The Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C., is supposed to be one of the coolest sights on the East Coast during the months of March and April, depending on when peak bloom arrives. I had always wanted to visit the area during this time and decided this was the year to go — even if the parade and other festival activities were canceled this year. I packed my bags full of new, pastel, pink-and-blue outfits and went on a little road trip down to D.C. to catch a glimpse of some stunning cherry blossoms. The weather was a bit chilly when I arrived, and as a result, the cherry blossoms were not fully bloomed. Some trees scattered around the city were brightly painted pink and white, but for the most part, the majority were closed with green buds.

I was a bit let down, but something else really made this trip more fun than I could imagine: scooters! Now, these were not your typical, manual, do-it-yourself scooters; these are electric scooters where you download an app (Bird, Spin, Lyft) and rent by the minute. On almost every street corner we saw different brands of scooters. So I did what I do best — downloaded the apps and tried out the different scooters I came across.

The easiest ones to pick up and go were the Bird-, Lyft- and Uber-branded devices. They were user-friendly with little hassle. Some of the other brands, like Lime and Spin, required us to call a phone number to activate. We opted to stay away from those since that was time wasted when we could be exploring. The scooters go a maximum of 10 mph, but don’t let that number fool you. They go pretty fast. If you happen to fall or hit a wall like I did, you will get hurt.

There was nothing better than flying around the city on a scooter at night sightseeing. We were able to cover much of the National Mall, historical statues and unique views of the city we may not have seen while in a rideshare.

Being able to scoot around during the day is fun, but the best time is at night. The streets and sidewalks were clear of the large tourist groups and traffic. Others around our age were zipping around doing the same. It was quiet, peaceful and beautiful. We drove around for about two hours taking in all that we could. We made it back to our hotel around 2 a.m.

Enjoying the scooters was definitely an unexpected trip highlight, and I encourage everyone who visits Washington, D.C., to utilize this form of transportation to save some money but to also see more.

— Audrey Lee, assistant editor