We talk with Scott Avett in anticipation of the Avett Brothers’ February 12th show in Charleston.

The 2012 tour that kicked off at the first of the year marks the release of the band’s newest album, currently untitled. Since they’re always putting touring in front of recording, a new album is a big deal. With several songs written over as long as an eight year period, Scott says, “the layers of time taken come through in the process.” He says this album has been heavily contemplated, more so than any of their other albums. Whereas they came to the “I and Love and You” album with everything in their arsenal, this time they came with a new, more instinctually structured approach to songwriting.

Which isn’t to say that’s how they approach their shows.

“We never wave a flag of perfection, it’s always a flag of improvement,” laughs Scott, regarding their “practicing in front of people” approach to shows. “We’ll become what we are becoming in front of people.”

This philosophy is in large part what makes them so fun to watch. Whether it’s at a large field at Bonnaroo or a more intimate setting, there’s something about the Avett Brothers that feels like you’re connected with them in a living room somewhere. They’re down to earth, relatable.

Scott, born and still based in North Carolina, loves that music in the South is so regional. NC has a different sound than TN. East Tennessee has a different sound than Nashville. “The South is really colorful,” he says, very proud of the way of life in the Carolinas. Never having thought about uprooting, he attributes a “Do It Yourself” attitude that has shaped him. “In North Carolina, you didn’t think about New York and LA…or at least I didn’t. I thought, ‘how do I do this myself? How do you come out of nowhere doing this?’”

Not like he never chased it. Early on, the band followed a few wild goose chases on the journey to “get discovered,” quickly learning to stop the madness. They instead learned to stop chasing and not count on being discovered; to just do what they loved, whether people were paying attention or not (in the beginning, they weren’t…one person even told them, “You make no sense on the radio”). Well you know how that goes…how they say you find love when you’re not looking for it? Guess the same goes for fame. “Our failure has been our fortune. Every time we lost, we had a necessity to redesign what success was for ourselves.”

We ask about Charleston memories and he laughs, “suuuurrre….,” reminiscing about a banjo incident. He had just started playing the banjo and had a handful of songs he could pull out like party tricks. He was downtown at the wedding reception of the father of the girl he was dating at the time. Daddio urges the banjo out. Scott starts showing off on his strings. A request comes for Rocky Top, which isn’t in his bag of party tricks. The father jokes, “What kind of banjo player doesn’t know Rocky Top?” Well, Scott says he was “much younger and more hot headed,” quickly getting defensive and combating with, “Well why don’t YOU come over here and play Rocky Top?!” He laughs thinking of the “chill out, kid…it’s a wedding reception” looks. He did ultimately learn to play it, although has since forgotten. “Maybe it’s in there somewhere,” he says.

When Scott’s not making music, he’s making art. He’s painting furiously right now, having just picked back up his paintbrush after seven months of touring. Literally and physically, he keeps his music and his visual art separate. “One can be a huge distraction for the other,” he says, explaining why he can’t listen to music with enticing lyrics while painting. Although the approach is the same: the subject matter always starts biographically, very specific to him…then the world shapes it and it transforms into something that is not his situation alone, more public, more accessible to all. We’ve got one of those multi-talented guys on our hands.

The music, the art, the Do-It-Yourself Homegrown success.

Here’s to the Avett Brothers.

We and Love and You.

TheAvettBrothers.com
Details on Charleston show
Buy tickets to Charleston show
Check out Scott Avett’s art

Story by: Caroline Nuttall

No. This isn’t going to end well. Let’s leave the jokes to the professionals.

Like Neil Bansil. He may “sound white” on the radio (which people always told him), but he’s not. He’s Filipino-Canadian-American and he’s going to change how you feel about race.

But first he’s going to make you laugh and, apparently, laughter can end racism. Or at least that’s the hope of Bansil—the funny bone behind The Most RACES Show on Earth.

Racism is the pink elephant in the room that gets treated differently for being pink. Diversity exists in our beloved South, but it’s latent and divided. “I was giving out flyers on King Street,” Bansil describes. “That night at Tasty Thai it was all Black people. Every other bar? All White. There’s no animosity, they just don’t relate to each other yet.”

