Charlie

The Best Of CHARLIE

CHARLIE is so happy and proud today to blow out the big, fat, single candle on our 1-year anniversary cake. Our first year has been quite a ride, and it’s been just plain fun meeting incredible locals and learning about inspiring initiatives along the way. In honor of the big 0-1, please enjoy the top 10 most popular stories from our first year, determined by you, oh rockstar readers. In no particular order, they are:

1. CYRUS BUFFUM: OUR WATER’S KEEPER

Where were you the Sunday after the 4th of July? No need to answer, we can guess, and we doubt you’d say, “cleaning up trash.” Cyrus Buffum was doing that for you. After heading to Morris Island and sorting through the remnants of the previous day’s festivities, which literally blanketed the beach, he left with over 1,000 lbs of trash. And why was this Buffum’s job? Because he is, in essence, our ocean’s protector. The only thing missing is a giant W across his chest. Meet the founder and face of The Charleston Waterkeeper…

2. SHIFT ON THROUGH TO THE OTHER SIDE

If we could slap a prize medal number one gold star on any idea, it would be this one. Enter Charleston’s economic stimulus plan. Ready for it? Spend a dime. Okay, that’s not all. But a shiny dime is all it takes to get you into the Friday night party that launches the concept of the 10% SHIFT. Lowcountry Local First is challenging the entire community to take the pledge to shift 10% of our purchases to local businesses. Not only would we be supporting the heart and soul of our city, but it is expected that this itty bitty shift could create thousands of new jobs and millions of dollars, all right here in Charleston. Here are CHARLIE’s 10 favorite ways to make the SHIFT…

3. JIMIHATT: THE GUERRILLA

Guerrilla Cuisine, our city’s underground supper club, started 26 dinners ago. It’s like walking into a culinary fantasy completely blind. You only know a few facts ahead of time: It will be on a Sunday night. It will feature a top chef. It will be a 5-7 course meal. You will be in an intimate setting (the dinners are very rarely held in a restaurant) with complete strangers as blind as you. You buy a ticket and hold on for the ride, which is always filled with great good, great conversation and an unforgettable energy that comes from feeling “underground.” The mastermind behind this cool ritual, a man so synonymous with “Guerrilla” that he surely answers to it, is known simply as Jimihatt. A character in every sense of the word, he has become a celebrity of sorts in the foodie world, bringing us unique and inventive dinners that last four hours and are never similar to one another. Meet our city’s Kong…

4. KING-DOM COME: THE FUTURE OF KING STREET

King Street. The 5th Avenue of the Holy City. Charleston’s shopping Mecca. The city’s retail epicenter. It has been at ‘the heart of Charleston’ since the late 1700s. Despite wars, hurricanes, fires and earthquakes, the old road has continued to hold this title for more than 200 years, and its remarkable ability to reinvent itself has kept King Street a true Charleston gem. King Street finds itself in a period of transition once again. The effects of the recession are clearly visible down our long, narrow, famous road. Empty storefronts and too-high sales demonstrate the need for yet another reinvention. So, where does it go from here?…

5. MO BROS: ONE STACHE AT A TIME

If you’ve seen a 1980′s porn star strutting down our cobblestone streets lately, you’re not alone. Or maybe you swore you just saw Ron Burgundy. Thin, full, handlebar, curled or otherwise…one question is bound to be on everyone’s mind this month: What is with all the mustaches in Charleston? The answer: Movember. This world-wide, annual, month-long celebration of the “moustache” has found its way to our city. Find out how local Mo Bros are out to change the face of men’s health. And how you can help…

6. HEATHER SOLOS: THE TRAILBLAZER

Sassy! That’s a good word to describe a lass whose web site tag line reads: what you wish your mama taught you. Meet the lady in person and you’ll soon add brainy, beautiful, cheerful and clever to the description. Heather Solos is our kind of enterprising gal. She’s tossed the stereotypes – i.e. “stay at home mom” and “blogger in pajamas” – straight out the window and forged her own new media career while doing so. Meet our trailblazer, Heather Solos, leading the way through the online world…

7. AND THE GRAMMY GOES TO…GOD

The stage is glowing under red and purple lights. The man at the sound board in the back listens intently as he checks the sound levels. A strum of the base. Tune. Strum again. Anticipation fills the room as the band steps on the stage and the electronic countdown nears 0:00. Welcome to church. This is the Holy City. More churches per square mile than any other city of its size in the country. But if you’re thinking that means only humming politely along to grandma’s hymns, think again. Charleston is filled with churches with progressive music programs, putting contemporary music in the forefront…

8. WHITE HAIR WARRIORS

Change is afoot. More and more women are giving up artificial hair color and breaking the taboo of gray hair. Whatever their reason, women who dare to bare their natural white are breaking down stigmas of “grandma gray” and becoming the personification of glamour. CHARLIE applauds Charleston’s White Hair Warriors…

9. EATS & TWEETS

You eated! You tweeted! We believe the best food reviewer to whom you should listen is…well, you. Which is why we ask you to tweet us your best “bites” in Charleston so we can share your recommendations with other cuisine lovers in the city. Here are your best pics of 2009…

10. KRIS FURNISS: CAVIAR DREAMS

You know him from Charleston’s coolest gourmet market and cafe. He’s the one running from station to station, slicing off a hunk of cheese, putting in an order for a duck confit and aged gouda sandwich, nodding to the land/sky/sea/earth items behind the prepared foods counter and sliding behind the register to ring you up. One look and you know something about Caviar & Bananas’ Kris Furniss: he always likes to be on the move. It’s been an underlying motivation throughout his career. And eight years ago today, September 11, it was what saved his life…