Cherry Blossoms

Last week I took a few hours and visited Branch Brook Park in Newark, NJ. I've been hearing about the Cherry Blossom Festival and how lovely this park was for years, but never had the opportunity to visit until now. Turns out I was missing out on the beautiful display of cherry blossoms and a park that is the first County Park in the nation!

You can visit the Cherry Blossom Center and learn all about the trees that are part of the annual Cherry Blossom Festival each April. This year the festival began on April 12, my visit was on the 8th a little early but hoping to catch blossom before a pending storm did damage.

The park is 4 miles long, with lakes and trails along with recreational areas for use of the local sport teams.

The southern part of the park has a fabulous lake, with views of the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart Basilica, one of the largest cathedrals in the United States.

 What a great place to relax and maybe even review some important reading material on lovely spring day!

A great view of the Cathedral from this vantage point!

The lake also provided a wonderful color show in the fountain!

Walking along the path, there were quite a few visitors on this late Thursday afternoon. It's nice to see people out and enjoying the wonderful weather we were having!

And the Cherry trees were all in their colorful spring outfits!

The Cathedral framed with blossoms

Late afternoon light made this tree shine!