Happy Friday morning, Charleston! There’s nothing going on Sunday, right? Like, nothing that’s being hyped to the high heavens.

Seriously, though, I have no dog in the hunt in this weekend’s Super Bowl LIX. I would, however, be perfectly alright if I didn’t see the requisite 15 shots of this during the game. 👇🏼👇🏼

Congrats to John M. of Charleston, who guessed correctly in our “Where Are We” segment last week! Our photo was at Fort Johnson on James Island.

Follow us on Instagram. When we get to 1,000 followers, we’ll do a $50 giveaway to a local cafe!

In today’s newsletter:

• Names matter. Especially when it comes to CHS restaurants. 🥘

• What do you think of when Charleston comes to mind? Bet it’s not one of THE major contributors to our economy. 🚢

• ICYMI. James Beard-famous, Pink Bellies pop-up and more bagels downtown. 🥯

Friday 73° / 56° ⛅ 💧15%

Saturday 69° / 57° ⛅ 💧16%

Sunday 76° / 54° ⛅ 💧15%

Friday, February 7

• Author Luncheon with Signe Pike and Victoria Benton Frank I 12 PM | Halls Signature Events, 5 Faber St., Charleston | Join Blue Bicycle Books for an author luncheon with Signe Pike, best-selling author of the The Lost Queen series. King Arthur and his contemporaries are boldly reimagined in this “mystical, epic, and captivating” series that resurrects the real historical figures who inspired one of our most enduring legends.

• TAKE THE FUNNY AND RUN I 8 PM | Theatre 99, 280 Meeting St Ste B, Charleston | Live improv comedy at Theatre 99 is a Charleston tradition where audience members laugh until it hurts. Come loaded with suggestions for the quick witted Theatre 99 ensemble members who will take your suggestions…and rock out hilarious unscripted scenes. Show is appropriate for 15 years and older.

• Laurel Canyon - The California Sound I 8 PM Charleston | Doors at 7:00 pm | Show at 8:00 pm I Laurel Canyon- The California Sound is a theatrical and music experience that recreates through story and song, the early days of the burgenening singer/songwriter movement. The show highlights the lives and musical development of iconic folk-rock artists Joni Mitchell, The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, Crosby Stills and Nash and The Mamas and the Papas.

Saturday, February

• Puppy Love 5k | 9 AM - 12 PM | Palmetto Island County Park, 444 Needlerush Pkwy, Mount Pleasant | You and your dog are invited to race as a team in the Puppy Love 5k Run / Walk. This is the second annual race and will be lots of fun again this year. All proceeds benefit the Charleston Animal Society. 

• Pup Bowl VIII: Where Every Adoption is a Touchdown | 12 - 3 PM | Mt. Pleasant Towne Centre, 1218 Belk Dr, Mount Pleasant | Towne Centre and Charleston Animal Society proudly present PUP BOWL VIII at The Oaks, across from Barnes & Noble. Pup Bowl VIII is a pet adoption and family-fun day. Cheer on the cutest football game you will ever see! The event will also feature fund-raising for Charleston Animal Society, live music, kids activities and more. Tickets are just $10 per person, children under 12 are free! 100% of all ticket entry fees will be donated to Charleston Animal Society.

• SCHOOLHOUSE ROCK LIVE! I 3 PM | Queen Street Playhouse, 20 Queen St, Charleston | A pop culture phenomenon comes to musical life in fun for the entire family Schoolhouse Rock Live! The Emmy Award-winning 1970s Saturday morning cartoon series that taught history, grammar, math and more through clever, tuneful songs will light up the Queen Street Playhouse in 2025. Schoolhouse Rock Live! follows Tom, a nerve-wracked school teacher who is nervous about his first day of teaching.

• Elon Phoenix at College of Charleston Cougars Mens Basketball I 6 PM | TD Arena, 301 Meeting Street, Charleston. I Cheer on the Cougars who are in 4th place in the Colonial Athletic Association, but only 2 games back from 1st.

