High Point

High Point earned its name by simple geography: it was the highest point on the railroad line between Goldsboro and Charlotte. Nowadays the city's biannual high point is hosting the International Home Furnishings Market, the largest wholesale furniture trade show in the world. Each spring and fall for a week or more, so many people flood the town that its population of 93,000 nearly doubles. The city is also the home of the North Carolina Shakespeare Festival. Though hopping during the International Home Furnishings Market, High Point can be a pretty quiet place outside that busy time. High Point doesn't have a vast selection of gastronomical delights. For more varied eats, check out nearby Greensboro or Winston-Salem.