Happy Friday morning, Charleston! Right off the top, I must offer a mea culpa. The ad for Nike in last week’s newsletter? What?!?

By now, you know I’m a champion of small, local Charleston businesses. I’ve professed my disdain for anyone who’s within proximity to the Green Siren—that would be Starbucks—in favor of the many fabulous locally-owned coffee shops in town.

Yet an ad for Nike makes it into CHS Happenings. Honestly, I was rushing to publish and just wasn’t paying attention.

Beehiiv is this amazing platform that brings me to you every week. They make it super-efficient to do all kinds of things—sending my weekly email to lots of subscribers at once, publishing on the web, providing analytics and suggesting sponsors.

Don’t worry, that won’t happen again. 😳 When we start offering paid sponsorships and ad opportunities, it’ll be from local businesses that bring you value.

___________________________________________________________________

Congrats to loyal reader Sandra P. of Goose Creek, who was the 1st to guess correctly in our “Where Are We” segment last week! Our photo was the Eternal Father Of The Sea Chapel at North Charleston’s Navy Yard.

In today’s newsletter:

• This time last year CHS Happenings was a series of blog posts on The Farrell Group’s website. Since the end of the year is a time for reflection, I look back, then forward to 2025. 📰

• Johns Island shopping center to get facelift. An upgraded grocery store, too. 🛒

• ICYMI. No more tapas, can you hear too much about Southern Charm, and beers and dogs. 🐕

Friday 63° / 57° ☁️ 💧21%

Saturday 70° / 62° ⛅ 💧17%

Sunday 67° / 53° ⛈️ 💧76%

Friday, December 27

• Jolly on Folly: Tropical Christmas Bar Pop Up | 3 - 10 PM | Taco Boy Folly Beach, 106 E Ashley Ave, Folly Beach | From December 14 to January 5, Taco Boy Folly Beach's Jaguar Rooftop Bar will transform into a festive, tropical Christmas-themed cocktail oasis daily from 3 PM to close.

• Lowcountry Oyster Roast and BBQ at The Dunlin | 4:30 - 8 PM | The Dunlin, Auberge Resorts Collection, 6000 Kiawah River Drive, Johns Island | Welcome steaming buckets of oysters, bbq favorites from our smokers, and camaraderie with friends and family- the perfect remedy for chilly weather along the Carolina coast. This event will take place at the Airstream park next to the Spa in Kiawah River. Limited parking is available.

• Savannah Ghost Pirates @ South Carolina Stingrays I 6:05 PM | North Charleston Coliseum & Performing Arts Center, 5001 Coliseum Dr, North Charleston

Saturday, December 28

• Well Hung Vineyards Iconic Year End Drag Brunch Party | 11:30 AM - 2:30 PM | Well Hung Vineyard - Restaurant, 49 South Market Street, Charleston | Get ready for a fabulous and unforgettable drag brunch to close out the year at Well Hung Vineyards - it's gonna be iconic!

• Indi'Gxld & Friends at Charleston Pour House at Charleston Pour House (Deck) I 6 PM | Pour House, 1977 Maybank Hwy, Charleston | Indi'Gxld & Friends ft. members of Black Zola & Sensational Vibes Band. Show is for all ages. Attendees under 18 must be accompanied by a parent.

• COMEDY EVENT: David Lucas | 8 - 9:30 PM | Queen Street Playhouse, 20 Queen St, Charleston | STAND UP COMEDY PRESENTED BY THE COMEDY SHOPPE DAVID LUCAS BIRTHDAY BASH! David Lucas Was Born In Macon, GA. He Started Acting An Early Age, Performing In Numerous Stage Plays At The Macon Little Theatre. He Relocated To Hollywood Where He Was A Contestant On, "MTV Yo Momma". He Has Since Written For Several Television Shows And Continues To Perform Stand Up All Over The Country (For Such Comedians As Louis CK, Erik Griffin, Joe Rogan, Brendan Schaub, Tony Hinchcliffe, Bert Kreisher, DL Hughley And Many More). David Is A Kill Tony Hall Of Famer And Currently Headlining His Own Tour.

