On January 31, 2016 at 11:59 PM the lease expired on Lisa Brown, the final of five owners of Blind Tiger Charleston; an iconic brand in the Charleston infrastructure and watering hole to thousands in the heart of historic Broad Street. From lawyers to college students to wedding parties, Blind Tiger has been a fixture in this community since the 1980’s and situated in a building built in 1803. Soon it will re-open; not in the traditional way we have come to love it, but with a new look an feel.
On this evening, while passing the entrance way, we had the pleasure of a true Charleston moment, experienced and captured. While observing a line of trash laid across the sidewalk in front of the Blind Tiger mosaic, owner, Lisa and friend Amy walked outside and greeted us.
Our conversation reflected on bar memories, alcohol issues, historic ownership and the esthetics of Charleston. It was four strangers creating a memories on a quiet Sunday evening. Lisa invited us inside to continue the conversation. While sitting on the marble floor, we picked up a bottle of vodka with just a few sips remaining. In one final encore, we went around in a circle and shared the final shots inside a true Charleston landmark.
With only the final remaining moments of sunlight shining in through the window, we laughed and toasted new friendships and old times in this dimly light bar. While we embraced the moment, residents walked by peaking their heads and puppies inside and taking the time to give their final goodbyes.
As I looked around, I could see the bars shelves empty, mirrors removed off the walls, light fixtures gone and only the ghosts lingering behind.
As the smooth taste of vodka warmed our spirits, I thought about the Charleston I have grown to love and the changing times. Part of me was happy and part bittersweet. A new era is upon us. We see it everyday and the closing of Blind Tiger is one of the symbols of a changing city.
For a few minutes, we forgot about our troubles and lives and celebrated a neighborhood bar that has withstood so much history. In one final lifting of the glass, it was closing time.
To Blind Tiger, the landmark restaurant and bar may no longer open its doors to the public, but the memories we carry will stay with us for the rest of our lives.
Sunrise Bistro Xpress is located at 116 A Spring Street. Located in the heart of the re-birth of Spring Street, this is the offspring of one of John’s Island’s favorite dining spots (As well as one in Summerville, SC). Serving breakfast and lunch Tuesday through Sunday, Sunrise Bistro Xpress offers a uniquely intimate dining experience. This small and cozy restaurant is donned with fresh vegetable and spice plants in the windows, post modern art on the walls and a fresh aroma of dark roast coffee in the air. With a beautiful outdoor area on the side of the building, a cozy bar and six indoor tables, you will feel as though you are a family dinner.
Before we delve into some specific menu items, it is important to mention that no breakfast is complete with the fresh herb homemade bread. These squares of heavenly delight give Sunrise a unique edge. Prepared with a rich blend of spices including rosemary and complimented with olive oil, the bread alone is enough to make you want to return.
Though it is a side addition to a number of the breakfast items, it can be used to make an exceptional breakfast sandwich. Though the tomato melt is traditionally served with a bagel, we chose to have it served on the herb bread and it was exceptional. It was the type of breakfast sandwich you eat in small bites and savor.
Shrimp and grits. This is a tricky topic as it is a fan favorite in Charleston. Sunrise, will not disappoint. I would even be so bold as to place it in the top ten. Their three meat shrimp and grits is a hearty combination of sausage, ham, bacon, shrimp, onions and peppers in a bed of grits made in a secret house sauce. Without flaw a breakfast masterpiece. We shared this memorable dish. It isn’t an overwhelmingly large portion, but the portion of proteins make it a filling experience. As you can see from the picture, the shrimp are jumbo and ready to please.
The open face omelets are a special offering from Sunrise. Why do all omelets have to be folded or wrapped like a blanket? Sunrise does not feel that way. All their omelets are served open faced (If you feel passionate, you can get it prepared rolled). It is like a breakfast pizza and who doesn’t love pizza. There are seven options or a customized omelet, but we recommend the Jessica Ann and the Smoked Salmon with capers and onions. With fresh basil, onions, tomato and feta cheese, the Jessica Ann omelet is a mild and delicious way to enjoy breakfast/brunch. If you love smoked salmon, this omelet will leave you so satisfied. By going light on the egg and providing a healthy topping of smoked salmon, onions, capers and cheddar cheese, each bite is to be savored.
We want to give a personal acknowledgement to the staff. Their careful spirit, considerate customer attention and service with a smile was a comforting bonus to our visit. With such small quarters, that can be tricky to please guests, maintain wait list and keep providing attention with a smile.
