Cold Snap in Washington

The Lincoln Memorial

After the excitement of our night with the Smithereens we are deliriously exhausted - but a three-hour Amtrak train to Washington awaits. We check out of our Soho shoebox and rug up for an expected below freezing maximum in the Capital.

The Washington Monument

This is bone-chilling, mind-numbing cold that turns your lips blue in seconds. Best way to see the city in these conditions is on the Old Town Trolley tour bus. Small, intimate with our bus driver, Loleeta, giving very entertaining, sassy commentary about all the monuments and museums.

The most exciting moment is when Mark spies The Presidential Chopper 'Marine One' overhead probably ferrying the Obamas back from Andrews Air Force Base. They've been in Oslo to accept his Nobel Peace Prize.

Afterwards we seek refuge from the cold in a downtown brewery/restaurant called the Chophouse for some warming Southern fare.

First out is the complimentary 'cornbread' and whipped spicy butter. The cornbread is sweet and cake-like - sponge cake really which seems slightly odd to have BEFORE our meal. But everyone is tucking in so we do like the locals.

I order a delicious sashimi-style Mahi sandwich with red cabbage and salad.

Mark has a heart-stopping pepper-crusted steak and chips with

a cognac sauce.

A rare blog apprearance by yours truly to demonstrate the sublime comfort of the hanging bubble chair in the foyer of our hotel Donovan House at Thomas Circle.

The Donovan has an ultra-cool Pan-Asian restaurant called Zentan which serves a beautifully-executed array of squeaky fresh sushi, sashmi, seafood and meat dishes. Sorry too dark for decent pics but the stand out must-orders are the 19-ingredient vegetable and noodle salad, the baked salmon rolls with wasabi mash and the crispy skinned garlic chicken.

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