on the radio or get all excited like a kid who's had too much sugar whenever she spots a squirrel or bunny rabbit. OK, it's a long list of reasons...)

With my sex drive long laying dormant and playing second-string to food, TV and movie consumption, I thought the prospect of merging with some 150,000 festive Asians at what is the largest Japanese festival in the US - and the largest street festival held at any time during the year here - a capital (and Capitol) strategy for jump-starting the old layabout loins again. I was right. And so the journey commenced, from the suburbs of Baltimore to the nation's capitol and, finally, to the Vas Deferens Highway. Thank you Japan for your Cherry Blossoms!

Many attractive young women - and couples - were on parade this day...

All aboard the Ollie Trolley!

On the way out of the metro station, we passed by this burger joint "Ollie's Trolley" which made Amy giggle because that's what I call my naughty bits. "Riding the Ollie Trolley," in fact, is our code word for gettin' frisky in the Biblical way (if you know what I mean and I'm afraid you do).