If breakfast isn’t in the cards, enjoy one of the fresh sandwiches that are prepared with fresh local ingredients. From the Basil Grilled Cheese to the Cajun Shrimp Wrap, Sunrise Bistro offers winning options for lunch as well.
You have many choices when you think about breakfast and lunch in the Charleston area. If you travel just a bit out of the way, go to Spring Street and take in one of the best small breakfast and lunch spots on the peninsula.
People talk about the edge of the world or a country all of the time. It’s a way to make it sound amazing, this place where something stops existing and becomes something else, something unknown. Well, I’d like to throw a place into the running for the “Edge of America.”
Folly Beach, Charleston has long been known as the party beach in the area, the lower country’s Myrtle: lots of frat boys, screaming families, a higher concentration of drunk people, etc. It’s one of the reasons people go to Folly. It feels like a vacation there. But if you travel, past the washout, you’ll find a secluded stretch of beach, some woods, and few spectators to block your view of the edge of the world, guarded only by the ghost of a lighthouse.
To access this beautiful beach, you have to drive all the way down to the east end of Folly, park, and walk the remaining quarter of a mile along a paved road. Along your walk, you’ll mostly see foliage indigenous to the area, and a graffiti worn cement platform that tells you that you are almost there. Turn the bend, and you finally see the beach access, which consists of a few dozen yards of incredibly hot sand up and over a dune.
Once you’ve reached the beach though, you couldn’t care less about your scalded toes. This is a different place, a quiet one, where there are only a handful of people, some fishing, some relaxing in the sand; maybe even a photographer or two, taking snapshots of the quiet air. No one swims there because of the incredibly strong rip currents and high likelihood of sharks, but it’s safe enough to sit in the surf, to observe the scuttling blue crabs as schools of fish interrogate your legs and toes with small nips.
A pod of pelicans flying overhead draws your eye out of the water to the horizon, towards the Morris Island Lighthouse, standing several hundred feet offshore. The antebellum monolith was decommissioned in the early ‘60s due to a rising shoreline caused by the construction of jetties earlier in the century. It’s an aging monument, one that has a lot of protection around it, mostly locals who sought to insure its place as a permanent fixture of Folly.
One of the aforementioned jetties partitions the beach, adding to its isolated feel. If you don’t mind getting a little scuffed up from the rocks, then they are a wonderful, if slightly hazardous, vantage point from which to observe the shore and ocean, to reflect, or to take a stunning panoramic photograph with your iPhone. I prefer to watch the ocean wash over the boulders in a baptismal wave, hypnotic in their rhythm, soothing in their sound, and cleansing in their purpose. Despite the beauty of this particular section of beach, it is not a crowded place, for many reasons already stated: it’s quite a hike for the casual beach goer, there is no swimming, dogs aren’t allowed as it is also a nature preserve, etc. Some come to kayak, others go on tours of the lighthouse, and there are almost always a few fishermen. But all in all, this strip of the otherwise heavily populated Folly Beach is empty.
This is part of the beach’s appeal; its loveliness is not imbued with human activity, and it shows. If you went to any other beach that is normally very busy during off season, you can still tell it’s a popular beach. There are signs everywhere: beach houses hugging the shore, bits of paper, cigarette butts, a uniform shore line.
And of course, humanity has left its mark here as well: the lighthouse, the jetty, even giant sandbags in the surf to aid with erosion. But these things are different than cigarette butts and houses. Cigarettes–and all litter, for that matter–are a sign of constant habitation, replenished daily. Houses are lived in or rented, a flurry of feet, caked with stolen sand, march up the wooden steps into the HVAC and on into the shower, where the sand is rinsed down the drain and into the sewers.
But there is no trace of that here. The closest house is a quarter mile behind you. The lighthouse remains, for most of the year, empty, and the jetties have become a part of the shore, with lichen and clams living on the faces of the rocks. The sandbags, perhaps the least romantic addition, have reached a certain spectral elegance as the raggedy bits undulate in the tide. These are abandoned constructions, and nature has had no problem taking them under her wing.
People go to the beach for many reasons whether that is to hang out with friends, to tan, to swim, to picnic, to fish. And you can do most of those things here, but many don’t. Perhaps it is the haunted feeling that places obtain when humanity withdraws. There is a certain discomfort to it, to sit and stare at a ruin, to watch as humanity and nature coalesce into an oddly perfect pairing.
I just know that as I departed, I couldn’t help but snap a few shots on my iPhone. The initial discomfort gave way to something else, and I wanted a picture to remind me that solitude is the key the rejuvenation, and there is solitude a plenty at the Edge of America.
I spent one weekend in Charleston and decided I wanted to move here. This was six years ago.
