New Year's Eve 2012

On New Year's Eve, I was meeting with Nancy and joining other Brit friends to celebrate the New Year at Mary's house. Nancy and I had sensibly opted to get a hotel room within walking distance as we were both positive that driving would not be an option.
On my way to Maryland I decided to stop off at the Mormon Temple to catch the last evening of their Christmas lights.It was a frigidly cold night but I'd managed to find one hand warmer at home so juggled it from hand to hand in between photos.

After 30 minutes or so I was done, my fingers would work no more and I scuttled back to the car. The light display was wonderful and I should have liked to spend longer there but the cold got the better of me. With the heat turned up to full blast I started driving to Rockville where I got to the hotel room in time to call Boo in England and see (or actually 'hear') in the New Year with her.
When Nancy arrived we decided to start off at the hotel bar and after 4 double Bicardi and cokes we strolled over to Mary's. It was fabulous to catch up with the crew again, not even noticing that it had likely been 2 years since I'd seen this crowd, the years melted away.

We had a little mishap with a candle. Mala decided to light the one on the TV which Mary assured us had been perched on top there for ages and used before. But this time the heat of the candle caused the plastic to melt on the TV so the candle 'sank and lilted' like a ship. It provided intense amusement for drunken senses of humor and was the center of attention for some time. And the TV still works...

Mary made everyone take part in a quiz which was hopeless. I helped Mala not wanting to take part individually, far too embarrassing. The questions seemed impossible, so much so that I can't think of a single example to post here. Brian obviously didn't win any prizes...

We toasted in the New Year with champagne in glasses that just had stems but no bases. Not necessarily a good idea at this stage of the evening and I clutched mine close to my chest, petrified of knocking it against something or even worse, forgetting about the lack of stem and casually placing it on a table.

The evening was a riot with many laughs but my photographic abilities were fading fast, as shown here, and it was really just as well that we were saying farewell. I have no knowledge of walking or staggering back to the hotel but we made it back OK because I woke up in the same bed I'd left my overnight bag on.

The next morning was torture but once I'd maintained a vertical position for a while I realized the next best step was breakfast. Nancy came up with the great idea of going to Dupont Circle where we'd be sure to find a splendid morning meal.

After a short journey on the Metro we alighted to a very quiet and peaceful Dupont Circle. I've never seen the place so desolate before but it meant we wouldn't be waiting in any lines for nutrition and that was a plus. We saw a board outside James Hoban's Irish Bar and marched in to be rudely informed that they weren't open. They didn't even want to help us out by telling where else we could head to. A very miserable crew and a place I shan't ever step a foot into again. but the upside was that we found a fabulous restaurant called The Front Page, where we were welcomed with big smiles and shown immediately to a booth. We'd barely been there a minute when we had Mimosas and coffee placed in front of us and we were directed to a buffet with everything we could possibly want to eat for breakfast in front of us, fresh and piping hot. We went up twice, filling our plates with eggs, bacon sausage and toast. I don't know how many Mimosas or coffees we had but our heads certainly felt better. I'd definitely recommend this place, http://frontpagedc.com/.

Happy New Year!