Enter Bansil stage left—and seven of his friends with backgrounds from everywhere (ex: a Polish-Peruvian-Canadian)—ready to get them to relate. Every comedian will be doing 8-10 minute sets about their culture(s) from their perspectives, and also jokes that have nothing to do with race at all. “That’d be a boring set,” adds Bansil. “Everyone’s doing their best stuff. It’s the funniest show because it’s non-stop laughter from everybody. It’s an ab workout, and you’re learning at the same time.”

Making the show hilarious was Bansil’s only objective when he created the show in Toronto seven years ago. Soon, he was selling out 2100-seat theaters and getting interest from famous comedians and television networks. He took it to New York, and then to Atlanta. After getting married and moving to Charleston last June, Bansil decided to take a risk and pitch his show to Charleston’s 9th Annual Comedy Festival. “Who needs this show more?” said Bansil. “A place that’s already multi-cultural, or the South, where there are cultures, but they’re not together?”

They will be together two nights this weekend in, ironically, The American Theater. Playing in Charleston is a new risk for Bansil, who doesn’t know: which theater, the number of tickets sold, or who’s coming. “I’m nervous!” laughs Bansil. But he’s confident in his production. “I’m good at bringing people together. That’s my job. And if no one comes, I’ll just take really close-up pictures.”

Bansil isn’t a stranger to racism; he’s had some cruel things done to him. But he chooses to make light of it by turning it into material for his stand-up: “Everywhere I go, people think I’m Chinese. I went to Chinatown in Toronto with a white friend. They brought our order and gave my friend a fork and knife, but they gave me chopsticks. That’s ignorant, just because I’m Asian, doesn’t mean I know how to use chopsticks. Frickin’ Pizza Hut. And I just ordered a soda.”

Bansil just wishes he could see a more direct benefit, so he donates to anti-racism charities. “I want to help,” says a momentarily serious Bansil. “Maybe we’re indirectly ending racism, but we don’t say that. It’s about getting everyone in the same room. They look around, realize they’re all laughing at the same things, and say, ‘Wow, this is really cool.’”

OK, got it: What do you get when Filipino-Vietnamese-African-Jamaican-Polish-Peruvian-Jewish-Canadian-Americans walk into the American Theater?

A damn funny show.

1/20 at 9:30pm, 1/21 at 8pm – Tickets $12.50
American Theater – 446 King St.
800.514.3849, Get Tickets Online

Story by: Jessica Kenny

Thanks to Rush Dixon, you are now that host.

Dixon is exactly the kind of guy you’d want to design your one-handed bottle opener: He’s a talented architect, loves Pringles for their structural genius, and drinks beer.

“The world doesn’t need another bottle opener,” says Dixon, the inventor of Kebo. “There’s no other product out there that has so many iterations of it. So, it was a little insane.”

Insane and worth it.

Dixon moved to Charleston from D.C. in 1992 with his wife, Judy, also an architect. A slow market forced them to move back in 1993, but their love of Charleston’s buildings kept them determined to return within a year. Ever since, they’ve called Charleston home.

In 2001, after September 11th, Dixon and his wife found themselves at dinner at Hominy Grill. “There was a certain vibe in the air, so to be optimistic and hopeful, we made a list of the ten things we wanted to accomplish in ten years.” Within his list was to have another child, start a design company, and for Rush to design a product that he loved.

Flash to summer 2010. Their second child had come, Rush3 Studios was born despite a bad economy, and Dixon realized he only had about another year until his other deadline. “I knew I wanted to make something architectural and fun in design,” he said. At his grandmother’s house, he grabbed a beer and came across an antique bottle opener from the 1930s. He quickly became obsessed with its simplicity yet attraction and functionality, and knew what to do.

Dixon did a lot of research between that summer and his launch last Thanksgiving to get the sleek and fashionable finished Kebo he has today. He had many prototypes and learned the hard way about working with stainless steel. In other words, he drank a lot of beer.

Kebo—a new derivative of “Bottle Key”—is a shiny, architectural-looking, familiar-yet-distinctive design with a thumbhole trigger for easy one-handed pull-down use and a magnetic fulcrum for catching the cap and wow-ing users. “The uniqueness of it and the way it operates is the appeal,” says Dixon. Plus, it opens beer.

