The 2009 WAABI Leadership Conference is quickly approaching! We are just a few days out, so I thought I'd give you a snapshot of our upcoming activities.

The Hilton Alexandria Old Town, Alexandria, Virginia is our base for the WAABI Leadership Conference. The hotel is adjacent to the King Street Metro Station.

Saturday, July 25th those signed up for our Smithsonian tour will depart the hotel lobby at 8:00am and take a short walk to the MetroRail station. We’ll take a train to the Smithsonian campus. While there, we’ll tour the Castle, the National Museum of Natural History and the American History Museum. Lunch will be in the Atrium Café. We will travel as a group but feel free to spend as much time in each museum as you want and/or return to the hotel via the MetroRail when you’re ready.

Saturday evening is free so that all may explore the historic King Street district.

Sunday, July 26th Our Mt. Vernon tour attendees will depart the hotel lobby at 9:00am and travel by chartered bus to the Mount Vernon Distillery. From there the bus will take us to the Mount Vernon Estate where we’ll tour the Mansion and more than a dozen outbuildings including the slave quarters, kitchen, stables, and greenhouse. Lunch is included as we tour the Mansion. We’ll return to the Alexandria Harbor at 5:30pm after a relaxing 1.5 hr boat ride on the Potomac River. Tour attendees can take the King Street Trolley back to the King Street Metro Station at their leisure, adjacent to our hotel.

Sunday evening we will gather for a leisurely evening from 6:30 to 8:00. Dress in your favorite cookout attire and join us in the Hilton's courtyard to pick up your Conference materials and catch up with WAABI friends and family at the 2009 WAABI Cookout.

Monday, July 27th the business session begins at 9:00am. We will break for a luncheon sponsored by DIAGEO and then return for additional business in the afternoon. Monday is a busy day with many topics, speakers, and the election of new National Board Officers.

Monday evening the reception for the Unity Dinner honoring Craig Wolf will start at 6:30 with dinner to follow at 7:30. The Unity Dinner will be held in the hotel.

Tuesday, July 28th business sessions will begin at 9:00 and conclude with lunch. Tuesday afternoon Chapter Presidents and the new National Board Members will meet.

Tuesday evening we will wrap-up our conference with Fun Night sponsored by Brown Forman. We will take a short walk to Ernie's Crab House and enjoy a casual evening of crabs and cocktails.

Please travel safe and contact me if additional details are needed. Looking forward to seeing all as WAABI goes to Washington!