DC Christmas Tree Jaunt with DINOSAURS AT THE BOTANICAL GARDENS (3+ City miles)

I will gladly admit stealing this idea from Capital Hiking Club and DC Urban Walkers. This trek will have us starting at the US Botanical Gardens and go see the five best Christmas Trees around downtown DC. We'll gather at a restaurant afterwards to warm up, though it should be unseasonable warm on Saturday anyway.

We will get started at 5pm in front of the US Botanical Garden, at the fountain with the giant silver Christmas balls. I STRONGLY encourage you to get there at least a half hour early to see the dinosaur-themed model train display outside, and the architectural models of all the monuments made out of plants in the atrium, just inside the gardens building. Both close at 5:00.

From there we will head to the following:
1. A quarter-mile northeast to the Capitol Tree
2. Half a mile northwest on Pennsylvania Ave. to the Canadian Embassy's tree (my personal favorite)
3. Up Pennsylvania, then right on 8th NW to the Christmas Market. We will stop here for 20 minutes in case anybody wants to shop or get some grub. The Poblano Chicken Chili at the taco truck was a hit and had no line to wait in.
4. From there we will head north on 9th St. and make a left down Palmer Alley to see the various bougie displays at City Center.
5. We'll head back south on 11th to Pershing Park, then the final tree in the Ellipse.
6. I was thinking of heading to Astro Beer Hall afterwards, but I'm open to suggestions if someone has a better plan. Metro Center station is just another block east and can get you back to where you started from. Distance from Botanical Gardens to this point is 3.1 miles.

Getting there: I know most of you are suburbanites, but the Metro IS your friend. The closest Orange/Blue/Silver/Green/Yellow station is L'Enfant Plaza, which connects to Metro Center (our end point) without transfer. Exit at Maryland Ave. - that is a ten minute walk. Closest Red Line station is Union or Judiciary, a 17-minute walk, though it also connects to our end point. Union Station also has an impressive tree, but a panhandler will likely demand payment if you stare at it for too long.

If you are coming by car, C and D St SW are likely your best bets for parking. We will be starting just as all the museums close.