The Cary Grant-esque face behind Kebo is Dixon’s dad’s high school picture and perfectly fits the retro-inspired invention. “And it makes the story that much better,” adds Dixon.

Rush3 Studios has some other irons in the fire—like one high-expense endeavor inspired by his 9-year-old son that involves plastic. But right now, Kebo is driving all of Dixon’s focus, including taking him to Chicago’s International Home & Gifts Tradeshow in March. He still has one hand full of his consulting work; the other, is on Kebo.

Because you only need one.

Beer not included.

Get your Kebo online, $24.95
Get your Kebo locally at Bottles, The Coastal Cupboard or Charleston Cooks! 

Story by: Jessica Kenny

Mink, along with Karalee Neilsen and John Kenney, embarked on the regal task of filling yet another hole in the Charleston food and bev scene last July. Call it a sign of the times, but the restaurant group felt the need for an inexpensive bar with a sense of community. Their signature style is in the details and practically every inch is recycled or refurbished. There are top hats above the sound booth, National Geographics dating back to 1964 lining the wall and an enormous patio out front. You can pull up a stool to the wrap-around bar, settle into a cozy leather booth or relax in the lounge area, where portraits of American royals the likes of George Washington and Babe Ruth will soon cover the ceiling.

The vibe is decidedly New Orleans complete with Mardi Gras beads, colorful decorations and stadium cups filled with punch. There is a space cleared for bands and the promise of live music. The jukebox, a refurbished Wurlitzer, plays hard-to-find recordings and albums you want to hear in their entirety like Exile on Main St. Have good taste in music and an even better collection? Patrons are encouraged to bring their own vinyls. It’s that kind of place.

REV’s roster of restaurants includes such local hangouts as Poe’s Tavern, Taco Boy, Monza and Closed For Business, but food is not the main act here. While the menu will grow, the kitchen might not, and the chili and burgers (meat and vegetarian) are really just there to fill your belly between drinks, which will soon include their own cinnamon infused whiskey. The full bar is no match for the beer: you can find vintage brews such as Iron City, and they are the only place around serving cans of Shiner Bock, Ballantine, Genesee and National Bohemian.

As with all REV establishments, The Royal American took shape once the building was chosen. The Ole Charleston Forge on Morrison Drive is old, dusty, and shakes every time the train rattles by.  The location is perfect: secluded yet trendy, with ample parking. A hop, skip and a bike ride from their downtown Taco Boy location, the neighborhood is the talk of many artists, musicians and other hip people you’d really like to knock a few back with.

“People are looking for a place where they know the bartender and feel at home,” explains Neilsen. So now we have it: our very own Cheers bar, with a REV twist.

The Royal American, 970 Morrison Drive
5pm-2am daily, 843-817-6925
Connect on Facebook

Story by: Carter Worrell Dandridge
Photos by: Austin Dandridge

This holiday season, you may want to consider doing more with Lowcountry Orphan Relief (LOR).

Forget about worrying what to ask Santa for. Many children are dealing with the terror of being removed from their homes because of abuse or neglect. These children rarely have time to pack a bag, much less grab a favorite toy, before they’re taken from a dangerous situation and sent to a shelter or foster home. That’s where LOR steps in.

LOR works directly with other non-profits, schools, foster parents, and government agencies to find out what these children need and to intervene at a critical juncture in their lives. To give them hope. To give them the basic comforts.

The inspiration behind this org is its tireless executive director, Lynn Young. She gives a voice to those who can’t speak for themselves. For more than a decade, Lynn served as a Guardian Ad Litem, speaking in the court system for the rights of children who were abused, neglected or abandoned.

The idea for LOR took shape in ‘02 when Lynn saw the tremendous needs of children in the area. The government system took weeks to process children and during that time they had to make do with whatever they had when they left their homes. “They’ve got to have something of their own. Something to call their own,” she says.

