Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/348155
B M & T ••• May/June 2013••• www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com 52 city and Ruby Falls – a 145-foot waterfall deep within Lookout Mountain. The Chattanooga African American Museum and the Bessie Smith Cultural Center are great places for culture, history and the arts. Knoxville features a 12-foot high bronze statue of "Roots" author Alex Haley in Morningside Park. The Beck Cultural Exchange Center features a history of African-Americans from the 1800s to the present. The National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis is a complex of museums built around the former Lorraine Motel where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated. Nashville is home to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and coming soon, the National Museum of African American Music. VIRGINIA This state is synonymous with American history. Many of this nation's Founding Fathers hailed from Virginia including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. From Colonial Williamsburg to Jamestown to the Appomattox Court House National Historic Park Virginia is a history book all on its own. Virginia has myriad African-American sites that includes: the Virginia Civil Rights Memorial and the Jackson Ward Neighborhood both in Richmond, and the site of the Nat Turner Rebellion in Southampton County. Virginia has several HBCUs with their own historical footprint starting with the Hampton University and the university's museum. There's also Norfolk State and Virginia Union. One of the state's largest recreational sites is Shenandoah National Park. The park features a 105-mile scenic Skyline Drive with hiking trails and water- falls. Outdoor activities are abundant from whitewater rafting on the James River to skiing at one of the mountain resorts, to hiking, biking or horseback riding on the 343-mile Virginia Creeper Trail. NORFOLK It's all about the water in Norfolk with fishing, boating, harbor cruising, jet skiing, crabbing and water skiing for starters. The maritime activities here are second to none. Nestled where the Chesapeake Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean Norfolk has long been a top destination for tourists and meeting planners. One of the city's signature events is the annual Norfolk Jazz Festival held in late July. This year's event features Jazz great Ramsey Lewis. The Attucks Theatre, a state and national landmark is the oldest legiti- mate theatre in the nation. Built in 1919 , this theatre was named after Crispus Attucks, the first American to lose his life in the Boston Massacre. The Chrysler Museum of Art has a major collection of photography chronicling the Civil Rights Movement and has event space available, as does The Attucks Theatre. Another gathering venue is the L. Douglas Wilder Performing Arts Center at Norfolk State University. Named after the Commonwealth's first African-American governor, the Wilder Center concert hall features state-of-the-art acoustics and three large conference rooms. Norfolk has over 5,400 hotel rooms; 1,200 of those downtown. One of the largest hotel properties is the Norfolk Waterside Marriott and Waterside Convention Center with 405 guestrooms and 60,000 sq. ft. of meeting space. VIRGINIABEACH Virginia Beach has been a top draw for African-Americans for decades. It's the spring break destination of choice for many HBCU college students in the state and across the country. It's also one of Black America's top family reunion locales It's all about sand, surf and outdoor fun in Virginia Beach and its thriving beach community. The 35-miles of coastline and expansive beaches means there's room for everyone. The 3.3-mile boardwalk along Resort Beach offers a park-like atmosphere perfect for strolling biking, running or roller-blading. Entertainment is offered nightly during the summer months with oceanfront stages at 7th, 17th, 24th and 31st Streets. The Virginia Legends Walk is one of the top historical attractions with tributes to Ella Fitzgerald, Arthur Ashe, Booker T. Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Edgar Allen Poe. Meeting planners will love the LEED® Gold Certified Virginia Beach Convention Center. Just a few blocks from the ocean, this 525,000-sq. ft. facility is one of the largest on the east coast and argua bly the premiere meeting venue in Virginia. There are nearly 12,000 hotel rooms citywide, with 3,500 within a two-mile radius of the convention center. Town Center is the place to go for dining, shopping and entertainment offer- ing many of the name brands that are familiar to us all. WEST VIRGINIA West Virginia's mountainous terrain makes the state a prime location for out- door activities from hiking, whitewater rafting, fishing and horseback riding to ski- Attucks Theatre, Norfolk Photo Credit: Norfolk CVB People enjoying the sea, sand, and surf of, Virginia Beach Photo Credit: Tom Mc Nemar