CHARLESTON BIRTHDAY "SWELLABRATION" #1.

Jamey sent me these 2 beautiful bowls for my birthday. They are made of polymer clay. I adore them.

I think we had the most spacious and prettiest room at the Vendue Inn. Worth every penny! There was complimentary sherry on the fireplace mantle. Chocolate truffles at turn down service (with a quote of the day and weather forecast) and milk and cookies in the lobby at 9 p.m. And complimentary Starbucks coffee in the a.m...but you hadda go across the street to fetch it. THANKS C.J. and Jamey for getting the coffee.

4 Girls and one bathroom. It worked out pretty well. Glad we had double sinks.

The Vendue is FULL of original art. In the rooms, halls, lobby and everywhere else. We LOVED it.

Girls in sunglasses...C.J., Kay & Jamey. We arrived very hungry and hurried up to the 3 level rooftop bar for drinks and food. Yummy....the pimento cheese and bacon sandwich was REALLY yummy. There were great views of the river. Pretty cool that Kay & I arrived from Austin....C.J. from Dallas and Jamey drove from Augusta, GA....yet we managed to meet up at the airport and cab together to the Historic District.

Porcelain wall art on the rooftop wall.

Every afternoon from 4 to 5 p.m. the hotel offers free wine and cheese etc. It was very relaxing and nice. They also sent up a complimentary bottle of birthday champagne on our first night there....top drawer!

The Vendue Inn is made from a full block of old warehouses and is only a block or two from the water. We stayed in the newly remodeled side pictured here. Across the street is the older side which will be remodeled soon. Nice, small, boutique-y. The staff was sooooo kind and friendly.

This fountain was at the end of the street from our hotel.

Our first night....the sun was setting, the boats were sailin' and we saw a dolphin...a very nice long stroll. We walked all the way down to "rainbow row". It's a block of colorfully painted houses. I missed alot of pictures...we were REALLY tired. That's Ft. Sumter over on the left w/ the flag.

This is the pineapple fountain. It was under renovation when we were there...I was bummed. I took this picture off the internet. Pineapples mean "welcome".

Three of my best girlfriends...we're just missing Patty & Valerie. Flowering window boxes were everywhere in Charleston.

Kay had a great time greeting most of the dogs we saw downtown...and there were alot of dogs of all kinds. She's saying "Hi" to Franklin. Everybody was walking their pups and taking them to a nearby dog park.

There were lots and lots of gas lights on the streets...both at private residences and commercial places.

Sweetgrass baskets etc. at the market. This is an old, old part of the lowcountry. Now it's considered an art form and very collectible and very expensive. They are very tightly woven and the patterns are intricate.

Our hotel also offered bicycles to ride for free....free is good. Nice bikes. We didn't partake.

Little boxes of chocolates in our hotel room. I had the "we're swell" buttons especially made since it was my birthday swellabration.

A view from the hotel rooftop. Again....don't miss that pimento cheese and bacon sandwich....I'm going to make it at home! We found pimento cheese, fried green tomatoes, grits & she crab soup on almost every single menu. (I passed on the grits.)

We went to the market that has been there for a couple of hundred years. You can find ANYTHING at the market. This lady had melted records...which I've done but hers look alot better than mine did.