Sunday, December 29

• West Ashley Cars and Coffee | 8 - 10 AM | Northbridge Shopping Center, 1690 Olde Town Road, Charleston | Come out to see some of the coolest cars , trucks, and motorcycles in the local Charleston area! Breakfast sammiches are available at Cold Shoulder Gourmet and coffee is provided by the Barista Bear. This Event is the largest and longest running Cars and Coffee gathering in the city of Charleston! Dust off your old ride and come join us!

• CML Superstars! | 10 AM - 12 PM | Children's Museum of the Lowcountry, 25 Ann St, Charleston | The Children’s Museum is open from 10:00am – 12:00pm on the second and fourth Sundays of every month exclusively for children with special needs and their families to visit the Museum for FREE. Children are able to explore and play in the Museum without the crowds and over-stimulation. This program is FREE, but registration is required below.

  At the Children’s Museum of the Lowcountry, play is learning and learning is play.

• Christmas & New Years 3 for $33 crowler special @ Snafu Brewing Co | 3 - 4 PM | Snafu Brewing Company, 3280 Industry Dr, North Charleston | In honor of the holidays (& spending lots of time with your extended family & in laws), stock up on your fave sours or take three new beers home in three 32oz crowlers for just $33!Re-up on your personal beer fridge stash, or be the cool one who brings the delicious seasonal sours to the family hoilday gathering 😎 our holiday 3/$33 deal runs from Dec. 23rd to Dec. 31st 🍻

For a COMPLETE list of events in the Charleston area, bookmark the site below!

WHAT YOU HELPED BUILD

Every December, year-in-reviews start to proliferate.

Spotify has a unique spin. Since they’re an algorithmically-driven music streaming platform, and they gather all kinds of info about your listening habits.

All year long.

Then they serve it up in early December in something called “Wrapped”.

Beehiv does something similar. They produced my very own CHS Happenings “Wrapped” a few weeks back.

While I have no plans to visit Lost Springs, Wyoming, this compilation got me thinking.

What are the highlights of my 6 months in digital publishing? And where do I want to take CHS Happenings in 2025?

How about it, 2024?

When I went from Charleston Happenings—something that looked like this—to CHS Happenings, I really had no BHAG.

I wanted to take this passion—interacting with local businesses, restaurants, retailers, and commercial real estate developers and brokers—and “professionalize” it.

What I’m doing is resonating. In the world of newsletter publishing, an open rate over 50% is considered excellent. CHS Happenings is over 61% since the 1st issue, and in the past 4 weeks, that number is 70%.

Another sign we’re doing well is the “Avg. CTR”. At over 6%, that number is also considered excellent.

Excellent how, though? It means you’re engaging—a high percentage of you are opening the emails I send, and you find the links I highlight interesting enough that you click them!

You may recall I posted on social when my subscribers passed 1,000. While I was proud of achieving that, I dug a little deeper.

Engagement was still high at that number—averaging mid-50’s open rate—but Beehiiv’s analytics revealed there was a stubborn segment 🤣 that signed up, then hadn’t opened any of my emails in months.

I don’t want to add to inbox bloat if people aren’t opening my emails. So I set an automation that sent 2 reminder emails to those folks, and if they didn’t open those?!

One last 2024 observation: all 833 of you were organically attracted to CHS Happenings. Word of mouth and social media. 🙏🏼

What about 2025?

What I care most about is engagement. Your giving a s#it about what I put out ‘cause it’s entertaining, informative, tells you something you didn’t know, and value-packed.

Simply good.

So I’ll continue that. I’ll create more polls to hear directly from you.

I’m going to start advertising to spread the word faster about CHS Happenings.

Once I get to a target number of subscribers, I’ll offer local businesses the opportunity to do paid sponsorships.

And since it’s close to the turning of the calendar, and I haven’t set a resolution…

I’ll be at 10,000 subscribers by the end of 2025.

