Charleston, SC travel service provider Vacation Inspirations has launched a new Sydney tour package

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Charleston, SC travel service provider Vacation Inspirations has launched a new Sydney tour package. Launched on the 3rd of February, the package includes experiences of the city’s iconic Sydney Opera House, Sydney Tower Eye, with dining, shopping, and adventure experiences for individuals, couples, and families.

Charleston, United States – February 12, 2019 /PressCable/ — Charleston, SC travel service provider Vacation Inspirations announced the launch of a Sydney vacation holiday package. The package features visits to all major sights, shopping, dining, and entertainment experiences that the city has to offer.

More information about Vacation Inspirations is available at http://vacationinspirations.blogspot.com

The Sydney holiday package offer commenced on the 3rd of February and offers a tour of the city’s must-see architectural and cultural sites including Sydney Opera House, Darling Harbour, Circular Quay, and the exquisite Royal Botanic Garden. The visit covers a visit to the city’s historic The Rocks, just a short distance from the Sydney Harbour Bridge with opportunities to discover the region’s colonial past and its confluence with open-air markets, street food, and fashion.

The Vacation Inspirations package also features a visit to the city’s vantage point, the Sydney Tower Eye and SkyWalk, a 360-degree view of the harbor and the city skyline. The tour also features visits to family-friendly Taronga Zoo and an all-day visit to surfer paradise, Bondi Beach.

The Vacation Inspirations team provides members and travelers with a customized blend of luxury and affordability, crafting unique travel experiences for individuals, couples, families, and larger groups. The company’s travel arrangements include assistance with flights, hotel and condominium accommodation, transportation, and other special amenities and services.

Vacation Inspirations also shares trip ideas on their facebook page which can be found at https://www.facebook.com/vacationinspirations/

According to a spokesperson for the Charleston, SC lifestyle travel management agency, “We are delighted to announce the launch of an immersive yet affordable new package that showcases the beauty and eclectic lifestyle of one of Australia’s beacons to the world—the beautiful city of Sydney. Our team focuses on customizing travel plans so our clients can enjoy their experience.”

Vacation Inspirations offers travel experience planning, international cruise experiences, discounted condo deals, and other world-class excursions within its global network of travel providers. More information is available at the URL above.

Contact Info:
Name: Doreen Batts
Organization: Vacation Inspirations
Address: 229 Meeting St., Charleston, SC 29401, United States
Phone: +1-877-642-8747
Website: https://www.vacationinspirations.com/

Source: PressCable

Release ID: 481421

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College of Charleston Among Top Producing Institutions for Fulbright Scholarships

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State Department Announces Fulbright Top Producing Institutions Share

The U.S. Department of State is pleased to announce that the lists of more than 150 U.S. higher education institutions that sent the most Fulbright U.S. Students and Scholars abroad in academic year 2018-2019 are now available. The lists highlight the Fulbright Program’s strong institutional diversity and positive impact on American communities.

The State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, in collaboration with the Institute of International Education, compiles the lists, which are organized by Carnegie Classification.

Topping this year’s lists of Research, Master’s, Bachelor’s, and Special-focus 4-year institutions that sent the most U.S. students abroad on the Fulbright Program are Brown University (RI), Saint Edward’s University (TX), Williams College (MA), and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (IL). The University of South Florida-Main Campus, College of Charleston (SC), Appalachian State University (NC), Colgate University (NY), Middlebury College (VT), Trinity College (CT), Northern Virginia Community College (VA), and CUNY Borough of Manhattan Community College (NY) sent the most Fulbright U.S. Scholars in the Research, Master’s, Bachelor’s and Baccalaureate/Associate categories.

Twenty-six U.S. community colleges and several special focus four-year institutions also sent Fulbright U.S. Scholars abroad in 2018-2019 and are recognized in the top producing lists. For a full list of the institutions by category, please visit the Fulbright Online website.

Since its inception in 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided more than 380,000 participants—chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential—with the opportunity to exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns. Over 1,900 U.S. students, artists, and early career professionals in more than 100 fields of study receive Fulbright U.S. Student Program awards annually to study, teach English, and conduct research overseas. More than 800 U.S. scholars, artists and professionals teach or conduct research overseas through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program annually.

Interested media should contact the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at eca-press@state.gov.

