D.C. Trip
June 5, 2007
I flew to Washington D.C. on Tuesday, June 5th for the Washington D.C. Prayer Conference
"Equipping a Trans-Generational War Council”. The Lord showed me a vision of me in a black town car a few months ago going from the airport to the hotel so I booked a town car through a limo service. It was a very nice way to get around and I was thankful for the opportunity and for God blessing me that way. My driver was very nice. His name is Neeaz and he is from Pakistan. Before I left, the Lord gave Gary Papz a word for me to pay attention to who opened doors on my ride from the airport. I took the opportunity while Neeaz was driving me to the hotel to silently pray for him. The location of the hotel was awesome, it’s in Capitol Hill. My room wasn’t as nice as I expected for the price but I was happy to stay there anyway as most of the people attending the Prayer Conference were staying there and it gave more opportunity for me to meet people. The hotel is being renovated so hopefully next year, it will be a lot nicer and I look forward to staying there again if God leads. I freshened up and decided to go out looking for a grocery store and a restaurant to eat dinner. There is a small grocery store a couple of blocks from the hotel and while I was in there looking around, I saw some women I had seen in the lobby of the hotel and I could tell they were there for the prayer conference. They looked familiar to me so I asked them if they were in town for the conference. They said yes and how did I know to ask them. I told them they looked really familiar to me and I asked if they lived in Florida. They said they were part of a group of 22 people who flew in from New Mexico. They said I looked familiar too! I know it was the Holy Spirit linking us together. They asked me if I was there with a group and I said yes but I was alone until the next day as the other people from my church were in separate meetings all day long and part of the next day. One of the ladies, Maria, asked me where I was originally from because of my name and I told her I was from Portugal, turns out she is from the Azores which are islands off the coast of Portugal. We spoke Portuguese with one another. It was so cool. They then asked me to join them for dinner which was so nice because just an hour before I was complaining to God about having to always travel alone and being lonely and eating alone, LOL! We had a wonderful dinner outside of a Greek restaurant called “Taverna”. Maria, Joy and Patti are spiritual dancers. They dance and do sign language. The conference itself was awesome. Lots of worshipping, praying and decreeing. We had some great speakers which include, my pastor, Apostle Ken Malone, Hope Taylor (Director of International Leadership Embassy), Senator Todd T. Hart (great Godly man!), Senator Harts assistant, Amy and Dutch Sheets a pastor from Colorado who has written some awesome books on prayer and intercession. All in all it was a great experience and I’m so glad for the opportunity to go. I have met some wonderful people who I keep in touch with and see at the First Fruits meeting my church has monthly. Praise The Lord!!
I was there 6/5-6/10/07 for a conference. I paid $149.00 a night. I wasn't impressed with my room. The bathtub was pretty icky. Black mold around the window sill in the shower. Carpet near the bathroom literally unraveling. I'm sure because they gave us a special discounted price for a large group, some of us also got the "special" rooms.
The location was great though. One block from the hotel you have a row of good restaurants. I ate at the Greek (Taverna) and Chinese (Hunan Dynasty) restaurants 3 times each in the 5 days I was there! The Hawk and Dove had good burgers. There's also a Star Bucks nearby and Bank of America and SunTrust. A decent, small grocery and the subway are close by as well. I heard great comments about the Firehook Bakery and Cafe but didn't actually try it. The staff at Cosi was pretty rude so I ended up not eating there.
I do have to add that they are renovating the hotel. Some of my friends stayed in their annex building in a room with two queen beds and it looked much nicer than my room. It was worth staying at this hotel just because of the location and most of the people at the conference were also guest there so it made it easier to meet people. Hopefully renovations will be finished by the conference next year because if so, I'll stay there again for the reasons listed above though I may book a backup hotel just in case!
Oh yeah, the elevators are verrrry slowww and out of order some of the time. Not so great if you have more than one piece of luggage and are on the 3rd floor!
The staff was nice and the lobby was nice.
I went to this restaurant on purpose for the Dim Sum. I was there during a weekday so they didn’t have the carts but I was able to order off of a menu. My father’s restaurant is the only one in Louisville that serves a full menu of Dim Sum with the carts on the weekends so every city I go to, I seek out at least one Dim Sum place because I love it but also to do some spy work for my dad, LOL! He loves seeing what other restaurants have on their menus and how much they charge. Tony Cheng’s food was good but not Hong Kong quality for sure. I didn’t get much since I was by myself but the Shrimp Cheung fun (shrimp in a steamed rice noodle) was good as well as the Sui Mai (shrimp & pork dumplings) and Har Gau (shrimp dumplings) though a little bland.
I ate there twice and got a Spanakopita to go one night on the way back to the hotel. The grilled squid was awesome. We ate outside which was very nice. Nice portions and the staff were very friendly and accommodating.
I ate here 3 times during my 5 day, twice in one day! My father owns a Chinese Restaurant so I was raised on Chinese food and can eat it almost every meal. The food at Hunan Dynasty was pretty good. Not as good as my dad's of course but good. I thought their spring rolls were tasty, greasy but crispy just like I like them. I wish I had the name of the waitress who waited on our table but she was a sweetheart. By the last time I was there, I told her I would see her in a year and she was sad and we even hugged and I got a picture taken with her. It was like leaving family, LOL!
This was a fun experience. It was very informative. You can't take pictures which was a downer, though. The spy store has some really neat gadgets you can buy. You're supposed to buy tickets in advance but since I was nearby in Chinatown, I just called ahead and was told to come on by. You get a ticket with an entrance time stamped on it and you can't go in until then. I ended up waiting a half an hour to get in which was fine since they have the spy shop and a couple of restaurants right at the entrance.
