Made my first trip to the National Arboretum this past Sunday. My impression may have been slightly affected by the clear, sunny skies and unbelieveable, unseansonable 72ยบ weather, but it is easily one of the most beautiful places I have seen in DC. The cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin are the closest competitor (although I haven't yet been to the Botanical Gardens, and I hear they're pretty nice). At any rate, the arboretum is enormous and certainly worthy of a full-day exploration; in an effort to keep from getting too overwhelmed, however, I limited myself to the Bonsai & Penjing Museum. They have a really terrific display of bonsai from all over the world. Some of them - as you can see from the picture above - even change color in the fall. Amazing.