LOR provides needy children with an outfit everyday for two weeks, shoes for school and for dress, underwear and socks for one week, a bookbag full of school supplies, a little gym bag with toiletries (that even the smallest children can carry), books (to help get their minds of their problems), and a stuffed animal – so they have a friend to hold onto. LOR follows these children through the system, giving them positive support, a stable, safe harbor and fun outings throughout the year.

When the kids go to school, no one can tell by the way they dress what their background or circumstances are. LOR believes all children deserve to be nurtured, loved and protected.

Eleven years ago, Lynn’s all-volunteer group clothed 200 children in their first year. In 2011, LOR served its 10,000th child and distributed a little over $1 million dollars worth of clothing, toiletries and in-kind gifts from its duplex on the former Charleston Navy Base.

The nonprofit is sorely in need of a distribution center and hopes to raise enough money to break ground on a new 4000SF distribution center behind its clothing closet. 93% of LOR’s budget goes directly to children, which includes building 5 libraries in shelters around the region, and putting a “just in case closet” in 22 Title 1 schools in Charleston County.

“If a child is in need, we are going to help,” Lynn says. “With the economy we have looked on how to expand our mission. Many families can feed their children but can’t clothe them.”

How can you help?

“Everybody feels the spirit right now, so we’re getting a lot of donations. And we’re blessed,” says Lynn. “We don’t take toys or games. We’re here to give children the basic necessities of life as they travel from home to home and shelter to shelter.

We desperately need more volunteers. Church groups, youth groups, co-workers, families and friends, everyone is welcome and needed to volunteer.

Bring your children with you. Let them see what you do. There’s nothing more precious than your children seeing you give back. Make a holiday financial contribution in memory of someone or as a gift in a loved one’s name.

The highest level of living is giving. It doesn’t matter how much you have or give, it makes you a better person. It’s what we’re here on earth for.”

Lynn Young, Charleston’s real-life guardian angel.

LowcountryOrphanRelief.org
Donations: Make checks payable to Lowcountry Orphan Relief and mail to PO Box 70185 North Charleston, SC 29415 or donate online.

Story by: Claire Gibbons
Photos by: Ben Walters

We’ve high-brow dinner parties held in secret, grungy warehouses. Late night art shows where both titans and newbies mingle over cans of PBR. And one very edgy fly fishing community that’s changing the way fishermen dress and give back.

Presenting FreeFly, an environmentally savvy line of fishing apparel bridging the gap between your grandfather’s musty cargo vest and a handsome new generation of socially conscious fishermen. All while guaranteeing clean drinking water to children across the world.

Tanner Sutton, FreeFly’s founder, grew up in Montana to a family with deep ties to the apparel industry. And as a child, his grandfather taught him the values and challenges of fly fishing.

But as do most 20-somethings, Sutton found himself frustrated with the status quo and trying to figure out what he wanted to do with his life. “I was sitting on a plane, and just wrote down a list of my passions,” says Sutton. “Fly fishing was at the top of that list.”

“Charleston actually has a very progressive fly fishing community,” he explains, well aware that most people would never draw that same conclusion. He goes on to explain these guys aren’t the old school of fishermen.

They’re adventurous, they’re athletic and they’re looking for something other than a ratty over-sized tshirt to wear on day-long fishing expeditions.

“I love fashion,” Sutton points out while wearing a Colin Ferrel-esqe wool hat and cozy. “But if you’re not comfortable, it’s pointless.”

FreeFly’s designs are rugged enough to feel comfortable digging in and getting dirty, while keeping a healthy nod to style and comfort. The t-shirts feature bold, contemporary screenprint designs by Gil Shuler, not at all akin to your standard fish-themed apparel. And the long sleeved styles are made from bamboo, which is as comfortable as it is durable. It’s all part of an updated style that Sutton says is pretty edgy for the industry.

But while FreeFly gives an update to the fishing community’s style, the company is also making a mark on the world.

“Fishermen are surrounded by water, we kind of take it for granted,” explains Sutton. “But, so many in the world are without this basic necessity.”

Which is why FreeFly partnered with Charleston-based Water Missions International to provide sustainable water systems to areas in need. FreeFly’s first year goal is to provide 1,000 children with clean drinking water, and a donation from the sale of each shirt goes toward this.

