A bid for the 2010 NASFiC
August 5-8, 2010
Raleigh, NC, USA

http://www.visitnc.com

North Carolina is one of the jewels of the East Coast and one of the original thirteen colonies which would become the United States. In the western part of the state we have the beautiful Appalachian Mountains, including Mount Mitchell, which at 6,684 feet above sea level is the highest mountain east of the Mississippi, and the scenic Blue Ridge parkway. To the west we have the Outer Banks, home to outstanding beaches including Wrightsville Beach and Kitty Hawk, the location of man’s first powered flight on a blustery day in 1903. North Carolina also offers everything in between, whether it is hitting the links in the Sandhills or hitting the bright lights of Raleigh and Charlotte.

Biltmore Estate 1 Approach Road Asheville, NC 28803 Toll Free: 800-411-3812 http://www.biltmore.com

Biltmore House, as viewed from the gardens.

Built by the Vanderbilt’s in the last two decades of the nineteenth century, the Biltmore House is the largest privately owned home in the United States with 175,000 square feet. Originally designed to be a working estate, it has become something more: an American icon. In addition to the Biltmore House, the estate is home to the renowned gardens designed by Fredrick Olmstead, famed designer of Central Park, and the most visited working winery in the world. The Biltmore Estate is conveniently located near the historic city of Asheville, situated in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Visitor Information: 865-436-1200 http://www.nps.gov/grsm/

Mount Guyot, in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Running along the Tennessee and North Carolina border, the Great Smoky Mountains National park in addition to being the most visited national park in the United States, is also a UNESCO World Heritage site and is home to two-hundred species of birds and fourteen hundred species of wild flowers. It is easily accessible from US Route 441 in Cherokee, NC or Gatlinburg, TN as well as from the Appalachian Trail.

High Point, Furniture Capital of the World http://www.highpointmarket.org/	Showplace, the High Point Market's Premiere Venue.
Two hundred years ago the first High Point Furniture Market was held, and has grown from there. With twelve million square feet of exhibitor space and drawing buyers from a hundred and ten countries, the High Point Market is largest furnishings trade show in the world.

Bennett Place 4409 Bennett Memorial Road Durham, NC 27705 Phone: 919-383-4345 http://www.nps.gov/grsm/

Bennett Place, Durham, NC

A country side wracked with war. Their salvation, an insubordinate general who wanted to save what was left of his home and a man who some still invoke as a boogie man to scare their children. Unlikely as it seems, that is what happened at this Durham farm house in 1865. Ignoring orders from Jefferson Davis to wage a gruesome campaign of guerilla warfare, General Joseph E. Johnson met with General William T. Sherman, who had already burned a path through Georgia and South Carolina. At Bennett Place they negotiated the largest surrender of the American Civil War, and in the course saved North Carolina from destruction by both sides of the conflict. This is a unique historical site, open to the public Tuesday through Saturday, from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. In addition to the historical location itself, there is a museum and a living history program to commemorate the surrender and life in the Nineteenth Century Carolinas.

Wright Brothers National Memorial Phone: 252-473-2111 Email: wrbr_information@nps.gov http://www.nps.gov/wrbr/

The Wright Brother's National Memorial on top of Big Kill Devil Hill

On December 17, 1903, on the wind swept dunes of Kill Devil Hills, two men would conquer the skies. The Wright Brothers Memorial honors those two men, and the dream of soaring among the clouds. The memorial boasts several exhibits, including a reproduction of the Wrights’ wind tunnel and an engine block from the original 1903 flier. The memorial is open to the public 9:00 am to 6:00 pm during the summer.

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse Cape Hatteras National Seashore 1401 National Park Drive Manteo, NC 27954 Phone: 252-473-2111 http://www.nps.gov/caha/

The Cape Hatteras Light House, a symbol of North Carolina.

Constructed from over one million bricks, able to shine a light visible twenty four miles out, the Cape Hatteras Light House is the largest light house in the United States. It was built to watch over the treacherous Diamond Shoals, the graveyard of the Atlantic, where more then two-thousand ships have sunk since 1562, including the ironclad USS Monitor. The most daring souls can climb twelve-stories to the top of the light house.