The Charleston Conference Center Hotel offers a conference center for meetings and a 23-hour business center. After work, businessmen can work out their stress at the fitness center or the indoor atrium pool and hot tub.

Guests can also enjoy sumptuous meals at the hotel restaurant or laugh their hearts out at the Comedy Zone. The Charleston Conference Center Hotel also offer a great Comedy Zone package where you get room accommodations, 2 tickets to the Comedy Zone, appetizer and 2 entrees. For more pricing and reservations, call (304) 744-4641 or visit the Charleston Conference Center Hotel website at charlestonconferencecenter.com.

Designed for work and leisure, Wingate by Wyndham’s all-inclusive amenities and complimentary high-speed Internet access in every room guarantees that you get the most out of your trip. Wingate Charleston prides itself on its courteous, efficient and hospitable staff, making it the ideal venue for banquets, luncheons, meetings and seminars. Free shuttle service is also available for guests wanting to explore Charleston.

Whether it’s for business or pleasure, try Wingate Inn next time you’re in Charleston.

Wingate by Wyndham
402 Second Avenue SW
Charleston, WV 25303
Phone: (304) 744-4444

Situated at the heart of Charleston’s new leisure area, Hampton Inn Southridge is just a stone throw’s away from the best shopping, dining and recreation in the city. It’s also just a short drive away from Charleston’s top tourist attractions.

Hampton Inn is designed to cater to business and leisure travelers alike. Executives will surely appreciate the hotel’s fully stocked business center, flexible meeting spaces, high speed Internet access and complimentary transfers to and from the Yeager airport. Families on holiday will also enjoy Hampton Inn’s spacious rooms that can easily fit families of four, indoor pool and hot tub.

Hampton Inn understands how important rest and relaxation is for travelers, whether for business or pleasure. That’s why the hotel has its own fully equipped fitness center, premium cable TV and king-sized beds with Cloud 9 bedding and linens for the most comfortable sleep.

Hampton Inn
1 Preferred Place
Charleston, WV 25309
Telephone: (304) 746-4646
Website: hamptoncharleston.com

How do you find the general vibe of Charleston?
Laid back , very friendly people

Which season is Charleston at its best?
Fall

What do you think is Charleston’s biggest attraction?
Clay Center and Capitol Complex

How would you describe Charleston to someone who hasn’t been here before?
Beautiful and very welcoming

What are your top 5 dining places in Charleston?
Tidewater, Hibachi’s , Taste of Asia, Outback Steakhouse, SOHO’s

What are Charleston’s attractions that every tourists must visit?
Capitol Complex, Power Park, and experience the outdoor life on the Hatfield McCoy Trails

What are the absolute must-try’s for every visitor in Charleston?
Hampton Inn Southridge

What are the cheap thrills that you can enjoy in Charleston?
Walking the boulevard on a beautiful summer day

Traci Kinney have been in the hotel industry for sixteen years. She is a people person and hold family close to her heart. She especially loves the fact that every day brings something new and exciting in the hotel industry. She likes getting to meet wonderful new people, and sincerely enjoy the atmosphere she and her team have formed here at the Hampton Inn Southridge.

How did you get started in your art?
My recollections of the house I lived in till age four was the space under the dining room table where I kept my crayons and drawing supplies, so I can’t remember a beginning. Art was always what engaged me whenever I didn’t have to be doing something else.

What are the major influences in your art?
My most influential teacher was Agnes Huston at Charleston High School. She taught courses in every aspect of art, with all media. Her own paintings were in watercolor which no doubt led me to that preference for my work. Later influences include Gary Fagin at Art Students League in New York, where I honed my drawing skills in the most demanding objective, drawing the figure from life.

What differs your technique from other artists?
I can’t really define that. Some people have called my works expressive realism.

How do you describe the art scene in Charleston?
It is active, and extremely varied in interpretation.

How receptive are the people of Charleston towards your art?
Extremely receptive over the years. My paintings are in many private homes throughout the valley as well as with purchasers who no longer reside here, including Senator Rockefeller. There are collections in local banks, law firms such as Jackson Kelly and institutions such as The University of Charleston and West Virginia State University. The West Virginia Cultural Center has purchased several paintings. I enjoy the challenge of commissions, and have completed many for local firms and individuals, along with many in other parts of the country. They include such varied subjects as a fruit still, life for the cover of Smuckers Annual Report, a montage for a local law firm as a memorial, two golf course paintings, three churches, three dogs, a court house, several gardens, many residences including one in a wooded setting in Redmond, Washington and several from photographs of ancestral homes that are no longer standing; also assorted subjects for four book covers.

What are your favorite art pieces around Charleston?
Definitely the sculpture of the leaping male dancers at the former One Valley Bank building on Summers Street. It gives me a lift every time I pass it.