Charleston Month of Love – Discovering You: Original Poem

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By Mark A. Leon

I love the idea of discovering you
The unchartered corners of your body
The wet canvas deep beyond your lips
The tremor of your volcanic heart racing to an explosive climax

I don’t remember who met who or how
I just know I can’t live a moment without your touch

It’s erotic innocence
Lustful romance
You terrorize me with your passion like no other

A spell you have over me

There is no evidence of a heavenly place, but when I am inside of you, I feel something undefined that no scientist has discovered

It is that place between existence and fantasy when heat and fire burn away the flesh

A seamless transition from the silky black pantyhose decorating your long sultry legs to the curves of your hips thrusting and teasing my body

My fingers shake as I feel I am penetrating the forbidden fruit
That corner in the garden restricted from the weak
Warning to the strong

Unchaining this oppression, my body is your temple
Unlock my doors and let me be your sinful doll

I’m but a dreamer, but you are the light the erases this darkness

Your moans are a song
A melody of passion

Each kiss unleashes a new wave reaching for the skies
A gentle bite to the nipple, a stream of kisses down your stomach
A clench of your thighs

With a hair toss and a throttle, I am your vehicle
Fueled by your deep penetration

Love and tenderness whispering signals to the instinct of heated passion

Now you lie motionless except for the soft breath leaping from your tiny lips
Body and sheets in one artful masterpiece

I trail my fingers through your hair, whisper verses of love and close my eyes

Charleston Month of Love: I Love the Way You Love – Original Poem

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By Mark A. Leon

I love the way you love

The dance in the middle of the park without music, without an audience but a story of a princess and the ball running through your head
The mornings when the aroma of coffee and the warmth of the rising sun remind me of home

It is in the heart that you share
The compassion for the weak that makes you strong

If I could feel the love you feel, I would know the answers I have sought as I journey to this sunset
On this horse named Hope, I ride without direction
Listening for your heartbeat

You hug as if it is the first time seeing me
Holding tight, reminding without words the importance of touch

You laugh with the strength of Hercules; cry with the devastation of Pompeii

Patience
So much patience
One step at a time
Birth to twilight

When you close your eyes as the wind brushes back your hair, there is a connection with nature most can never understand

I love the way you love
All things
All dreams

In the rain, you see re-birth
A cleansing of the soul
The rest run

At night, you embrace the silence
In the crowds and the screaming, the embrace of life

I love that you believe in the greater good
Humanity is a gift you unwrap once strand at a time
Mental nakedness lets you feel

I love the way you love
In you, I continue to learn

CrossFit Charleston Launches Nutrition Coaching

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Nutrition program open to the public; kicks off with free Feb. 24 seminar

WANDO, S.C. – CrossFit Charleston is now offering nutrition coaching both to its members and the general public. CrossFit Charleston Nutrition is designed to provide individuals with an easy, science-based approach to nutrition and wellness. The program uses simple behavior modification strategies to create positive change without the stress of “dieting.”

CrossFit Charleston, located just off Clements Ferry Road, has partnered with Healthy Steps Nutrition on this program. Meal plans are written by registered dietitian Nicole Aucoin who empowers clients to make lifestyle changes. Healthy Steps Nutrition works with CrossFit affiliates and other nutrition programs around the country.

CrossFit Charleston Nutrition coaching clients receive:

  • 4 weeks customized meal plans (with grocery lists)
  • Goal setting
  • Comprehensive Nutrition Handbook
  • 3-compartment container
  • Biometric testing (weight, body fat and measurements)
  • Access to Healthy Steps Nutrition App
  • Ongoing accountability, resources and support

“At CrossFit Charleston, we’re putting a focus on nutrition because it’s what will help people achieve their goals,” said Holly Fisher, CrossFit Charleston co-owner and nutrition coach. “Nutrition is truly the foundation of good health. It’s not just about how you look, but about how you feel.

“We have people coming into our facility who want to lose weight, improve their overall health or enhance their athletic performance,” Fisher said. “Those only can be achieved through eating correctly. We’re excited to have a program that teaches people to make realistic habits that will guide them to lifelong health and wellness.”

CrossFit Charleston Nutrition coaching is open to the general public. Details and pricing are available at http://crossfitcharleston.fitness/nutrition. A lifelong fitness plan is available for those who want unlimited CrossFit classes and ongoing nutrition coaching.

CrossFit Charleston is hosting a nutrition seminar from 4-5 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 24 at its facility at 450 Deanna Lane #B2, just off Clements Ferry Road in the Wando area. The event is free and open to the public. Participants will receive a free nutrition guide, information on meal planning and tips for small daily behavior changes that will go a long way toward developing healthy eating habits. RSVP by emailing nutrition@crossfitcharleston.fitness. For questions, call 843-790-5811.

