A Birthday/Christmas Shopping Expedition!

It isn’t just the fact that my better half has a birthday in December…it’s more to the fact that her ‘birthday’ celebration begins in mid-November and stretches on to the third of January!  Consequently, shopping and meals out come to a crescendo during this period.  Only a little of it relates to Christmas either…

So Laurie had been wanting to visit a decor, craft/antique/gift, food, bath and body and clothing destination in Chattanooga and I had to ensure that this birthday wish came true!

This is the front of Vinterest South near downtown Chattanooga.  It’s the second store created by a couple with extensive retail experience.  She was a regional manager for a big box retailer and he owned a restaurant and bar and also was a sales and territorial manager.  One plus, he has some serious carpentry skills…as is readily visible with the store’s display structures.

Vinterest South (as well as Vinterest North I’m sure) has a large selection of antiques, vintage and vintage inspired items, furniture, home décor items, Do-it-Yourself products and a plethora of pottery, lotions, soaps, as well as locally crafted food and snacks.

Here we have Laurie and Sherry just beginning their exploration of Vinterest South.  FYI…I’d already finished my walk through, noting booths where I knew there was ‘purchasing risks’!  So I sort of moved around with the ladies, finding a place to sit and contemplate life whenever I could.

From my photos you can get an idea of the wide variety of items offered at Vinterest South.  However, I realized that I didn’t take a photo of “Vinterest and Co.”, a clothing and gift store-within-a-store.  It was located at one end of the building and it carries 5 lines of goods that are found exclusively inside Vinterest stores.  Of special interest for many shoppers would be the Doggie Boutique.

Vinterest South is located at 2121 Chestnut Street in Chattanooga.  Phone: 423-498-4825.  The original Vinterest Store has 100 booths.  It’s located just a little north of Chattanooga at 2105 Northpoint Road in Hixson Tennessee.  It’s worthy of note that Vinterest has been voted Chattanooga’s People’s Choice as the area’s best antique store for 4 years in a row!

For more information about Vinterest South, just go to Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/VinterestSouthside/.  Vinterest has a website as well at http://vinterestantiques.com/index.html.

We exited Vinterest with a number of purchases…no surprise there!  However, insightful person that I am, I decided in advance that a mere 60 booths wouldn’t complete Laurie and Sherry’s shopping desires and I was sure that they would feel unfulfilled.  So I did a little research, looking for a second shopping option.

When I told them that I’d discovered another Holiday shopping venue, they were very happy that their shopping experience was going to be extended!

But first, I’d planned lunch at one of our favorite fried chicken joints!  This is Champy's World Famous Fried Chicken at 526 East Martin Luther King Boulevard in Chattanooga.  Doesn’t that chicken look great?  It was!!  Phone: 423-752-9198.  Website: http://champyschicken.com/. (Photos are from a previous visit)

My second shopping ‘find’ for Laurie’s shopping pleasure was located at the Chattanooga Convention Center.  It was the Chattanooga Holiday Market!

The Holiday Market featured over 200 booths with local food vendors, artists and crafters.  It was open each Saturday and Sunday in December through December 18, offering just about anything shoppers might need…or at least think that they need for the holidays.

As you might imagine, I’m not really into shopping… At the convention center Holiday Market I was ‘saved’ from total boredom by this choral group from Chattanooga’s Center for Creative Arts, a fine arts magnet school for students in grades 6 – 12 from all over Hamilton County Tennessee.  This school has a 100% graduation rate and it ranked #7 in the US News and World Report listing of the Best High Schools in Tennessee.

Best of all…these kids could sing…and even better, most of the songs were upbeat!  They even sang the currently “controversial” tune Baby its Cold Outside, and they did a fine job of it too!

You can check out the Center for Creative Arts website at www.centerforcreativearts.net. 

If you actually visited every booth, it would take 2 days to peruse all the vendor’s offerings!  It just went on and on... There was pottery, custom pieces of art in various forms, handcrafted jewelry, local foods, bath and body products, locally designed apparel, wood furniture, plants, and much, much more.

I had to take a photo of the quilting booth in the last photo above.  Laurie invested in a larger purchase here and I wanted ‘to thank’ the lady.

No surprise to anyone who knows me…this bakery products vendor was the only place where I made a purchase!  It was all about the bread and cookies.  The ginger cookies were killer good!

Here are a couple of the purchases that Laurie made.  The candle was a winner because of the Scottish Thistle design.  I’ve been told that the quilt/blanket creation is warm and cozy…but I haven’t been permitted to use it yet.  Laurie has received several compliments on it already.

There is no doubt that Laurie and Sherry viewed this shopping adventure as a win!  Both ladies took home a number of goodies and I earned some much needed ‘points’ with my better half.  Sherry’s spouse Mike was also happy…he didn’t have to go on this adventure!

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by to see what we’ve been up to!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave