Ever wonder what more than a thousand Monarch butterflies look like in a sea of peonies and roses? The back room of Mockingbird Hill will show you. With Cherry Blossom Season upon us, and full bloom arriving two weeks earlier than historical full blooms, according to the National Park Service, DC is ready to commence the festivities. The NPS announced that Washington D.C.’s Yoshino cherry blossoms will be in full bloom from March 17th to March 20th, with the season lasting until April 1st. With Easter and the annual White House Easter Egg Hunt falling on April 2nd, every weekend in March is shaping up to be a perfect excuse to visit DC.
If you’re searching for an additional excuse, come for Washington DC’s own Cherry Blossom Pop-Up Bar at 1841 7th St. NW. From Drink Company creators who brought you the Christmas themed Miracle on Seventh Street and the Game of Thrones Pop Up Bars, comes the fruitier and slightly more pink Cherry Blossom Pop-Up Bar. Last year, guests came from as far away as California to partake in the immersive experience that Drink Company is known to create by transforming three staple bars (Southern Hospitality, Mockingbird Hill, and Eat The Rich) to transport you to the destination and time period of your choice (as long as that destination is on their menu, of course). Their experiment is very representative of DC’s creativity, from politically themed specials like the $5 Moscow Muellers anytime Robert Mueller indicts a Trump Administration associate offered by Logan Circle bar The Bird, timely pop-up experiments like the Black Panther Pop Up Bar and newly anointed DC Michelin star restaurants, the background of the cherry blossom festival should be the last nudge needed to turn your night out into a weekend in DC.
As with many pop ups, the Cherry Blossom Pop Up Bar is a love letter (to DC), and it’s a love letter that for five weeks enshrines the ephemeral bloom on the DC Tidal Basin, giving us the time to pause and appreciate the fleeting season in peace. Additionally, our DC lodging is only 2 miles away! The Pop Up creates a space where we can take in the sight of over 1250 Monarch Butterflies under a canopy of 90,000 Cherry Blossom flowers, and reflect on our unique relationship with the island of Japan. The festival serves as an annual reminder of then-Tokyo mayor Yukio Ozaki’s gift of 3,000 Yoshino cherry trees as a thank-you for Teddy Roosevelt’s mediation of the Russo-Japanese War in 1905. Under a canopy of 90,000 pale pink flowers, perhaps visitors can reflect on a poem Ozaki composed on his deathbed:
As I gaze at cherry blossoms in my garden
From my sickbed, I recall
The Potomac in spring.
The pop up will likely preserve a celebratory mood with hints of solemnness, as in its recreation of “Tokyo’s Memory Lane”, in the former Eat the Rich space, designed by Special Projects Director Matt Fox and his creative team who were inspired to preserve the look and feel of 1940’s post-war Tokyo.
As guests peruse the space, they’re encouraged to try the seasonal cocktails available for purchase. The Drink Company has been working hard to not only immerse guests in a beautiful and memorable environment, but also to ensure they offer drinks with the perfect balance of sweetness to cater to each guest. To facilitate this, their new Bee Key rates drink sweetness by number of bees, with one bee indicating a drink is not too sweet while three bees indicate the drink is pretty sweet. However, the first taste of sweetness for guests, will be getting through the door. With The Cherry Blossom PUB opened for business March 1, expect a line for it’s 5:00PM to 12:30AM Sundays-Thursdays and 5:00PM to 1:30AM Fridays-Saturdays.
