Where Am I!?

Good morning everybody! This time next week we all will be anxiously awaiting our alarm clocks to sound off the start of the AC Pre-conference sessions. How exciting! Today I have made it my task to ensure that everybody feels comfortable on where to go once arriving at National Harbor. I have found a map of National Harbor, see below, that shows where everything is located. Please use this to navigate your journey to wherever your destination may be so you don't get lost. Kidding of course, it is hard to get lost in this little area consisting of only a few blocks across the span of three streets. Larger map here: http://www.nationalharbor.com/consumer/nh_directory_map.pdf

I hope many of you will be staying right in National Harbor. If so, then your journey during your stay here is a piece of cake! For those of you who are staying outside of the harbor, luckily the major roadways of DC take you straight to your destination without city roads to navigate. I recommend checking out the National Harbor's website which lists directions for any way you may be traveling: http://www.nationalharbor.com/consumer/directions.htm.

Okay, now on to finding your way to the conference. If you make your trip to the Gaylord by walking down Waterfront Street, this is the first view of the Convention Center you will see:

If you see this view above, you are approaching the side of The Gaylord. Continue following the sidewalk until you see this:

This is the front entrance to The Gaylord. You should see a huge drive way leading up to a covered entrance. Follow the roadway to the large revolving doors to enter the resort, directed by Mindy:

Alright, you are almost there! Upon entering The Gaylord continue to walk straight into the lobby. There will be many ways you can turn, but if you follow these directions I promise we will keep you on track! After passing through the revolving doors keep on going straight down the elegant red carpet:

Along the path of the red carpet you will see the main desk of the hotel on the left, for those of you staying at the resort, and the concierge located on the right, if you have any questions. Follow this red carpet all the way to the end. To the left, you will see an information desk containing all sorts of layouts and ideas for tours of the DC area. Now once you get to the end of the red carpet you should be facing a fine jewlery store. Directly to your left you will see a set of escalators (elevators can be found to the right), take these up to the next floor:

Once you have made it up the escalators the convention center will be located straight ahead. You should be able to identify it thanks to the large sign labeled "CONVENTION CENTER" at the entrance of the hallway.

I hope this guide has answered all of your questions about where to go for the conference. To all of you with butterflies about venturing into somewhere new, rest assured it isn't so bad out here. All the horror stories of traffic and chaos belong to parts of the city located outside of National Harbor.

ONE MORE WEEK!!!!

Until next time,

- Kristen