Happy Monday, Charleston. Hope everyone had a great Easter weekend, whether you were hunting eggs in Hampton Park, brunching on King Street, or just enjoying the fact that spring has officially arrived in the Lowcountry.
We've been talking about the All Things Charleston Dinner Club for a few weeks now, and it's officially happening. The first dinner is Tuesday, April 28 at 6:15 PM.
Here's how it works: you take a short personality quiz that covers everything from your conversation style to your interests and what kind of connections you're looking for. We use your answers to match you with 5 other readers who complement your personality, so you're not just sitting with random strangers, you're sitting with people you'll actually click with. We hand pick the restaurant, handle the booking, the reminders, and all the details. The restaurant gets revealed the morning of. For this dinner club, we’ll be picking a spot on James Island. After dinner, everyone's invited to a second spot for drinks/snacks where I'll be hanging out and meeting everyone in person.
Seats are $15.99 and tables are limited. Based on recent polls, there’s high demand for this dinner club so I’d advise booking your spot now. Once tables are full, that's it.
If you've been wanting to connect with other like-minded locals, now’s your time.
👉Click here to take the quiz and book your spot.
Now, let’s get into your 5-minute read of everything you need to know happening in Charleston this week.
Here’s what we’re covering today:
Hidden Gems
Ice Cream or Fried Chicken?
Curated Events
Local Updates You Should Care About
🎨All Things Charleston Partner: Experience Plein Air Painting at Hampton Park
SC licensed artist Alba Ortiz is teaching beginner pastel painting classes at Hampton Park. Unlike a typical studio class, you'll be painting outside surrounded by the live scenery of one of downtown Charleston's most iconic green spaces. Alba is passionate about guiding others to create, express themselves, and connect through art. Her classes are built around a welcoming community space where creativity is celebrated.
Here are the details:
- $49/class
- Bring your own pastels and paper
- Next class is Pastel for Beginners II - this Saturday (4/11) at 10am
- You will learn underpainting techniques and layering while creating beautiful landscapes
- All levels welcome
👉 Click here to learn more and sign up
⛵ If you haven't made the drive down Haddrell Street in Mount Pleasant, you're missing out. The Wreck of the Richard and Charlene has been serving fresh, local seafood for over 24 years in a screened-in dining room right on Shem Creek. No sign out front, no reservations, no pretense. You show up, put your name in, and crack into complimentary boiled peanuts while you wait. The fried shrimp plate with red rice and hushpuppies is the move, but the deviled crab and she-crab soup hold their own. Everything comes off local boats. Click here to see the menu.
🍔 Ask anyone in Mount Pleasant where to get the best burger and Coleman Public House comes up every single time. The Public House Burger is the one to order, but the pimento burger is a sleeper hit that keeps locals coming back. Pair it with the truffle fries and something off their 16 rotating taps. The vibe is laid-back neighborhood pub with food that punches way above its weight. They've been doing this on Coleman Blvd since 2010 and haven't lost a step. Check out their menu here.
🍗🍦Ice Cream or Fried Chicken?
Life Raft Treats, a small ice cream company born right here in Charleston, just landed at Yankee Stadium. Their "Not Fried Chicken" is now part of the Yankees' 2026 food lineup, and it's already going viral nationally.
If you haven't seen it, imagine picking up what looks like a perfectly golden fried chicken drumstick, biting into it, and realizing it's waffle-flavored ice cream with a chocolate cookie "bone" and a coating of caramelized white chocolate and crushed cornflakes. It's wild. And it's entirely handmade.
Founder Cynthia Wong is a six-time James Beard semifinalist for Outstanding Pastry Chef who built this company from scratch in Charleston. She pitched it on Shark Tank, shipped it across the country through Goldbelly, and now it's being served to 40,000+ fans a night in the Bronx.
This is what happens when Charleston creativity meets a national stage. Proud to see a local company making this kind of noise.
You can buy Not Fried Chicken at Opie in Mt. Pleasant, select Whole Foods locations, DoorDash, Goldbelly, and some restaurants (Chubby Fish sold them last time I was there). Here’s the link to their website.
📌Curated Events
Monday
The Charleston Festival: Morning History Walk (More Info) · 9:15am-11:30am · 40 E Bay St, Downtown · $35 · Walk Charleston's most storied streets and trace the city's 350+ year evolution from colonial port to Civil War battleground, passing historic homes, church steeples, and wrought-iron gardens along the way.