The reasons I decided to move here were countless including the historic quaint city feel, beaches, people, food and more, but what truly sat at the top of the list was the Cooper River Bridge. I even so much made the bold statement that I would marry the bridge if I could.
Today marks the 10th Anniversary of this iconic symbol of Charleston connecting Mount Pleasant with Charleston. As we all reflect on our personal memories of driving, jogging, biking, running and soaking in its beauty, we wanted to present some of our favorite images we have taken over the last few years.
Thank you for 10 beautiful years of representing Charleston.
There has been widespread emotion throughout the country and the world surrounding the tragic events that happened at 110 Calhoun Street on a fateful Wednesday evening. A rallying cry has been heard from coast to coast from religious leaders to academics to citizens who have been taken back by one unforgivable act.
We would like to share some of the personal thoughts and commentary shared in the last few weeks:
These are only a few of the opinion and thoughts coming in throughout the country. We wanted to share some of the media commentary in the aftermath of this tragic event.
It’s the dead of winter in Charleston and many of us are missing the beach, riding around with the convertible top down or simply being comfortable going about our daily lives. While it is certainly not “North Face” weather here on most winter days, despite the attire some Charlestonians wear, it is cold, rainy and gloomy. It can leave many of us depressed, unfortunately contributing to a surge in suicides in the springtime. The Charleston Daily recommends being proactive to fight the Winter gloom with the following tips.
1) Add some color to your life, or kitchen. Think about heading to your nearest paint or hardware shop and pour over the wide array of colors available. From Sunburst Yellow to Caribbean Blue, a color will likely call your name. Buy a gallon, a brush, and give your favorite room a new glow. If you can’t commit, sample paint colors are available for under $3. http://www.valsparpaint.com/en/explore-colors/sample-store/index.html
2) Make your own springtime. Garden centers have started displaying seeds and starter pods. My experience has been that most garden center employees, particularly those at Royall Ace Hardware on Coleman Boulevard, are enthusiastic about educating new gardeners. In just a few days, you may have adorable spouts of green herbs and flowers, in your own home.
3) Warm up around the fire. So many folks pass by the woodpile outside the grocery store without giving it a second thought. It’s easy to forget about the fireplace or fire pit in our own backyards. Consider buying a bundle and making a fire that friends and family can gather around. Safety first though… http://www.fireplaces.com/Fireplace-Safety.aspx
4) Get your own glow. While the risk of skin cancer is real with tanning beds and sunning at the beach, a spray tan holds little risk. Long gone are the days of the orange tinged “fake bake.” Some brilliant scientists have learned how to create a natural appearing tan for your sallow winter skin. The spray tan lasts for at least 7 days and can give you a huge confidence boost that may make these last two chilly months easier to bear. Lulu at Sun Station Tanning in Mount Pleasant can give you a great lesson in sunless tanning.
5) Don’t waste a pretty day on a colonoscopy. Take one of these gloomy days and spend it inside prepping for one of the most important preventative health exams you can offer yourself, a colonoscopy. Over 50? Get one. Have a first degree relative with colon cancer? You need one at age 40 or ten years earlier than their age at diagnosis. 1/20 Americans will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer and it can be deadly if caught late. The good news is, many cases can be prevented with routine screening and surveillance colonoscopy. The procedure itself is not without risk, but I witness and perform this life-saving, routine procedure every day. For more info about risk, check out: http://www.cancer.org/cancer/colonandrectumcancer/moreinformation/colonandrectumcancerearlydetection/colorectal-cancer-early-detection-acs-recommendations
Have any other tips to fight off the gloom? Let us know.
It’s not hard to find something to do in Charleston when company comes to town. What is hard is deciding on where to go and what to see. Fortunately the latest guest at the Mensch house was a Marine who served in Vietnam. Patriots Point here we come. Down I-26, over the Ravenel Bridge and $5 later we were in the parking lot at Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum. Mrs. Mensch had discovered a two-for-one Groupon which made treating cousin Frank to a tour a no-brainer.
There is plenty to see and tour at Patriot’s Point: the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown, the submarine Clamagore, the destroyer class USS Laffey, a Vietnam Support base exhibit and a cold war submarine Memorial. Our time was limited so we opted for the self-guided tours on the Yorktown and the Vietnam exhibit.
A snowbird volunteer named Al greeted us on the hangar deck with a “Semper Fi” and Cousin Frank smiled for the first time all day. It was a Jethro Gibbs moment. Al explained the self-guided tour, handed us the flyer with the admonition to follow the yellow arrows and we were off to Hangar Bays #1 and #2.