What particular things in Charleston inspires you to create art?
The proximity to the natural surroundings interest me, and the “front row balcony” views that result from the varying levels of the city. Kanawha State Forest and Coonskin Park are great assets for Charleston.

If you were to create an art piece depicting Charleston, what medium, technique and inspiration would you use?
Of course I would use my preferred medium, watercolor, in whatever manner I would consider appropriate to the subject. My inspiration would evolve after much exploration and contemplation.

Where would you recommend tourists to go for the best place to experience Charleston’s art scene?
First of all, the Irma Byrd Gallery at The University of Charleston, showing a permanent collection of West Virginia women artists. Then the Cultural Center and the Clay Center. Of course I would invite them to my studio to see my current works.

There are two things this Charleston native is passionate about: art and music. Starting from violin studies that catapulted her into chamber music and into the symphony, Betty Warner has been making music for over thirty years. Creating art is equally important — drawing and painting occupies the time in between work and rearing up three beautiful children. To contact Betty Warner please call 304-343-6705 or email her at BettyArts@suddenlink.net.

I had a 9 AM meeting with Bill Gardner, one of the fine people behind www.304blogs.com and www.shoutsandhollers.com. When I went outside, I saw the beautiful snowy landscapes around Charleston.

After leaving this meeting, I went to Taylor Books to purchase the latest book by Malcolm Gladwell (Outliers, which, if it’s half as good as Tipping Point and Blink will be great) and had some hot chocolate.

From Taylor Books, I went to Capitol Market to get some fresh meat from Johnnies Fresh Meat Market and then over to The Purple Onion for some fresh fruit and vegetables.

After leaving Capitol Market, I went to the Art Emporium to look at their feature of 40 colorful and creative masterpieces from children and youth from The East End Family Resource Center. If you haven’t seen this exhibit, it’s worth seeing the works of our youth.

From the Art Emporium, I started to walk home and 4 different people offered me rides along the way (I knew one of the people but the others were simply kind people offering a ride to someone in bad weather).

When I got home, I thought about it a bit and realized that there aren’t many other places where I could walk to these types of places in a short period of time, encounter many wonderful people, purchase things from locally owned businesses and have complete strangers offer rides.

When people ask me “Why Charleston?” my answer is, “until someone can show me other places with similar shops, opportunities and people, why would I consider anywhere else?”

Lawrence Fine
www.whycharlestonwv.com
www.lawrencefine.com

Sitar of India has recently brought back its popular lunchtime buffet, where for $8.99, you can enjoy your Indian favorites like curries (vegetarian and non-vegetarian), masalas, basmati rice and nans.

Sitar of India
702 Lee St E
Charleston, WV 25301
Phone: (304) 346-3745

The Barge Bar & Grill serves usual bar fares on the first floor, while upstairs, appetizers like oyster Rockefeller and crab-stuffed portabella and entrees like Chicken Buerre Blanc and Roasted Vegetable with Neapolitan en Croûte are served. The menu at the restaurant changes with the season to assure the freshest ingredients.

The Barge Bar & Grill
1414 MacCorkle Ave SW
Charleston, WV 25303
Phone: 304-744-2628
Website: www.thebargerestaurant.com

I have been living in Charleston for a year and a half. My sister is a student at WVSU, and after visiting her a few times, I decided to move here after graduating college.

How do you find the general vibe of Charleston?

Charleston is fast-paced and progressive with a unique charm.

Which season is Charleston at its best?

Fall is my favorite season no matter where I am in this state. I think Charleston is especially pretty and peaceful during a nighttime drive through the city lights during Christmas.

What do you think is Charleston’s biggest attraction?

The Town Center Mall draws a large holiday crowd, ArtWalk is a fun local event, and the Regatta brings people into Charleston from all over the country.

How would you describe Charleston to someone who hasn’t been here before?

A diverse, creative city with a little something for everyone.

What are your top 5 dining places in Charleston?

CoCo Chinese Restaurant
TGIF’s
Red Lobster
Rio Grande
Outback Steakhouse

What are Charleston’s attractions that every tourist must visit?

Downtown’s ArtWalk
The Capitol
The Clay Center
Town Center Mall
Blossom Deli

What are the absolute must-try’s for every visitor in Charleston?

Lorobi’s Pizza and Ellen’s Homemade Ice Cream

What are the cheap thrills that you can enjoy in Charleston?

You can come visit us at the Art Emporium @ 823 Quarrier St. We won’t charge you a dime, and you can view pottery, paintings, photography, jewelry, and more from great local artists.

As an art gallery assistant, Jenifer Sheets is continuously plugging ArtWalk and the Art Emporium. She is also pursuing her education in interior decorating. In between all this, Jenifer enjoy painting and creating with clay. Her work can be viewed at www.jenis1321.etsy.com.