So thank you! Thank you for your kind words about CHS Happenings when I see you around town.

Thank you for your engagement.

And thank you for telling every Charlestonian you know about this little passion project that’s becoming just a bit more. 😉

SPONSORED BY THE CHARLIE POST CLASSIC

Charleston Running Club is the O.G. of Chucktown running clubs. In the 70s, the club helped start two of our largest races, the Cooper River Bridge Run and the Kiawah Marathon.

And for the 40th year, the annual Charlie Post Classic 15K/5K takes place on Saturday, January 11, 2025, at 8:30 AM at the Sullivan’s Island Fish Fry Shack, located at 1424 Hennessy Street.

This race honors the memory of Dr. Charlie Post, a well-known Charleston runner, triathlete, and family physician who volunteered his time and medical talents to the running community. Dr. Post served as head of the College of Charleston’s student health services and was the team’s sports physician.

I plan on running this race for the first time this year. I don’t know what’s been keeping me. ALL my running buddies say it’s a great course and a fun time.

Registration includes a chip-timed 15K run or 5K run/walk, finisher’s medal, shirt, refreshments, and the satisfaction of knowing that you helped College of Charleston student athletes.

Race options include a 5K run and walk, and for you longer distance athletes, a 15K route. That’s 9.3 miles on our imperial system. 😆

Sign up at this link.

WHERE ARE WE?

Each week, watch this space for a random snap from somewhere in Charleston. Where are we? Only true locals will know. DM your guess on Instagram, or email me here. The first person to guess correctly will get a shout-out at the top of our issue next week!

REDEVELOPMENT

Johns Island Gets An Upgrade In Its Grocery Options

We all know how quickly Charleston is growing. We even did a poll recently on where the 34 transplants per day moving here are coming from.

Non-spoiler alert: It’s New York.

And I bet plenty of them are moving to Johns Island. A once-sleepy area separated by the Stono River and a bridge from James Island has been one of Charleston’s fastest-growing areas for a while now.

As rooftops go, so generally go grocery stores.

Although a weathered sign on the wooded property at River Road and Maybank Highway seems to have languished there for a while.

Harris-Teeter’s laissez-faire attitude about Johns Island’s growth may be Lowes Food’s gain.

KJ’s Market has operated near the corner of Maybank Highway and Bohicket Road for a while. It’s a value option that no longer reflects the changing demographics of Johns Island.

Now the company that owns both KJs Market and Lowes Foods is planning an upgrade.

Plans sent before the city of Charleston's Design Review Board over the summer called for updating the façade of the shopping center and constructing a new entry in preparation of Lowes Foods possibly taking over the anchor space.

HELP ME SPREAD THE WORD!

If you like what you’ve been reading, I’d be SUPER grateful if you click the button below and leave a testimonial. Make it as long or short as you’d like.

It’s a nice, easy, fast setup and should take you 30 seconds or less.

I’ll add your testimonial to my subscription page. Think of it like a Yelp review which lets newbies know “This is definitely worth your time”.

It’ll help me grow CHS Happenings and keep bringing you cool new perks like our events calendar. 🙏🏼

ICYMI

🍸 What the hell is a “pornstar martini”? And why is it so popular at this new bar?

🤌🏼 We reported a while back who’s replacing Butcher & Bee downtown. Here’s an update on the new Italian restaurant.

🇪🇸 Longtime downtown tapas restaurant is closing. Barsa had a nice run.

🍨 Fro-yo coming from NYC to CHS. Named 16 Handles, the first location will be in the Point Hope development.

🐶 Dogs & beer together?! What a superb combo, and a new dog park and beer bar is now open in North Charleston.

Was this forwarded to you? Sign up here.

FEEDBACK

Got 15 seconds? Let us know what you thought about today’s newsletter by replying to this email or voting in the poll below (you’ll be done MUCH faster than cars on Johnnie Dodds at 4:00 PM on a Friday). 👇