There were the F4F Wildcat jet, F6F Hellcat, F-9 Cougar and other fighter aircraft on display. We opted not to take the flight simulator ride after seeing it in action. We needed to keep our lunch under control.
Over in Hanger Bay #3 was the Jimmy Doolittle display and a B-25 bomber hanging over the Sticky Fingers Smokehouse Express snack bar. We got a kick out of the Doolittle display when we read the front page of the San Francisco newspaper: there was a front page story way on the bottom about the Brooklyn Dodgers winning eight in a row. For a couple of Brooklyn natives, that was a hoot!
We followed Tour #3 yellow arrows up to the flight deck through the pilot’s ready room, air operations room, air traffic control room, and combat information center and emerged on the flight deck. What a marvelous day in Charleston, blue sky, temps in the 50’s and slight breeze. We were better off in the sun. We wandered from plane to plane. Here’s the link to all the aircraft at the USS Yorktown: http://www.patriotspoint.org/explore_museum/aircraft/.
To see the Corsair, Intruder and Skyhawk and helicopters on the flight deck was great.
Image courtesy of Paul Brustowicz
After wandering on the flight deck, we made our way to the chart room, pilot house, captain’s bridge. It is a wonder to see the Admiral’s Bridge and Sea Cabin on level 5. We passed the radar rooms on our way to hangar deck to end our tour.
We made a brief stop at the USS Laffey to read the plaque and moved on to the Vietnam Experience Exhibit. Cousin Frank thought he was back in Southeast Asia at this exhibit.
From the brown water navy, to the latrines and helicopters, cousin Frank applauded the authenticity of the exhibit. The Mensch applauded cousin Frank’s service to his country.
The Spring Street Experience is an urban shopping, lifestyle and dining experience built on patience and perseverance. It is a journey that is a number of years in the making. Spring Street has an eclectic mix of residents and bystanders from all walks of life. With a melting pot of backgrounds, this street opens the door of possibility for a unique living and shopping experience. Over the years a number of business has strategically plotted themselves on this evolving street. Now, Spring Street has found a permanent home for shoppers and lifestyles for all needs. From yoga, to wedding dress design, to Vietnamese food to vintage clothing, Spring Street has started a grass roots effort to continue expanding the evolution of Charleston.
With a comfortable and safe urban setting built for the upscale shopper, hipster or back packer, Spring Street is becoming one of the most unique and enlightening places to spend a day.
For years, Charleston has relied on a few neighborhoods to sustain its economic growth for locals and tourists. From the Market to King Street, Charleston created consolidated fronts for shoppers and activity seekers to find refuge. Now Spring Street is testing the boundaries and inviting you to expand your thinking and territory and experience this new thriving urban shopping and activity center. Now with thirty plus establishments, Spring Street is thriving.
If you have not taken in the Spring Street Experience, now is the time.
The Mensch has learned something new: creches are cribs, that is crèche is the French word crib. The Trappist Monks at Mepkin Abbey are having their annual Creche Festival with over 80 displays of creches and the Mensch is just one of a small army of volunteers who make it happen up there at Monck’s Corner.
Over the years benefactors have donated creches to the Abbey; commissioned artists to create them for the Festival and the monks have bought them so that now their collection numbers over eight hundred. The variety is endless.
Along the path from the Gift Store to the The Clare Booth Luce Library, there are creches made of wood, marble, recycled materials, and copper. In the library, artists have carved juniper and other woods, glued oyster shells, sewn fabric, woven sweet grass baskets, painted papier-mâché, and hammered brass into interpretations of a creche.
The creches hail from Poland, Lithuania, Italy, North Carolina, Beaufort, New Mexico, Haiti, Ethiopia, and many other foreign places. One of the fun things about the festival is the vote for a favorite. Visitors are asked for their ONE favorite creche at the end of the tour. It is always a tough choice. The Mensch’s volunteer job was to record the votes of visitors. Good thing it was pencil and paper and a big eraser. Some folks had no problem choosing a favorite: number 75, number 8, number 14. Others had a tough time: Not sure, it is between 14, 75 and 80, can I pick three?
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When the festival is over the Monks will tally the votes and the top three vote getters will be announced on the web site, www.mepkinabbey.org. Next year the winners are guaranteed a spot in the festival. A little competition is good for all.
There is no politically correct way to say this so I’ll just blurt it out: this is a festival for shoppers who are mostly women. Based on the Mensch’s observations, most of the visitors were women, retirees, and gray-haired guys who carried shopping bags for their wives. The gift store and the creche store are shoppers’ paradise for those who have Christian religious gifts on their gift list. And, yes there is fruitcake baked by the Monks for your giving pleasure.