Sunday, February 9

• Fittest of the Coast 2025 | 8 AM - 5 PM | Charleston Area Convention Center, 5001 Coliseum Dr, North Charleston | Join us at one of the country's largest fitness events. We can guarantee you will experience big vibes and big moments! 20+ fitness vendors.

• Super Bowl Sunday at The Matador | 11 - 12 AM | The Matador, 235 Meeting Street, Charleston | Join us for an unforgettable Super Bowl celebration. We’ll have the game on with full sound, so you won’t miss a single play, touchdown, or halftime show moment. 🎉 All-Day Happy Hour Specials 🎉

• Boone Hall Plantation - Celebrating Black History Month | Boone Hall Plantation, 1235 Long Point Rd, Mount Pleasant | Event Details This month-long celebration is a chance to celebrate Black achievement and provide a fresh reminder to take stock of where we are now and give visibility to the people and organizations helping to create change. A continued engagement with history is vital as it helps us remember the past, give context for the present, and the possibilities that lie ahead.

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

Berkeleys Is Your #1

I asked last week, you answered. Here’s your favorite cheap eats around town.

RESTAURANTS

What’s In A Name?

A.C.’s Bar & Grill, Bertha’s Kitchen, The Glass Onion, Jackrabbit Filly, The Obstinate Daughter.

Charleston has to have some of the most uniquely-named restaurants in the country. Likely with a story or meaning behind each one.

Did you know it’s FIG, not Fig? When the celebrated restaurant opened at the corner of Meeting and Hasell Street in 2002, rather than name it after a fruit eaten since biblical times, the owners chose an acronym. One that stands for “Food Is Good”.

And what about Daps Breakfast & Imbibe? A “dap” is a friendly handshake—or a Latin word for “sacrificial” or “feast”. Followed by a word, “imbibe”, I suspect most people hear and say “Huh?” Here, I’ll help.

One of my CHS favorite restaurant names: Xiao Bao Biscuit. A nod to a nickname one of its owners has, combined with the word “biscuit”.

Besides being a voracious reader and word nerd since I was a kid, why am I dissecting Charleston restaurant names now?

The Post & Courier recently published a fantastic article that’s an A to Z guide to Charleston restaurants. With fascinating stories behind each.

Check it out. 👇🏼👇🏼

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!

ECONOMY

Port Activities Contribute Mightily To CHS Region

What do you think of when you contemplate Charleston?

I bet it’s the great restaurants. Our beaches.

Or maybe it’s the vibrant arts and architecture scene. The rich history. King Street shopping.

One thing I doubt is in your top 5 is “The Competitiveness & Forward-Thinking Leadership Of The South Carolina Ports Authority”.

But it should be, given its outsized influence on our economy.

And it’s only going to get better with the new $400 million rail facility opening in July in North Charleston.

Next time you’re at the neighborhood barbecue or networking event, dazzle your audience by throwing out these stats:

1. The port of Charleston is the deepest on the East Coast at 52 feet

2. Total economic activity produced by port operations in SC is $86 billion per year

3. Port of Charleston ranks #6 in the US in cargo volume

4. 260,000 jobs in SC are generated by port activities

Impressive numbers, indeed. And maybe worth making it into your top 5.

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ICYMI

🍜 Delicious food for a cold winter night. From the owner of Pink Bellies downtown, a new pop-up on Wednesday nights.

🍺 The “cost of doing business” hits another bar/restaurant. Get to the fabulous Local 616 downtown before it closes on February 12. Thank you, liquor liability insurance companies.

🛍️ Couture shopping on the Mount Pleasant waterfront?! Tiffany and Valentino are a few names popping-up in a new installation at Patriots Point.

🥯 Popular Johns Island bagel spot comes downtown. Bagels by KISS opened on February 4 at 19 Broad Street.

🍽️ James Beard Award semifinalists were announced. And it included a downtown favorite.

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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 the Super Bowl LIX pre-game). 👇