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Bring the brilliance of the season inside. Save 10% on Maine Cottage furniture through October.
Maine Cottage loves being on Upper King Street. They make furnishing your home easy and fun. It just got even easier as every Maine Cottage fabric is now protected by state-of-the-art spill proof, stain proof Nano-Tex.
Now go get yourself some color!
John Street Jazz at Gallery Chuma features Charleston's first lady of jazz and finest vocalist, Ann Caldwell, with her ensemble LooseFitt. Enjoy some cool, relazing music and a lovely reception by Gullah Cuisine on Sunday, September 28 from 3-5 pm and again from 5-7. Gallery Chuma is at 43 John Street. Tickets are $20 and can be ordered from MOJA Festival Box office at Gaillard Auditorium or online at ticketmaster.com.
California Closets of Charleston is much more than just closets. The Upper King Street store is featuring this traditional styled library available as a custom-quoted design specific to your space. The library pictured here has adjustable shelves, crown molding and a custom countertop with a Roman Walnut finish.
They have designs to improve the space in family and media rooms, home offices and hobby rooms, mudrooms, entry halls and pantries.
In room after room, California Closets can assist you in transforming and enhancing your living space. You will end up with an orderly way to accommodate all you need to store and a certain calm and dignity of thought to focus on the things that are truly meaningful to your life.
The over-stuffed leather chair in the middle of this library setting is available at Morris Sokol Furniture located in the Upper King Design District in historic Charleston.
With Charleston's largest display of furniture and accessories Morris Sokol is family-owned and operated and been in business since 1921. They have over 36,000 square feet of display space and feature premier brands including Lexington, Century, Stanley, Lloyd Flanders, Summer Classics and more.
The Francis Marion Hotel, Charleston’s Grand Hotel of the 1920’s, will be showcasing why our town made history with a “Roaring Twenties Experience.” 
Your personal experience begins with a lavish candlelit four-course dinner in the casually elegant Swamp Fox Restaurant & Bar. Then, step out of modern times and immerse yourself in Charleston’s exciting past at one of our unique, premier museums. Available September 24-November 30, 2008
Doin’ the Charleston Package Includes:
• A renovated guest room with new sleek décor reminiscent of the 1920s, with breath-taking views of Charleston ’s famous harbor
• A special 1924 four-course dinner for two in the Swamp Fox Restaurant & Bar
• Two tickets to one of Charleston ’s premier museums
• Turn down service complete with chocolates
$279 Sunday-Thursday
$329 Friday and Saturday nights
* Add Breakfast for Two Guests for $19.24
The Francis Marion Hotel, located in the heart of the Upper King Design District in historic Charleston, South Carolina, was the largest and grandest in the Carolinas when it opened in 1924. Named for General Francis Marion, the "Swamp Fox" of the American Revolution, the Francis Marion Hotel in Charleston re-opened in 1996 after a $12 million National Trust award-winning restoration, and is once again Charleston's Grand Hotel.
Guests at the Francis Marion Charleston Hotel can enjoy classic Southern cuisine for breakfast, lunch and dinner in the Swamp Fox Restaurant and Bar, cocktails and jazz piano music in the Swamp Fox bar, and complete spa services at Spa Adagio.
Fish. You cannot beat this combination. Buttery J. Lohr Arroyo Vista Chardonnay recommended by Evan, just one of the friendly, fuss-over-you staff. Then the Charlton Singleton Trio cranks up and I'm in my favorite, mellow place. I could sit here all night, I could live here. Celeste joins me and we share clams and bread, and more J. Lohr. Did I tell you wine is half off from 5:30-8:00? It just keeps getting better. Fish.
Opening No. 1 MOJA Arts Festival Juried Art Exhibition Opening Reception & Awards Ceremony on Sunday, September 21, 2008 from 5:30-7pm at the Avery Research Center, 125 Bull Street.
Artists selected to participate in this year's exhibition are Justine Alexander, Lynda English, Stephanie Goodwin, Bob Graham, Tabby Jenkins, Pat Keown, Susan Lenz, Lee Machen, Hamed Mahmoodi, Carol McGill, Dorothy Montgomery, Susan Nuttall, Lidia Richardson, Ivy Rosset, Addelle Sanders, Edward Shmunes, Kathy O. Smith, Kevin L. Smith, LaToya C. Thompson, Karen Vecchioni, Mary Walker, Marcella Welch, Jaclyn Wukela. This year's juror, Leroy Campbell was the 1995 MOJA Arts Festival Poster Artist.