Cirque de Paris (More Info) · 7pm-8:30pm · Citadel Mall, West Ashley · $21+ · 2026 Cirque de Paris tour with magic, wonder, and breathtaking artistry direct from Paris.
Tuesday
Mount Pleasant Farmers Market Opening Day (More Info) · 3:30pm-7pm · Farmers Market Pavilion, Mount Pleasant · FREE · The beloved weekly farmers market kicks off its 2026 season with local farm-fresh produce, meats, baked goods, prepared meals, and live music every Tuesday through September.
CofC International Piano Series: Christopher Goodpasture (More Info) · 7pm · Sottile Theatre, Downtown · $38 · The season finale of CofC's acclaimed piano series features Christopher Goodpasture performing works from Brahms to Gershwin in one of Charleston's most beautiful historic theaters.
Wednesday
West Ashley Farmers Market (More Info) · 3pm-7pm · Ackerman Park, West Ashley · FREE · Enjoy fresh local produce & homegrown creativity in a family/pet-friendly environment with live music, free parking, and plenty of space to run around and dance.
Growing & Caring for Fruit Trees Workshop (More Info) · 5pm-6:30pm · Charleston Parks Conservancy, West Ashley · $10 · Learn best practices for growing fruit trees in the Lowcountry and take home a free fruit tree of your choice. Trees offered first-come, first-served.
Golden Hour Hanami Party (More Info) · 5pm-8pm · Shokudo, Downtown · $50+ · A Japanese-inspired spring blossom party in Shokudo's beer garden with izakaya bites, a complimentary first drink, and an all-vinyl DJ set as the sun goes down.
Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival World Tour (More Info) · 7pm (doors 5:30pm) · Charleston Music Hall, Downtown · $20 · The 50th anniversary world tour brings award-winning adventure and outdoor films to Charleston, presented by Half Moon Outfitters. A must-see for anyone who loves the outdoors.
Thursday
Music in the Parks with Southbound 17 (More Info) · 5:30-7:30pm · Magnolia Park, West Ashley · FREE · Spend the evening enjoying live music, local food, and the best of Charleston’s park community.
Blackbird Swings: The Beatles in Jazz (More Info) · 7pm · Queen Street Playhouse, Downtown · $50+ · Maggie Worsdale and band reimagine The Beatles catalog through a jazz lens at one of Charleston's most intimate venues.
Snarky Puppy with The Nth Power (More Info) · 8pm (doors 7pm) · Charleston Music Hall, Downtown · Starting at $69 · Five-time Grammy-winning collective Snarky Puppy brings their genre-defying blend of funk, jazz, and soul to Charleston with New Orleans opener The Nth Power.
📰Local Updates You Should Care About
🚢 South Carolina's $1.2 billion Hugh Leatherman port terminal is running into serious financial headwinds, and state officials are scrambling to course-correct. The Leatherman Terminal in North Charleston was supposed to be a crown jewel for the state's booming logistics industry, but rising costs and revenue shortfalls are putting pressure on the budget. For Charleston-area residents, port revenues directly fund local infrastructure, so how this plays out matters beyond the docks.
🏘️ Berkeley County just approved nearly 600 new homes across two major developments, continuing the region's relentless growth trajectory. The projects add significant housing inventory to an area already experiencing rapid expansion. More homes coming online could help ease pressure on the Charleston-area housing market, but it also means more cars on roads that are already at capacity during rush hour.
🛫 Charleston International Airport just installed 24/7 automated food kiosks, so no more staring at a closed Chick-fil-A at 5 AM. The self-service kiosks are powered by Evolvending and serve freshly heated meals from White Castle, Wow Bao, and The Cheesecake Factory Bakery around the clock. They're in both the public and secure sides of the terminal, which is a big win for early morning and late night flyers. Not exactly Lowcountry cuisine, but when your flight leaves at 6 AM, a hot meal beats a bag of chips.
That's a wrap for today. As always, thanks for spending a few minutes with us. We'll see you back here Friday morning.
- Ryan from All Things Charleston
How did we do this week?
Search Properties for Sale or Find Your Home Valuation:
michelle.charlestonhomeguides.com
Michelle Wells, REALTOR
843.607.3621
[email protected]