20250404_124858Capital Crest Trail (April 2025)

Washington, D.C. is not considered a US state, but rather a federal district. Given its small size, as well as the relatively-small sizes of the states on the East Coast, it makes for easy trips outside of the capital. In fact, D.C.’s public transport connects the neighboring states (Virginia and Maryland) in the overall metropolitan D.C. area, and my partner and I used this opportunity to spend some time in Bethesda, Maryland.

We took the metro’s Red (“R”) Line and it was a quiet, uneventful journey to Bethesda. 30 minutes later, we arrived, taking a *very steep* escalator up and out of the station. Weather was overcast and a bit muggy, following a rainstorm a few days prior– all the same, the flowers by the station were teeming and absolutely stunning.

20250404_120759Welcome to Bethesda!

20250404_120929Steep escalator out of the station

Bethesda is a small town home to about 68,000 people. Historically, it was the land of the Piscataway and Nacotchtank people before Anglo-Americans took over, and the area became a hub for the tobacco-growing industry. Today, Bethesda has transformed into the nation’s center for medical research, including housing the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and is considered one of the most-affluent and highly-educated towns in the country.

We walked into downtown Bethesda, stopping to check out a yarn store for my partner. While strolling around, we felt Bethesda to be more like suburb of D.C. than a town in itself, as it was fairly-quiet even at midday and with a few residents taking walks out and about.

From downtown, we hopped onto the Capitol Crest Trail, a pedestrian and bike path built alongside a former railroad, to head to our next destination. The entire trail stretches 11 miles (17 km), starting from Georgetown in D.C. all the way to Silver Spring, located 4 miles (6.4 km) east of Bethesda. My partner and I only walked a small portion of it, and the path was teeming with greenery and pink blossoms, flourishing after the rain.

20250404_124858Walking the Capital Crest Trail

It was a half-hour walk to Kenwood, a residential neighborhood known for its cherry blossom-lined streets, in full bloom during the springtime. Unfortunately, due to the rainstorm just a few days prior to our arrival, it blew away many of the cherry blossoms from the trees, so few remained. However, we saw tons on the ground, which made for a pink carpet on the street. A bit disappointing, but at least we saw a few!

20250404_130943In Kenwood

20250404_131715Cherry blossoms

From there, we returned to downtown Bethesda, popping into a café for a light lunch-snack: I opted for a banana-praline latte and avocado toast with Brussel sprouts, both of which were quite delicious. Soon thereafter, we caught the next metro back to D.C., returning by mid-afternoon.

20250404_134311Banana-praline latte and avocado-Brussel sprouts toast

Overall, it was a short, but pleasant visit to Bethesda while visiting the D.C. area. It was my first time visiting Maryland as well, and it was good to have also checked out a new US state for me. My partner and I would also have the opportunity to visit Virginia for a wedding the following day, and more of D.C. afterwards. More to come soon, stay tuned! 🙂

— Rebecca

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Published by Rebecca

Blogger, world traveler, poet, foodie, part-time penguin. Welcome!

20 thoughts on “Destination: Bethesda, Maryland”

    1. It was also my first time having avocado toast with Brussels Sprouts and while an interesting combination, it was a tasty one! I love Brussels Sprouts as well, so it made for a nice little meal 😋

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  6. The metro system in DC is great, isn’t it? I love how it can take passengers to Virginia and Maryland within minutes. If I’m not mistaken, the Bethesda station is one of the longest and steepest stations in their metro system. The cherry blossoms look so pretty in your photos. 🌸 Thanks for sharing, Rebecca!

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    1. Bethesda station was surprisingly super steep! The escalator to get out was on a massive incline, and it seemed to take a while to get out; I was impressed! Despite most of the cherry blossoms already gone due to the storm, it was still a beautiful sight. Thanks for reading, Darlene 🙂

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  8. I didn’t know Bethesda; I never had the chance to visit it during my stays in Washington DC. There’s so much to see in the capital. Thank you for describing some of its features.

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    1. Thanks, Lyssy! We were just a bit too late in seeing the cherry blossoms in Maryland, but DC was better, as a few were still up. More of my time in DC to come soon!

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