The Hotel Melrose and first evening in Washington

It was 2001 when I first came to the Hotel Melrose in Washington DC. Three of us from the University, Professor Aldwyn Cooper, Lyn Daunton and myself, traveled to Washington as part of our work with the now defunct Global University Alliance, at the time I was Associate Director of the Business School and we led the largest online study programme in Wales - Enterprise College Wales which we made the case could contribute to the international developments. I don't know who booked the hotel for us, probably Aldwyn's PA, but they did a good job as the hotel is between George Washington University and Georgetown University the two institutions at which we had meetings. But better than that it is in the heart of Washtington - .8 of a mile from the White House, indeed it is on the same street (Pennsylvania Avenue) as the White House, and .9 of a mile from the Lincoln Memorial.

So when Drew and I visited Washington for a day in 2002 as part of our first holiday together, I booked the same hotel and found it a great location for everything. So returning to Washington 11 years later we booked it again.

These photos show some of the changes:

A room in the Hotel Melrose in 2002

The bed in the room in the Hotel Melrose 2013

The room in the Hotel Melrose 2013

The rooms are still very large, more photos of the room can be seen on Flickr. The hotel, which had been renovated just before our 2001 stay has had a make-over. Gone are all the colonial style features in the lobby - in comes an art deco style:

We got comfortable in the room unpacked and then at 5.30 local time - headed out. We walked down into the main part (M Street) of Georgetown, this part of the town has a village feel rather than the big town feel of much of Washington. While there were lots of people about, and a lovely little market, there were also the odd little shops and local eating places that make this place so attractive. 

We looked at a few menus and decided tonight was not the night for a Vietnamese or Ethiopian restaurant, nor a Tapas bar or Italian place. No tonight was time to eat American. We selected a lovely restaurant called Old Glory it had a lovely atmosphere and really good food.

Melissa, our 'host' was keen to give us all the details of the menu and she did so in an eager and unflappable way, as if her life depend on doing it right. This customer focused attitude is distinctive in US restaurants. Sometimes Brits can find it overbearing, but I like that sense of eagerness.

While 6.00 p.m. is a little early to eat, my stomach thought it was UK time (11.00 p.m.) so we dived in.

Pulled rib & brisket chilli with cheese, sour cream, jalapenos and corn chips – I then had one of those choices American restaurants love to give you without notice on the menu, did I want a cup or a bowl? Once Melissa had mimed the relative size of them both I opted for a bowl. When it arrived it was warming, meaty with nice chilli heat – real comfort food.

Drew opted for what was called fried green tomatoes. These were three large slices of cornmeal crusted green tomatoes covered by a green tomato pico de gallo and lemon - cayenne mayo. Drew must have been hungry too as he wolfed it down.

As ever with eating in the US, main course (or Entrees) arrive within seconds of the appraisers being complete (and sometimes before). For the mains Drew had opted for a  foot long half-smoked pit dog which was a Stachowski Beef Hot Dog with peppers, onions and ketchup. When last week Drew said to two of my former colleagues, Alice and Wendy, that he intended to have a foot-long hot dog, I didn't know he meant on the first night. It looked really nice, as the photos show, judge for yourself. This was accompanied by a choice of sides drew opted for coleslaw.

I opted for St. Louis ribs slow smoked with a Memphis rub sauce – for those not familiar with ribs, Memphis is a dry-rub, rather than one lathered with sauce on the outside. The rub has a paprika and cayenne flavour to it. Anyway usually having a full rack in the UK, I ordered before my mind had translated into Americanise, this full rack was the side of a cow!! This was accompanied by a baked potato and corn on the cob. I can’t describe how tasty it was, nor how well the veg worked with the huge quantities of meat.

Even Drew wasn't tempted by dessert after the massive, but enjoyable meal, we had. We got back to the hotel and to be by 9.00 – you can tell how well I slept by the timing of the last blog post!