Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/52019
Trail, Boston's most popular tour, which links 16 of the sites that make up the Boston National Historical Park. Another walking tour, the Black Heritage Trail, consists of 14 sites connected to the city's 19th century free Black com- munity. Those landmarks include two sites owned by the Museum of African American History: the Abiel Smith School and the African Meeting House. Constructed in 1806, the African Meeting House is the oldest existing African-American church building in the United States. Reopening in December 2011 following an $8 million restoration, it now offers space for receptions. The African-American neighborhood of Roxbury is home to the Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists and the Roxbury Center for the Arts at Hibernian Hall. The Isabella Stewart Gardiner Museum will open a new Renzo Piano-designed wing in January 2012. Across the Charles River in Cambridge, the new Entrepreneur Walk of Fame opened in September 2011. Visitors with a special interest in family attractions might check out the Franklin Park Zoo, the New England Aquarium or the Museum of Science, which also offers a self-guided cell phone tour of green buildings in the Boston area. The Beantown Jazz Festival in September is just one of many special events held throughout the year, includ- ing a variety of ethnic festivals. The Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, located two miles from Logan International Airport, has 516,000 sq. ft. of contiguous exhibit space, 160,000 sq. ft. of meeting space, a 40,020- sq. ft. ballroom and more than 300,000 sq. ft. of registration and function space. The city has more than 35,000 hotel rooms. Another popular meeting venue is the Hynes Convention Center, which features 176,480 sq. ft. of versatile exhibit space, a multi-purpose auditori- um with seating for over 4,000, 38 meeting rooms and a 24,544-sq. ft. grand ballroom. NEW HAMPSHIRE Whether it's skiing in theWhiteMountains, cruis- ing on Lake Winnipesaukee, camping in the Great North Woods or enjoying summertime fun at the beaches and resorts of the state's 18-mile-long Seacoast Region,New Hampshire offers plenty of out- door adventure. There's also lots of history to explore. In Portsmouth, you can visit Strawbery Banke, a site that depicts four centuries of community history.The capital city,Concord, is home to the Museum of New Hampshire History and 20 minutes away from the Canterbury ShakerVillage. A trip to the Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee Region offers the chance to tour a historic summer estate at The Fells in Newbury and the campus of Dartmouth University in Hanover. Art and architecture buffs might be interested in the CurrierMuseum ofArt and Frank LloydWright's Zimmerman House inManchester. If you bring your passport, you can take an international day trip just across the Canadian border to Quebec. NEW JERSEY One of the most interesting places in New Jersey's African-American history was the town of Lawnside in Camden County.This historicallyBlack community came to bewhen aQuaker purchased land and resold the plots to former slaves. Today, visitors to Lawnside (originally called Free Haven) can tour the home of freedman Peter Mott, which served as a station on the Underground Railroad. Other Underground Railroad sites in New Jersey include the Goodwin Sisters House in SalemCity,Mount ZionAME Church outside Swedesboro,MacedoniaAME Church in Camden,Croft Farmin CherryHill, the Burlington Pharmacy in Burlington and Jacobs ChapelAME Church inMount Laurel. The historic homes, beaches, shops and restaurants of places like CapeMay and theWildwoods make the Jersey Shore a popular recreational retreat.The shore provides the setting for several food and music festivals. ATLANTIC CITY With its famous Boardwalk, gaming resorts and quirky area attractions like Lucy the Elephant alreadymaking it one of New Jersey's favorite destinations,Atlantic City is adding more to see and do. A brand new hotel and casino resort, the Revel, is expected to open in spring 2012.Harrah's ResortAtlantic City has 74 Black Meetings & Tourism November/December 2011: www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com Autumn – New Hampshire