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Francis Marion Hotel in Charleston, South Carolina turns 95 today – First Opened its doors on February 7, 1924

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Today, one of Charleston’s architectural jewels and landmarks is celebrating a very special day. 95 Years Ago Today, February 7, 1924, the Francis Marion Hotel, standing proudly on the corner of King and Calhoun opened its doors for the first time. Let us learn a little bit more of the proud history in words and pictures.

Happy Birthday Francis Marion Hotel!!! Cheers to you.

Vintage Postcard

History of the Francis Marion Hotel

Meticulously restored in 1996 with a National Trust for Historic Preservation award-winning restoration, the Francis Marion Hotel now combines 1920s style and grace with 21st-century comfort and convenience in the heart of historic Charleston on Marion Square. Rising 12 stories, many of the hotel’s 234 guestrooms and suites offer spectacular views of Charleston’s historic harbor, church steeples, and legendary King Street. Its central downtown location is an easy walk from the antebellum homes, magnificent gardens, antique shops, boutiques, and world-class restaurants.

Vintage Postcard

The historic Francis Marion Hotel, named for the Revolutionary War hero Francis Marion, the “Swamp Fox,” has a long tradition of gracious service and elegant accommodations, hosting splendid banquets and events dating back to its opening in 1924. Built by local investors at a cost of $1.5 million from plans by New York architect W.L. Stoddard, the Francis Marion was the largest and grandest hotel in the Carolinas. The 1920s was the Golden Age of railroads, radio and grand hotels–the Charleston Renaissance was in full bloom and the Francis Marion Hotel was “the place to be.”

History credit by historichotels.org

Photo Credit – Header – The Telegraph

Charleston Based Blackbaud Introduces Purchase Cards and Expense Management in Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT®

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Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB), the world’s leading cloud software company powering social good, today announced its new Blackbaud Purchase Cards, which provide social good organizations with an efficient and convenient…

CHARLESTON, S.C., Feb. 5, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB), the world’s leading cloud software company powering social good, today announced its new Blackbaud Purchase Cards, which provide social good organizations with an efficient and convenient alternative to traditional procurement methods and paper-based payables processes such as checks, purchase orders, and invoices. Blackbaud Purchase Cards enable organizations to set spend controls for individual cardholders, track business expenses across the organization, and ensure that policies are being enforced-all through a user-friendly online portal. Blackbaud Purchase Cards will soon integrate with Expense Management in Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT®, enabling non-financial staff members to track and submit their own credit card transactions and invoice requests for approval, drastically reducing the staff time required to manage this process.

“Blackbaud is committed to helping our customers improve operational efficiency and maximize mission delivery,” said Kevin Gregoire, president, Enterprise Market Group at Blackbaud. “We are excited to work with Regions Bank to deepen this commitment with the introduction of Blackbaud Purchase Cards, which help enable social good organizations to make the transition to automated purchasing and employee expense processes-drastically reducing administrative costs and fraud risk.”

Blackbaud is working with Regions Bank to issue chipped Visa® cards to social good customers to use for travel and operational purchases. Blackbaud Purchase Cards, which come with no annual fee, are available to customers in the United States with approved credit. Additional benefits include automatic annual cash back on all purchases, Visa® Signature Business benefits including travel coverage and liability waiver, and 24/7 access to a secure online portal for purchase card program management.

“Regions has a commitment to improving our communities and making banking easier for all those we serve,” said Jay Darnell, senior vice president, Commercial Card Group at Regions Bank. “We look forward to working with Blackbaud to provide their customers with more flexibility, convenience and control through the new Purchase Cards.”

According to the RPMG Research Corporation’s 2017 North American Purchasing Card Benchmark Survey,   annual purchasing card usage is expected to grow 10.5% per year through 2021. The report also states that-compared to traditional payment methods-purchase cards can lead to benefits such as reduction in procurement cycle time, increased savings through supplier discounts, and working capital and cash flow improvements. Blackbaud will address these needs with its new purchase card offering along with its deep integration with Expense Management in Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT.

Blackbaud Purchase Cards and Expense Management deliver a robust accounts payable and expense solution-from core accounting system to the method of payment-to enable customers to decentralize daily purchasing while implementing and monitoring the right controls in a scalable way. With Blackbaud Purchase Cards and Expense Management in Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT, customers can:

  • Set spend limits and authorization controls-unique to each cardholder-on everything from vendor type to amount and frequency of cash advances
  • Give their non-financial staff members secure access to track and submit their own expenses directly in Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT
  • Provide their finance teams with maximum visibility and control of organizational spending with secure, reliable purchase card integration
  • Make timelier payments and gain greater insight into vendor spend to negotiate better rates based on spend volume
  • Reduce the need for burdensome, paper-based processes-such as purchase orders, invoices, checks, requisitions, and approvals-to alleviate administrative effort and simplify reconciliation

“With Expense Management in Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT, I can easily log in to the system to review expense requests and transactions-and even drill into each line item to view details and attachments,” said Tracee Wright, development assistant at Commemorative Air Force. “Because credit card transactions are automatically populated in the system, I have the information needed to proactively reach out to cardholders when additional documentation is needed. It’s such a huge time savings to have everything in one place.”

