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!

38 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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    1. Indeed! It was a shame the cherry blossoms were mostly gone by the time we visited Bethesda, but it was still a lovely little town to explore. Thankfully, DC had some cherry blossoms left, so it wasn’t a complete bust! More on it to come soon 🙂

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  11. Maybe the tourism board could do some creative marketing to extend the season: Come for the cherry blossom carpet season!
    When we were in D.C. many years ago, our jaunt to Maryland (we were with friends who lived in D.C. so they set the itinerary) was to Annapolis, which was very impressive. I would recommend that next time you are in the nation’s capital.

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    1. Good idea! Cherry blossom carpet season has a nice ring to it. I only dipped my toes into Maryland this time around, so I’ll need to return and check out Annapolis, perhaps even Baltimore!

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  13. At least some trees still have the flowers when you visited the Capitol Crest Trail. And the banana-praline latte sounds delicious! At least they make up for the not-too-ideal weather.

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    1. Yes! Although there weren’t too many flowers still on the trees, at least there were still a few left. The light lunch/snack we had was quite tasty, and a lovely way to end our brief time in Bethesda 🙂

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  14. My son lived in Silver Springs for a few years, but I never made it to Bethesda, spending most of the time in DC at the museums. Enjoyed seeing it through your eyes.. The pink petals tugged at my heart, since I lived in Japan close to Sakura street, lined with those pink trees.

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    1. We didn’t get to Silver Springs, but I’ve heard of the place! Bethesda was small, but charming all the same; even though many of the cherry blossoms were gone by the time we went, it was still a beautiful sight! I hope to head to Japan again to see the cherry blossoms there!

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    1. A pink carpet, indeed! We missed out on the cherry blossoms in Bethesda, but thankfully, we saw a few still standing in DC. More on that to come soon!

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