The Festival ends December 6th and if you can’t make it, here are a few photos of what you missed.
As a film and television graduate with a strong international background in media production I’m always mindful of a city’s character in the lexicon of filmlore when I travel. While I tend to favor the solitude and shinrin-yoko of mountains and forests these days, cities are fertile ground for escapist forays while ambling through mutable streets of strange faces.
My mind makes a game of it − conjuring classic films from the concrete jungle then putting myself in the sequel of my own creation. Call it an indulgent folly of imaginative minds. Although I was immediately struck by the immense beauty of historic Charleston when I first visited, I was surprised that it didn’t evoke an emblematic film, which showcased the city like so many other cinematic cities along the east coast of the USA.
I asked around and got uncertain answers such as The Patriot and Forrest Gump, but I was after a counterpart to Ferris Bueller’s Chicago or the Ghostbusters’ New York. When I recently put the question to Studio Charleston founder, Harald Galinski, he explained that film incentives along with the versatility of abundant filming locations all in close proximity is what makes the Charleston region a desirable filming destination with an extensive filmography.
“The Charleston region and South Carolina offer an incredibly diverse canvas for filmmakers. Dear John is a perfect example where an amazing production designer was able to recreate Afghanistan, Africa, Germany and an Eastern European village all in Charleston – which otherwise would have been shot in Morocco.”
Galinski would know since he was part of the team who brought Relavity Media’s Dear John to Charleston, the last big budget feature to truly spotlight Charleston which was released in 2010. In a story many newcomers would appreciate, Galinski fell in love with the city during eight months of filming. After deciding to call Charleston home he founded Studio Charleston, the state’s first turn-key creative and functional production space.
I’ve noticed in the past three years living in Charleston the once rare sight of a film crew now seems common. With shows like Army Wives, Southern Charm and Reckless it appears Charleston has suddenly exploded as a television hotspot. I asked Galinski if this was an indication of the growing popularity of the city − was Charleston and the South suddenly cool?
“Reckless was one show written for Charleston, but the producers made it clear that if the new incentives were not passed they may have not shot the show in South Carolina. I can honestly say that since 2006, most of the projects, both film and TV came to SC because of the incentives.”
Galinski helped successfully lobby for the new film incentives after they were dropped in 2012. Along with starting the South Carolina Film Council, which currently has over 1000 members, in a short time Galinski’s efforts have markedly helped stimulate local production.
This growth is evident with shows like South from Hell starting production in Charleston. Meanwhile Walking Dead creators are about to commence filming a pilot outside Columbia. Not to be overlooked in the bright lights of location filmmaking is Moondog Animation Studio.
Moondog didn’t overlook Charleston when deciding on a location with incentives to establish their animation studio last year. Founder/CEO Bryan Ransom said it was Charleston’s international charm, with a mix of low-cost living and high-quality coastal lifestyle that won them over. But since the magic behind animation storytelling isn’t tethered to the reality of location filming I asked Ransom if the city is important where he films.
“Digital animation is a unique medium that blends art and technology and Charleston is a unique area that does the same. Its history of art and design has continued to evolve while in the background you can find a growing tech community. This creates an atmosphere that indirectly affects the film. Charleston let us imagine great things and create beautiful stories with no creative or technological limits. What more could you ask from a town?”
Given the recent spate of local and regional productions I was curious what Ransom thought about the improvement in the local film and television industry.
“Never settle! The SC film industry is in a small season of growth, but this can disappear as quickly as it appeared. Incentives are one piece of the puzzle. We need to avoid becoming complacent and continue to push for competitive incentives. There are literally billions of dollars in filming that can be taken away from Georgia and Louisiana. South Carolina has taken steps in the right direction but they are not there yet. “
While Galinski cites additional production infrastructure is needed to increase the level of local media productions, he says there are more immediate concerns critical to the state’s film and television industry.
“We still need to push for a new SC Film Commissioner as soon as possible, which we have not had since 2010. I am also trying to work with local and regional authorities to create a Charleston Area Film Office.”
The dynamic success of the Charleston International Film Festival, which recently concluded its 7th festival year only adds to the bounty of the local film and television cultural landscape. With increased support from state legislators, along with the tireless and creative efforts of industry leaders there is every reason Charleston should continue to emulate the successful film and television growth in neighboring states.
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As the smooth taste of vodka warmed our spirits, I thought about the Charleston I have grown to love and the changing times. Part of me was happy and part bittersweet. A new era is upon us. We see it everyday and the closing of Blind Tiger is one of the symbols of a changing city.