Customers are already experiencing the benefits of Blackbaud Purchase Cards and the insights that it provides to organizations’ financial teams. “With much of the data prefilled, it was so simple to complete the online application process for the Blackbaud Purchase Card,” said Regina De Hoyos, associate chief financial officer, StarCare Specialty Health System. “The online portal is easy to use, and it allows me to do everything from setting limits by user to reviewing and downloading cardholder statements.”

For more information on Blackbaud Purchase Cards, click here. For more information on Expense Management, click here.

Click to Tweet: Now available: @Blackbaud Purchase Cards from @askRegions and Expense Management in Financial Edge NXT help social good organizations more efficiently manage financial processes https://blkb.co/2Uzy72D

About Blackbaud
Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB) is the world’s leading cloud software company powering social good. Serving the entire social good community-nonprofits, foundations, companies, education institutions, healthcare organizations and individual change agents-Blackbaud connects and empowers organizations to increase their impact through cloud software, services, expertise, and data intelligence. The Blackbaud portfolio is tailored to the unique needs of vertical markets, with solutions for fundraising and CRM, marketing, advocacy, peer-to-peer fundraising, corporate social responsibility, school management, ticketing, grantmaking, financial management, payment processing, and analytics. Serving the industry for more than three decades, Blackbaud is headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina and has operations in the United States, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit www.blackbaud.com, or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

Most Dangerous States for Pedestrians – Where Does South Carolina Rank?

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In the past decade, the number of people struck and killed while walking increased by 35 percent. The last two years on record (2016 and 2017) were the most deadly years for people killed by drivers while walking since 1990.

Every year, Dangerous by Design releases an annual survey of pedestrian fatalities and ranks states by incidences and danger levels.

This year, South Carolina came in as the 10th most dangerous with an index of 107.8. Within the state, two regions made the top 20 in the nation,

  • Greenville / Anderson / Mauldin – South Carolina #15 in the nation
  • August / Richmond County – Georgia/South Carolina #20 in the nation

Full Study Results

Happy Birthday Rosa Parks – Inspirational quotes from a true inspiration

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Today would mark the 106th birthday of Rosa Park (February 4,  1913).  A civil rights activist and patron of equality, Ms. Parks represented the essence of strength and courage, not only for blacks and females, but for millions around the world.

In honor of her birthday, we would like to share some of Rosa Parks most inspiration quotes

Quotes of Rosa Parks

“I would like to be known as a person who is concerned about freedom and equality and justice and prosperity for all people.”

“Each person must live their life as a model for others.”

“I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.”

“No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in.”

“I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.”

“Each person must live their life as a model for others.”

“Racism is still with us. But it is up to us to prepare our children for what they have to meet, and, hopefully, we shall overcome.”

“I would like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free… so other people would be also free.”

“Memories of our lives, of our works and our deeds will continue in others.”

“Have you ever been hurt and the place tries to heal a bit, and you just pull the scar off of it over and over again.”

“I knew someone had to take the first step and I made up my mind not to move.”

“All I was doing was trying to get home from work.I would like to be known as a person who is concerned about freedom and equality and justice and prosperity for all people.”

Month of Charleston Love: ‘Love is Everything’ – Original Poem

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By Mark A. Leon

Love is everything
Everything
Without it, we are invisible

Invisible to the sound of a morning rain
Invisible to the smile of a rose blossoming in Spain
Invisible to the sight of long slow kiss
In this life, there is so much we can miss

Love is enchanting like a warm summer breeze
A tingle, a wink, a sigh, a touch of a cool spring day

It is the reason we rise
The struggle to survive
The euphoria of time
The essence of rhyme

Love breathes
It protects
A blanket so safe

A song
A whisper
A kind eye

With the simplicity of words
Words spoken in the air
Linger, journey, invite you near

Take hold
Take flight
Find meaning
Stop thinking; just be
A disease infecting my very soul

Love is everything
Meant to be lost
To be found

Hold for a second
A risk
Take a picture
Keep it for all time
It will last forever
With the winds of change, I will be reminded of the smile that has stopped in time

With the strength of a thousand “I Love Yous”
I feel so alive now
So alive with you

You are the escape I have dreamed about
An imaginary world come true

With you, love is everything