Charleston Kaleidoscope - 2

I was a day ago walking around with my camera in the picturesque lanes of Charleston's Down Town. It was probably for the last time and I took the chance to say a quiet "Good Bye" to all the lovely and pretty places, before we will be leaving this wonderful town.

I don't like to go away from here because I know, I will miss all this beauty of the Southern lifestyle and hospitality!

I will miss also all the historical places and corners, all the big and impressive houses and the stories behind!

I will miss also all the pretty small houses, hidden away in private backyards!

And I will miss also all the many beautiful galleries where we spent many hours looking to the great art of artists from and about "The Lowcountry" here in South Carolina. Yes, Charleston is magic, Charleston is beautiful and Charleston will have always a special place in my heart!


There will be more "Good Bye" photos posted in the next days, stay with me!

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My first photo book about Key West is published now!
A pretty book not only for Key West fans...!
"Good Times in Key West - Seven Years in Paradise"
You can see a preview and place your order here


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ALL my CALENDARS 2009 are still available here:

* KEY WEST CALENDARS 2009
* CHARLESTON CALENDARS 2009
* FLORIDA CALENDARS 2009
* FLOWER CALENDARS 2009

Postcards from Charleston #2

Carriage tours on Kings Street

Flowers, flowers everywhere...

Sight through the fence

Light and shadows - and colorful houses

And peaceful places with inviting benches, this all is Charleston!



Well, we are happy again. The storm is over, moved up North and was not that bad at all, nothing close to that what they were predicting. We got a lot of rain and almost no wind or gusts and here where I'm living it felt like no storm at all, just rain and nothing else.

Coming from Key West I know now how to handle Hurricanes and evacuations and just now I'm crossing my fingers for my friends down there, who HAVE to evacuate from "Ike" coming pretty soon over the island.

Hot Summer Day in Down Town

Summer is the time of all kind of outdoor activities. Some people like to do sport, some people like to be at the beach and this guy here you will see allover town doing his great plain air paintings on canvas. He is a nice and interesting guy, my husband and I had a small talk with him about art, life and his paintings of course.

Charlestons Beautyful Architecture

Why am I not living in these gorgeous houses at South Battery in Charleston?

Well, I guess I have to work much harder from now on to earn the money it needs to pay the mortgage on these beautiful preferred living spaces.....! :-)

My Wordless Sunday #19 - in Charleston SC

Tuesday Specials #6 - on Friday

Many people wrote me in their comments that they can see similarity in the houses of Key West with the houses of Charleston - and I think they are right. This picture is my husband David's painting of a house in Key West and one of my favorites!

When Tuesday Specials comes on a Friday....

I had an idea about supporting my husband’s fine art paintings. I am going to call it “The Tuesday Specials” and every Tuesday I will present one painting from his collection of Key West pictures.

The pictures are from original paintings done in Acrylic and/or Oil…and some of them are already in famous collections all over the globe. The originals that are available for purchase range in price from $ 695 to $ 4,500 based on sizes. There are also prints available.

For more details see our website: www.vanhulstart.com

On That Lazy Afternoon....

A hidden water fountain

Big beautiful porches on Meeting Street

A beautiful house, a nice sculpture and wonderful cypress trees in this pretty garden, also on Meeting Street

This are some details from my recent walk in Down Town,
seen on King Street

A Down Town Stroll

The Custom House

The glass facade of the Art Institute of Charleston

First Presbyterian Church, founded in 1731

Nathaniel Russel House (1808) at Meeting Street, a property of
Historic Charleston Foundation

James Simmons House, founded at 1760 at 37 Meeting Street

House Fronts

I love to find pretty architectural details in all those wonderful Charleston houses: nice porches, wonderful house doors or gates or like in these series: all kind of so beautiful house fronts.

"The Battery"

It was a nice walk along "The Battery" to see these big and wonderful architectures at the waterfront, overlooking the harbor.

These East Bay and Battery Park homes in Charleston, SC reflect the prosperity that was prevalent in South Carolina during the era of 1843.

The Battery is also home to some of the city's most lavish residences, including the historic Edmonston-Alston house, the Calhoun Mansion and the Palmer Home (also known as the Pink Palace).

read more about "The Battery" here

All the pretty Streets and Corners...

We walked the streets of Charleston
And we watched the little one's play.
You reached out and grabbed my hand
Said we can bring ours here someday.



...and here we are today! :-)


read the whole poem here

Charleston Architecture

Among the many reasons for Charleston's universal appeal is the historic architecture of its downtown neighborhoods. The extent of classic Georgia, Federal, Adamesque, Greek Revival, Italianate, and Victoria homes is unparalleled anywhere else in America, but is featured block after block throughout the Charleston peninsula.

I love the architecture of Charleston and I promise you, there will be coming more photographs of wonderful places like these.

Read more about Charleston and its fine architecture here:

South Carolina's State Flag and the Palmetto Tree

The South Carolina State Flag

Asked by the Revolutionary Council of Safety in the fall of 1775 to design a flag for the use of South Carolina troops, Col. William Moultrie chose a blue which matched the color of their uniforms and a crescent which reproduced the silver emblem worn on the front of their caps. The palmetto tree was added later to represent Moultrie's heroic defense of the palmetto-log fort on Sullivan's Island against the attack of the British fleet on June 28, 1776.

Read more here

Sabal palmetto, also known as Cabbage Palm, Palmetto, Cabbage Palmetto, and Sabal Palm,

is one of 15 species of palmetto palm (Arecaceae, genus Sabal). It is native to the southeastern United States, Cuba, and the Bahamas. In the United States it occurs throughout Florida and coastal Georgia Coastal South Carolina and North Carolina. Although historically reported from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, this population has long been extirpated. It is the state tree of South Carolina and Florida.

Sabal palmetto grows up to 20 m in height, with a trunk up to 60 cm diameter. It is a fan palm (Arecaceae tribe Corypheae), with the leaves with a bare petiole terminating in a rounded fan of numerous leaflets. Each leaf is 1.5-2 m long, with 40-60 leaflets up to 80 cm long. The flowers are yellowish-white, 5 mm across, produced in large compound panicles up to 2.5 m long, extending out beyond the leaves. The fruit is a black drupe about 1 cm long containing a single seed. It is extremely salt-tolerant and is often seen growing near the Atlantic Ocean coast, and also frost-tolerant, surviving short periods of temperatures as low as -14 °C.

Read more about here

First Strolling in DownTown Charleston

This is another reason why they call Charleston "The Holy City".
There are beautiful old churches everywhere.

The Gibbes Museum of Art

One of the so many characteristic buildings in Charleston.

The "Old Slave Mart" Museum

The Charleston Market Hall
and Sheds mark the location of the old Market, now a National Historic Landmark. The land was donated by the Pinckney family in 1788, to be used as a market. The first market burned in 1838; the present structure dates to 1841. Fresh meat and produce were sold here. Today, Market has all manner of goods. This is an excellent place to browse, even if you have no intention of buying anything. On the second floor is a small local museum, courtesy of the Daughters of the American Revolution.