Living Rawesome Raw Spirit Festival – Maryland/Washington D.C.
Destiny, D’Adjoa and I left on a Friday morning on our way to Raw Spirit. It was a chaotic morning! Jason had issues at the bank, and D’ was late (sorry D’, it did work out because Jason had to sign papers so if she would’ve arrived early he wouldn’t have been able to go to the bank). Everything was in Divine Order, we arrived to get on the airplane without a problem, the flight was perfect. The pilot was in a rush to leave Tampa because of a thunderstorm rolling in. It was the fastest takeoff I have ever had. The flight was bumpy, but perfect. We helped D’ make her marvelous Raw Spirit Bookmarks. 
We arrived in Maryland early. Received our luggage and hopped on a bus to the car rental garage, where we rented a Chrysler 300, boy was D’Adjoa excited!!
I had to get a photo of the forest! The trees are different from Florida.
We went to the hotel, we were all ready to get something to eat. This trip to the hotel was one of the best times there in Maryland. D’Adjoa was the driver and we had her Navigation System, well, the funniest thing kept happening to us. We kept missing what we thought was the exit. So we drove around the area several times, we got on the freeway then turned around, missed the exit, then got back on the freeway. I was laughing the whole time. Destiny was in the back seat ready to get out and walk. I really wasn’t paying attention to the directions, but after the 3rd time missing the hotel, I figured I should help! Oh my gosh, talk about belly laugh. Those ladies are so fun! We finally found the hotel, but the N.S. was wrong. The address was on the other side of the street.
We went out to eat that night at Ruby Tuesdays. We ran into 2 friends from Gainesville, Jackie and Ruth, they told us a few things about Raw Spirit and let us look at the schedule. We chatted with them for a while then headed back to the hotel for some R and R.
Yes we met the guy in this photo. He wanted to desperately be in this photo.
The next morning we woke up early and set off for our day at Raw Spirit Day #1
The grounds were beautiful! We met up with the Gainesville pot luck friends, it was so fantastic to be with them in new surroundings!
The first day we walked around to all the tents and vendors that were set up. We tried flax chips, fermented salad dressings, d’ and Destiny got some coconuts from the Florida keys. There were so many of them. They were brought in by the Mojo Juice Health Club with founder Khepra Anu. The coconuts were perfect for this hot muggy day. I thought Florida was muggy and hot, but the weather there in Maryland was actually pretty uncomfortable, but the stimulation of everything else really kept my mind from thinking about it. I had an appropriate amount of water, so I felt good.
These okra were humongous! We met a man that bought some okra, I had to get a photo! Destiny took advantage of this photo opportunity. We had so much fun just looking around. The fermented salad dressings were pretty tasty, but I didn’t buy any. I am still stuck on eating olive oil and lemon juice and tahini with garlic.
D’Adjoa told me about a restaurant in New York called Quintessance. We were so fortunate to eat their food and meet the owners and employees of this amazing raw restaurant. I had a bagel with cream cheese. This bread was seriously the most amazing raw bread I have ever had in my life. The consistency was absolutely just like bread. It tasted like sourdough bread. Oh I wish I could have some now. On this bagel there was a slice of tomato, cream cheese (made from cashews) and sweet crispy onions. The best raw breakfast I have ever had, besides a green smoothie! I wanted to eat 2 of them. Absolutely delish! I met the chef and co-owner Dan. He taught us alot and spent alot of time talking about the restaurant and cleansing. I love to hear the stories about how people got started on raw food. He used David Jubb’s cleansing and it was after that they he started feeling the best ever! Raw Chef Dan has a website too. 
We met an employee of Quintessance and she was so sweet. She even knew a chef that I have been wanting to meet, Peter Cervoni, she called him on the phone. It was so unexpected, but I chatted with him for a while. I would love to take a class from him sometime. 
Our first day of raw spirit was so much fun, we hoola hooped to music. We met Lynda Carter and had some apple cake, which was very delicious. She was full of love and positive energy, she was calm but had a great energy that made me want to listen to her story. D’ had heard of her before but I never had. I am grateful that I did meet her. She is another person who is no longer on insulin and has overall better health after introducing rawfood. We listened to Philip McClusky and Markus Rothcranz. Philip McClusky really had an impact on some of my friends. Theresa could really relate to his story, he overcame obesity through a raw food diet. Markus Rothcranz was the heartthrob. Most of the women couldn’t believe how gorgeous and knowledgeable and heartfelt he was. I enjoyed both seminars.
After these seminars we went back to the hotel to sleep for the dancing and music at night time. We slept too long to see the lit up hoola hoops and music. It started pooring out so we ran for cover and ended up meeting Jenna Norwood. We missed her seminar and showing of her movie, but we did meet her.
After meeting Jenna, it started raining really hard so we stayed under cover and listened to a man named Michael Collins. He really made the most impact on me. He was fascinating to listen to because of his genuine personality. He was not there to sell anything, just a testimony of triumph over diabetes. He didn’t even give a website to reach him at, unfortunately. He really impacted me so much that night. He told of his story about his eyesight going bad, surgeries, and coming into the light, through love and raw food. He spoke of a Hawaiian phrase called Ho Apana Apana (Ho Apana Apana). He expressed that giving love is fundamental in healing. He does meditate and outreaches. He really made me think about myself and that is what I wanted on this trip. I feel very blessed to have listened to this man speak. He was my favorite the whole weekend! What a heartfelt, touching story! I did take much from this weekend. I learned to forgive myself, I am not perfect, to say I love you to the mirror, so I can feel comfortable with me (this was an idea from Philip McCluskey, and I also learned that people come into our lives to help us understand how they feel and how we can help other people by our experiences. This is not a new concept to me, but I reached a different level of understanding on this trip.
Day #2
Our last day at Raw Spirit went too fast. We went to hear Daniel Vitalis speak, but he didn’t show up. We were disappointed but while D’ was at her Sacred Exercise, Destiny and I met up with our Gainesville friends and had lunch at Quintessance again. We met Phillip McCluskey, too, before Destiny and I decided to go for a walk. The walk was nothing short of enlightening and healing for both of us. I know I had been troubled with many things in my life and having her there by my side in this natural healing forest, I came out a different person. This trip brought me to a new level of awareness. I am now a stronger, centered and willing to stay on this path of raw food, emotional healing and spiritual discovery. The forest was shaded and we came upon a river and we stood beside it and talked for what seemed like 5 minutes, but it was probably an hour. We both discussed ideas of life and troubles. We became closer than we were before we went on this trip. I would’ve stayed there longer but we couldn’t because we had to catch a flight home.
We met D’ and we left, but not without getting a picture of all of us. It was so neat, nobody better could have come to take our photo than the Rawtographer, I couldn’t believe it. Him and his lady friend were the only ones in sight to take the photo of us. We didn’t even know it until his friend said, “Do you want the Rawtographer to take it?” I just started laughing. The picture turned out beautiful. This picture reminds me of how I felt. I was glowing and refreshed from this journey. Thank you Rawtographer and your beautiful friend Vanessa Barg, creator of Gnosis Chocolate. What a pleasure!
Thank you D’Adjoa and Destiny! I love you both! We will build many more memories!