“Fly fishing is an indescribable feeling,” Sutton says, smiling.

And so is helping a child receive the gift of clean water.

FreeFlyApparel.com
Santa Says: Make a purchase between Dec 14-19 and receive a free hat

Story by: Caroline Millard
Photos by: Andrew Stephen Cebulka

But before you whirl off into a stress-induced tailspin, we have a one-stop solution to all your holiday shopping needs: The Mom and Pop-Up Shop.

The headquarters of this year’s Buy Local Month initiative, this conveniently located temporary store is the perfect place to please everyone on your shopping list while supporting the community. Packed with local artisans and retailers, the shop is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10am-6pm, at 359 King Street.

Children at the top of your Christmas list? Take a sharp right inside the door for imaginative toys from Wonder Works and pint-sized fashion from the Charleston Children’s Boutique. Need to satisfy your coworker’s sweet-tooth? Head to the Charleston Cookie Company’s booth. There’s colorful bling from Ceilia Cove for mom’s jewelry collection, handmade wooden frames from Melonhead Framing Co. for dad and beads from Country Bumpkin to make a necklace for that friend who already has everything. From locally made mattresses to stained glass houses, there really is something for everyone.

The best part? It’s all local.

“The idea is to give small local businesses the opportunity to be on King Street,” explains Lowcountry Local First director Jamee Haley.

Beyond providing prime real estate for local sellers, the Mom and Pop-Up Shop also hosts a wealth of info from local businesses not selling products. And if that wasn’t enough to entice you to pop in, the store is hosting breakfast every Thursday of Buy Local Month with coffee and goodies from Charleston-based restaurants like Glazed and Charleston Coffee Roasters.

It’s beginning to look a lot like a local artisan Christmas.

The Mom & Pop-Up Shop
359 King St., Charleston
Hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 10am-6pm

Story by: Carter Worrell Dandridge
Photos by: Jason A. Zwiker

Charleston artist CaleighBird’s sock monsters have been appearing in some fashionable places lately like JLinSnider, Barsa and Jail Break 2. The irresistibly soft and cuddly handmade monsters are as funky, unique and lovable as something out of Pixar’s “Monsters, Inc.”

And guess what happens when you twist socks together just so? They take on personalities.

“Dennis is actually a very gifted chef. He spent a few months in Toulouse, France last year and has been showing off his talent ever since!” Samuel, a blue guy with tired eyes and sporting only a tie, “is a bit of a busy body, preferring to stay late at the office to number crunch, and he is completely addicted to coffee. He does however, know how to have fun, especially during out of town office team-building exercises.” These are the fanciful and hilarious descriptions given to the monsters for sale on Bird’s etsy site.

Looking through a big monster pile, Caleigh grabs one, Ingle, a smallish white guy with a ring on his head, and says offhandedly, “He’s super phallic, accidentally.”

The naming process is particularly fun for Caleigh, who finishes sewing the monster before deciding on a name to match its personality. Often people are attracted to her monsters because of their names. She was helping a customer pick two out and suggested Pepper and Tipper saying, “they are totally androgenous.” Two of her favorites, Posey and Camille, who almost look like twins, were sold to a mother with twins. Like owner, like monster.

Caleigh only lets herself keep one monster, Judith, admitting, “I get really attached. I’d probably have a room full of them otherwise.”

Making monsters is the latest focus of Caleigh’s artistic pursuits, which stem from her passion for oil painting, often of hands and feet. Human parts.

These unique hand-crafted objects won’t break the bank but might melt your heart. With accessories like scarves, bikinis, bow ties and aprons, their signature plump lips, and some sporting a long tongue, buck teeth or fangs, you are sure to find one that speaks to you. Or to someone else. ‘Tis the season, after all. The season for monsters.

