There were activities and entertainment for festival-goers when they got tired of looking at lotuses and water lilies. This woman was manning a desk that had promotional materials about Japan, South Korea and Thailand.

Saturday was the first day of the annual Lotus and Water Lily Festival at the 700-acre Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens in northeast Washington, D.C. We had just missed the festival last year, so it was nice to be part of the festivities this time around. The place was packed – unlike last year -- but the flowers were in full bloom and beautiful. It never ceases to amaze me that places so full of nature like this exist in the middle of the nation’s capital.

An abundance of water lilies, posted earlier: