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Mountain National Forest and Lake Champlain. Agritourism is booming in the Green Mountain State, at places like the Billings Farm & Museum in Woodstock, the Cabot Creamery Factory in Cabot and Shelburne Farms in Shelburne, where another favorite attraction is the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory. Visitors might consider planning a meeting or leisure trip to coincide with a special event like January's Winter Festival in Bennington, the Vermont Maple Open HouseWeekend held at sugarhouses throughout the state in March, the statewide Vermont Open Studio, with nearly 300 artists and artisans participating, or the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival in June. WASHINGTON, DC DC'smost talked about tourismattraction these days is the newMartin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, the first monument on the NationalMall to honor a non-president and first to honor a person of color.The center- piece is 30-ft. statue of King carved into a block of granite called the Stone of Hope, positioned as if emerging from a split boul- der called theMountain ofDespair.A450- ft. curved granite wall is inscribed with 14 quotes fromKing. Another recent tourism development worth noting is the $150 million restora- tion of the Hilton Washington. Located four blocks from the Dupont Circle Metro station, the 1,070-room hotel is close to several popular shopping, enter- tainment and dining districts, including Dupont Circle, Georgetown, Adams Morgan—known for its livemusic and international restaurants—and the his- toricallyBlackUStreetCorridor,home of the famous Ben's Chili Bowl. The Hilton is also within walking distance of Embassy Row and amile fromthe National Zoo. The hotel offers dining and cocktails at The District Line Restaurant and Bar, the TDL Bar andMcClellan's Sports Bar. TheHeights Courtyard&Gardens serves up a picturesque outdoor setting for events,with water features, fire pits and great views of theDC skyline. The Hilton has a total of 110,000 sq. ft. of function space, including 30,000 sq. ft. of exhibit space, the 36,000-sq. ft. InternationalBallroomand theHeightsExecutiveMeetingCenter,which has ninemeeting rooms.Guests staying in the 10th floor executive rooms have access to complimentary wireless Internet, daily continental breakfast and late afternoon hors d'oeuvres in the Executive Lounge. The 2.3million-sq. ft.Walter E.Washington Convention Center is the city's largestmeeting venue, containingmore than 700,000 sq. ft. of exhibit space.There are nearly 28,000 hotel rooms citywide. The tourismoffices listed with this article can provide additional information to help plan yourNortheastmeeting, fam- ily reunion or incentive trip. C O N T A C T I N F O R M A T I O N Connecticut Office of Tourism—(888) CT-VISIT Delaware Tourism Office—(866) 284-7483 Destination DC—(202) 789-7000 Maine Office of Tourism—(888) 624-6345 Maryland Office of Tourism—(866) 639-3526 Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism 800) 227-MASS New Hampshire Division of Travel and Tourism Development—(603) 271-2665 New Jersey Division of Travel & Tourism (800) VISIT-NJ New York State Department of Economic Develop-ment —(800) CALL-NYS Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership (800) ONTARIO Pennsylvania Tourism Office—(800) VISIT-PA Rhode Island Tourism Division—(800) 250-7384 Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing (800) VERMONT Black Meetings & Tourism November/December 2011: www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com 81 Walter E.Washington Convention Center – Washington D.C.