Browse and buy Sock Monsters here
Connect on Facebook here
Sock Puppets ($15-$30) available locally at Wonder Works in Mt. Pleasant and Poe Studio in W. Ashley

Story by: Dee Dee Arthur
Photos by: Jolie Connor Photography

1. Happy Socks
Remember the tube socks you got from Nana? These are not them. Happy Socks are one of our must-give man gifts this year for two reasons: 1) Their unexpected bright colors and fun patters actually make you happy; and 2) They’re at our new very favorite men’s shop, Indigo & Cotton. Owner Brett Carron (obscure celeb doppelganger = Matthew Goode) says they’re perfect worn casually or to accent a more formal outfit. Let’s see Nana’s tube socks do that.
Available at Indigo & Cotton. $10

2. CHARLIE CLUB membership
Shameless self promotion? Sure. Also one of the best gifts you can give someone? You bet. Imagine opening up a shiny gold card that entitles you to a year of monthly “Perks” and “Parties,” CHARLIE style. Think 50% off at top local restaurants. Free, cool, local products. Private concerts and exclusive wine and craft beer tastings. Some of the neatest, most interesting people you’ve met in Charleston. Time to spring for that special someone or put this one on your own wish list.
Available at readcharlie.com/club. $300 (annual membership)

3. Market Light
What do you get if you cross a Chinese produce basket and a local Charleston bookstore? Just about the greatest gift around. Heirloom Book Company is importing antique Chinese produce market baskets and handcrafting them into unique, stunning light fixtures. Beyond the fixture itself, the really cool part is the shadows the light casts on the ceiling, which create an entirely different layer of texture. This year, go China or go home.
Available at Heirloom Book Company. $325

4. Christina Goodman Hand Painted Necklace
The problem with that beautiful painting hanging proudly in your home? Lugging it around to restaurants with you isn’t easy, or socially acceptable. That’s why we love Christina Goodman’s fine Renaissance framed paintings that hang delicately from your neck. They’re timeless and great for any woman age 6 – 90ish. Never before has 14th century romance wrapped up so nicely.
Available at The Martin Gallery. $200-400

5. Govino Go Anywhere Wine Glasses and Flutes
These wine glasses and flutes are stemless, shatterless, reusable, recyclable, have the look of crystal, and feature a little thumb grip that gives you the kind of security you never knew you wanted from your wine glass. They’re around every corner in Napa and just came to our fair city. The best gift for any wino who tends to spill after a few glasses, which, let’s face it, is all of us. You’ve come a long way from the solo cup.
Available at Hampden Clothing. $12 (set of 4)

6. PGA Champions Club Tickets
Whoever said the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach was wrong. It’s through PGA tickets. This year, the mac daddy golf championship is coming to Charleston and there’s only one way to do it – V.I.P. seats overlooking the par-3 17th hole in a double-decker, open-air venue, fully catered with an open bar. Christmas come in August.
Available online or by calling 1-800-PGA-GOLF.
$700 (1-day pass) / $2,700 (4-day pass)

7. 128-Ounce Growler
Beer. It’s where the heart is. Charleston Beer Exchange. It’s where the heart of every beer-loving man and woman across America is. It’s the #1 ranked craft beer store in the country, it’s our local biz-lebrity of 2011, and it’s just introduced the brand new jumbo 128-ounce growler. Put a bow on top and call it a day.
Available at the Charleston Beer Exchange. $17-35

8. Kilian Eau de Parfum
Looks like the Hennessy family is bringing us more than just Cognac these days. For the woman who loves everything chic, there is the Kilian Collection – ten unique fragrances carried in only 20 stores nationwide. Extra wow factors? One perfume contains absinthe; one perfume is actually a solid. Because everyone can use a little “elegance and absolute, uncompromising luxury” in their life.
Available at Cos Bar. $225 (standard) / $135 (travel) / $95 (solid compact)

9. Single Nest Hammock
Lugging around a beach chair is so a thing of the past. These super light, easy-to-use, colorful, portable hammocks turn outdoor spaces into your personal lounge area. Marion Square and other local parks are now sporting tree hooks, but you don’t even need them with the slap strap accessory, making you look like Macguyver since 2012. Check out the Double Nest Hammock for the “awww” couple.
Available at Half-Moon Outfitters. $55 (Single Nest Hammock) / $20 (Slap Strap)

10. Leather Dopp Kit
There comes a time in every guy’s life when he needs to get rid of his toothpaste-covered, dingy toiletry travel bag (if he even has one) and upgrade to a man’s dopp kit. The kind a Pierce Brosnan-played character would pull out just before his sexy woman walked by in her silk robe. Look no further. Bond girl and silver Audi not included.
Available at Billy Reid. $195

Story by: Caroline Nuttall
Photos by: Karson Photography

They are full of heart. They carry extreme significance. They can change the whole world, or at least the world around you.

