Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/3108
Black Meetings & Tourism April/May 2009: www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com 86 center recently completed several energy-efficient upgrades. The city's best-known Black heritage attraction is the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site in the Sweet Auburn district. The site encompasses King's birth home, Ebenezer Baptist Church and the gravesites of King and his wife, Coretta. Other cultural and historical points of interest include the African-American Panoramic Experience (APEX) Museum; the Atlanta University Center, which ranks as the largest consortium of Black colleges and universities in the United States; the and the National African American Culinary Arts & Hospitality Association's Soul Food Museum. The new Center for Civil and Human Rights is targeted to open in 2010 near Centennial Olympic Park, the New World of Coca-Cola and the Georgia Aquarium. SAVANNAH The 330,000-sq. ft Savannah International Trade & Convention Center has undertaken a host of green initia- tives, and the Savannah Convention & Visitors Bureau pro- vides a list of green hotels. There are more than 12,000 area guestrooms, including 3,300 in the "Meeting District" of his- toric downtown. Home to the largest National Historic Landmark District in the United States, Savannah is Part of Georgia's Low Country region, an area where the African-American Gullah and Geechee cultures have put down roots. An African-American heritage tour of the city would feature visits to First African Baptist Church, the nation's oldest historically Black Baptist church; the Ralph mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum; the Laurel Grove Cemetery; and the King-Tisdell Cottage, which houses an African- American cultural museum . Savannah's cemetery, ghost and garden tours are also popular, as are dining, shopping and gallery hopping at City Market, in the Savannah Historic District, or along historic River Street. The Telfair Museum of Art, the first public art museum in the South, encompasses the Jepson Center for the Arts, where several works of African-American art are on dis- play. The city also is home to the nation's largest private art school, the Savannah College of Art and Design. One of the most famous pieces of art in Savannah is the Bird Girl stat- ue featured in the movie "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil." Key historical and architectural landmarks include the Juliette Gordon Lowe Home, birthplace of the Girl Scouts founder; the Wormsloe Historic Site; Old Fort Jackson and the Owens-Thomas House. Tybee Island, located 20 minutes from the Historic District, is a favorite spot for dolphin watching, kayaking, deep-sea fishing and enjoying the night life on the Tybee strip. Georgia's oldest and tallest lighthouse is also perched on the island, waiting for adventurous and energetic visitors to climb to the top. KENTUCKY From the distilleries along the Kentucky Bourbon Trail to Mammoth Cave National Park northeast of Bowling Green, there is lots of territory for visitors to explore in the Bluegrass State. Groups gathering in Bowling Green might be interested in an underground boat tour of Lost Cave or a visit to the National Corvette Museum. Places to see in Lexington — the heart of the state's Bluegrass Region — include New Zion, an historic neighborhood founded by former slaves; the Mary Todd Lincoln House; and the Exploirum of Lexington art and science museum. Covington, situated near the Kentucky-Ohio border, beckons visitors to explore MainStrausse Village, a restored 19th century German neighborhood; take an Underground Railroad tour organized by the Behringer/Crawford Museum; or stroll the Covington-Newport Riverwalk, site of the James Brandley memorial honoring the former slave who was the only Black person admitted to a U.S. institution of higher learning before the Civil War. LOUISVILLE The Kentucky International Convention Center, with a total of 300,000 sq. ft., offers the highest capacity venue for Group taking a tour of Martin Luther King Jr. Birth Home Photo Credit: Atlanta/Joe Cooke CVB Savannah River Historic District Photo Credit: Savannah CVB