Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/22095
Discovery Children’sMuseum— or take a cruise aboard the Spirit of Baltimore. In Fells Point, you can visit Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Park, which recreates the first African- American shipyard in North America, or take a food tour of the historic district. Besides the Reginald Lewis Museum, other local Black heritage attractions include the Eubie Blake National Jazz Institute and Cultural Center, the National Great Blacks in Wax Museum and the Dorothy Parker Memorial. North of the Inner Harbor, the new Pennsylvania Avenue Heritage Trail extends three miles with more than 20 sites linked to the African-American history and culture of the area. The African American Heritage Festival and the PAETEC Jazz Festival are part of the summer lineup of special events in Baltimore. The summer event season also includes ArtScape, the nation’s largest free municipal arts festival. The new free shuttle bus system, the Charm City Circulator, makes it easy to get to downtown attractions. The city’s premier meeting venue is the 1.2 million-sq. ft. Baltimore Convention Center, with 300,000 sq. ft. of exhibit space, 85,000 sq. ft. of meeting space in 50 rooms, and a 36,000-sq. ft. ballroom. There are 6,500 guestrooms in the downtown area, most within walking distance of the conven- tion center. MASSACHUSETTS A Massachusetts coastal retreat might be an ideal setting for a corporatemeeting, incentive trip or family reunion.Top visitor attractions on Cape Cod include the Heritage Museums and Gardens in Sandwich, the John F. Kennedy Memorial andMuseuminHyannis and the ProvincetownArt Association & Museum. Martha’s Vineyard has a 17-site African-American Heritage Trail, while other local points of interest include the Victorian gingerbread cottages in Oak Bluffs, the whaling and yachting industry in Edgartown and the spectacularAquinah Cliffs. Located just west of Boston,Marlborough is an affordable destination for small meeting groups. If you go there inMay or November, you might catch the Paradise City Arts Festival. You’ll find lots of family-friendly attractions in Springfield, which is home to the BasketballHall of Fame, Six Flags New England, The Zoo in Forest Park and The Springfield Museums complex, which includes the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden. BOSTON The National Resources Defense Council has called Boston the greenest city on the East Coast. Beantown is already known as one ofAmerica’s most walkable cities, and theMassachusettsBayTransportationAuthority offers sever- always to get aroundGreaterBostonwithout a car, including commuter trains and ferries. The city also boasts a LEED Gold-certified visitor attraction, the Boston Children’s Museum. To explore the city on foot, you can stroll around Boston 42 City skyline & Congress Street Bridge, Boston, early morning. Photo Credit: David Cannings-Bushel Harbor or follow the Abolitionist Walking Trail or the Freedom Trail, which features sites related to the RevolutionaryWar. During the 19th century, Boston’s Beacon Hill was the largest free Black community inAmerica. The area is home to the Museum of Afro-American History as well as the nation’s oldest Black church, the 1806 African Meeting House,which will reopen in fall 2011 following amajor reno- vation. The church construction project is just one of several notable additions and upgrades to local visitor attractions. The new Kennedy Institute, targeted for a 2013 opening next to the JFK Presidential Library, will include a replica of Kennedy’s Capitol Hill office when he served as a U.S. Senator. The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is building $115 million addition — expected to open in March 2012 — that includes a 300-seat performance hall. Nearby, the Boston Conservatory opened its 300-seat theater in October 2010. Three previously endangered landmark theaters in the Boston’s Theatre District—the Modern Theatre, the Opera House and the Paramount Theatre — have recently been restored.The Boston Tea Party ShipsMuseum is expected to reopen 2012 after its $25 million upgrade. Boston’s largest meeting space is the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, touted as the most user-friendly con- vention facility in the world. Flexibility in every area lets you decide how to use the building to your best advantage. The Center boasts 516,000 sq. ft. of contiguous exhibit space, 84 configurable meeting rooms, over 300,000 sq. ft. of function areas, eight registration areas and a 40,020-sq. ft. ballroom. Another popular venue is the Hynes Convention Center, with 176,480 sq. ft. of exhibit space and function space, 38 meeting rooms and a 24,544-sq. ft. ballroom, all connected to more than 3,100 hotel rooms. There are more than 30,000 hotel rooms citywide. NEW HAMPSHIRE The Granite State offers plenty of diversions for the out- door adventure seeker, whether it’s skiing in the White Mountains, making a fall foliage pilgrimage to the 800,000- Black Meetings & Tourism November/December 2010: www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com