Those three magical words…”Small Business Saturday.”

Otherwise known as November 26th, a day forevermore dedicated to supporting small businesses. Why on earth should big box chains have all the Black Friday weekend fun (and cash)? So pick your favorite Charleston business(es) and join the other 2 million+ Facebook users pledging to shop small next Saturday. Our economy will thank you.

To get you started, here are a few of your favorite local businesses. May we all give thanks and shop small…

“The Charleston Beer Exchange may be my favorite small business in America.”
- Kevin Curler

“Verde!!!!”
- Rachel Griffin Stapleton

“Ye Ole Fashioned Ice Cream! Great food and better service!”
- Alex Cole

“HELLO my name is BBQ!”
- Kristen Thompson Gastaldo

“Vegetable bin. Buy local. Be local. And be healthy!”
- Nathan Needle

“The Charleston Beer Exchange”
- Kevin Smith

“Westbrook Brewery!”
- Lizzie Boyle

“‎Age of Aquariums!!! Best fish store in town!”
- Jennifer Owen Allen

“Goat Sheep Cow.”
- Marisa Hedlund

“Charleston RIDE. It is my happy place.”
- Kirsten Moran

“Taco Spot!”
- Hayley Jenkins

“Love Ted’s!”
- Ivie Parker

“Charleston Bay Gourmet- They catered my daughter’s wedding reception in September, it was a true Lowcountry feast.”
- Kathie Jennings Basten

“Charleston Beer Exchange AND Lime Blue…a little shop on Queen Street.”
- Antonia M. Krenza

“Diggity Doughnuts! ♥”
- Melissa Rae Sipin

“Zia Taqueria!”
- Grace LeSueur

“Charleston Tea company by far. World player.”
- Kevin Haskins

“That’s easy: #1 rated craft beer store Charleston Beer Exchange”
- Chrys Rynearson

“RSVP Shoppe on Broad and Yes U May Cookies in Mt. Pleasant”
-Erica DeGroff

“Verde!”
- Erin Hopkins

“The Vegetable Bin. Beer Exchange. Goat. Sheep. Cow. Hampden Clothing. Bull Street Gourmet. Too many to choose!”
- Erin Perkins

“Savage Ultimate!”
- Erica Jackson Curran

“Seeking Indigo”
- Renee J. Greene

“Yes U May cookies, Utopia Charleston”
- Colleen Keegan Deihl

“Robert Lange Studios”
- Ben Walters

“Love Crushed Fine Wine!! I also love Charleston Tax Masters, East Cooper Auto Pros, Charleston Wine Tastings with Sandy Irving, Daniel Island Animal Hospital, WildFlowers!!!”
- Pam Mogle King

“Sun Dog Cat Moon!”
- Pam Constantine Cherry

“The soon-to-be ‘scout & molly’s’ on king street!”
- Wendy Wichtrich Perry

“Burger babies!”
- Robyne Marie

And we want to give personal thanks to all of the great local businesses that support CHARLIE! To Tristan, Charleston Grill, Barre Evolution, Berlins for Women, Blu, Chamber Music Charleston, Circa 1886, Croghan’s Jewel Box, Daniel Ravenel Real Estate, Elizabeth Stuart Design, Eurasia, Facelogic, Glass Onion, Grace Salon, Heirloom Book Company, Peninsula Grill, Hank’s, Lee Distributors, Island Coffee, Martin Gallery, Palmetto Distributing, Pure Barre, The Spa at Charleston Place, The Shops at Charleston Place, Trunk Show, Ted’s Butcherblock, and advertisers past and future: y’all are awesome. We heart you.

SmallBusinessSaturday.com

Story by: Caroline Nuttall, and you
Photos by: Andrew Cebulka, Chrys Rynearson, and provided