Opening No. 2 - The MOJA Arts Festival Opening Thursday, September 25, with a reception at the Charleston Museum, 360 Meeting Street from 6-8pm. Meet the 2008 MOJA Poster Artist and South Carolina native, Jonathan Green for the 25th anniversary of the festival and enjoy sumptuous Caribbean cuisine catered by Joe's Catering.
Opening No. 3 - October 3rd, Dunes Properties presents Brownie Harris, 40 Years of Portraiture, reception at The Real Estate Studio, 214 King Street from 6-9 pm. It will be an exhibition of extraordinary photography with glimpses into the lives and spirits of John F. Kennedy
Jr., Miles Davis, James Earl Jones, Truman Capote, Sophia Loren, as well as local legends Ben Long, William McCullough and Tyler
Blanton and many more. The exhibition will continue through December 1.
Earth angel, earth angel
Will you be mine?
My darling dear
Love you all the time
I'm just a fool
A fool in love with you
Yes, nostalgic fools, you can see the Platters at Charleston Music Hall on Saturday, September 27th at 8pm. Not only that--you can help support North Charleston High School. A portion of the proceeds from this concert will be utilized to fund the cost of field trips and other educational ventures that students would normally have to forgo. Purchase tickets at Etix, and enjoy the show.
It’s the typical promotional circuit: The Today Show, The View, The New York Times, The Colbert Report, The Blue Bike.
But on Sat. Sept. 20, 1 - 3 pm, Charla Muller will sign copies of 365 Nights: A Memoir of Intimacy.
"One thing we really like about this book is it was born as a birthday gift and, unlike pretty much every other in the hot new 'Do something crazy for a year' genre, not a book proposal. For his 40th birthday, Charla gave her husband Brad sex every night, for a year.
Charla is a friend of a friend from Charlotte and just delightful. She feels the national media have tried to sensationalize this 'sweet, modest, g-rated' book about a marriage, so please come and meet her and get the real story." said Jonathan Sanchez, owner of Blue Bicycle Books. It's an opportunity to join a national discourse about intimacy. Or just an opportunity to meet a wildly successful author. Whatever. Come to the book signing at Blue Bike, 420 King Street, pick up the book, then go to Cupcake. Everybody else does.
CNN Travel recently picked up Cassandra M. Vanhooser's Southern Living storyline and gave Upper King Street a national --and international --mention.
"Shoppers have long been seduced by the wares of Charleston's merchants, with the crème de la crème located on King Street. But these days, the spotlight is on Upper King, that section of the thoroughfare marked by Spring Street to the north and Calhoun to the south.
"More than 75 neighborhood merchants -- including some of the country's top home-accessories retailers and interior designers -- recently banded together to form the new Upper King Design District. They're a tight-knit group, says Lucas, committed to offering the best products and customer service. It's impossible to list them all, but Lesesne, B'ZAR, Dwelling, Maine Cottage and Cupcake rank among our favorites.
To see a complete list of shops, restaurants and arts groups, visit www.upperkingdesigndistrict.com."
Email us
for a pdf copy of the Southern Living article. As for the rush of folks coming to Upper King Street as a result of all the attention we've been getting, you can stay at the Francis Marion Hotel, where they'll take good care of you. Eat at Fish (order the dim sum) Juanita Greenberg's (margaritas and fish tacos), Monza (everything, and the best coffee) and the Swamp Fox (that shrimp & grits martini is still my favorite). Now there's a nice getaway!
Following in the footsteps of last season's popular Argentine Wine Tasting prior to their wildly successful Twisted Tango performance, Charleston Ballet Theatre in conjunction with The Upper King Design District will host a spectacular pre-show soiree on the opening night of Carmen. California Closets will play host to a Sangria Siesta in their spectacular showroom on Friday, October 3rd at 6:00 pm. The sumptuous event will be replete with refreshing Sangrias, an array of delectable tapas, and the sound of live spanish guitar. Guests for the evening are encouraged to wear festive colorful attire and can expect surprises to match the steamy and alluring charms of the Carmen performance. The Sangria Siesta is for that evening's ticket holders only, so be sure to get yours. California Closets is located at 502 King Street.
Tickets are $32 and $30 and go on sale September 17. Purchase by calling the Charleston Ballet Theatre at 843.723.7334, visiting the box office at 477 King Street or ordering online at www.charlestonballet.org.
Click the Ballet link (right) to see the full season. In addition to the great lineup, there are special performances, one to benefit the Center for Women in October, and an Upper King Magical Mystery Surprize in January. Watch this space for more!
