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Welcome to CHS Happenings, the weekly newsletter that keeps you in the know about Charleston events, restaurants & retail.
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Happy Friday morning, Charleston! In last week’s article about Ladybird Books, I mentioned the wrong opening date. October 30 is the Grand Opening! Follow their Instagram for updates.
Notice anything different around here? I launched the new CHS Happenings website on Wednesday. The changes may look subtle, but take it from a guy who’s been a tech nerd for a long time: there’s a lot going on and it’s all good.
It may even get me thinking about publishing twice weekly again.
Congrats to Xan M. of Downtown, who was the 1st to guess correctly in our “Where Are We” segment last week! Our photo was the Charleston Strong mural. In the fall following the Emanuel AME massacre, Citadel cadets painted this mural on the old baseball stadium wall on Rutledge Avenue. The public was invited to paint the doves, the first of which were stenciled by then-Mayor Joe Riley and State Senator Marlon Kimpson in a special ceremony.
WEEKEND WEATHER
Friday 70° / 62° 🌧️ 💧71%
Saturday 70° / 62° 🌧️ 💧64%
Sunday 73° / 59° 🌧️ 💧57%
CURATED HAPPENINGS
Friday, October 10
Fall Art Walk at Freshfields Village | 4 - 7 PM | Freshfields Village | Residents and visitors alike are invited to watch live art demonstrations and view works from talented local and visiting artists inside participating retail shops.
Oddities & Offerings Night Market | 6 - 10 PM | Wyrd Sisters Brewing | Come spend one of those nights with us and a collection of 20+ vendors at our 𝙾𝚍𝚍𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚜 & 𝙾𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙽𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝙼𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚎𝚝. Plus we're releasing Boo Hag, our Black Rye IPA w/Ghost Chilies. This vicious blend of rye, dark malts, American hops, and ghost chilies might leave you paralyzed in want of more:
The Mousetrap | 7:30 - 9:30 PM | Queen Street Playhouse | The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie is THE genre-defining murder mystery from the best-selling novelist of all time… case closed!
Saturday, October 11
Kids Are Cool Family Festival I 9 AM | Charleston Woodlands | Unplug, explore, and reconnect at the Kids Are Cool Family Festival + Campout—a full-day celebration of youth creativity, community, and nature-based fun.
Oktoberfest Charleston | 11 AM - 6 PM I St. Matthew's Lutheran Church | The Eighth Annual Oktoberfest at St. Matthew's presents an extraordinary event filled with live music, authentic German cuisine, a lively biergarten featuring local craft beers, a German bakery, a spirited Kinderzone, German Chorales & Hymns, visits by Charleston Mayor, William S. Cogswell, Jr., and local leaders.
Shakedown Jam: A Park Circle Block Party | 12 - 5 PM | Commonhouse Aleworks | Enjoy FREE shows from The Reckoning playing Grateful Dead tunes on the courtyard stage plus Robert Corbett's Just Groove. We’re closing the street in front of Commonhouse Aleworks for a full-on Shakedown Street experience with heady vendors, fairy hair, face painting and other kids' activities.
Sunday, October 12
Hair of the Hog | 12 - 7 PM | Starlight Motor Inn | A Riverfront Revival After Party. Cornbread Cowboi hosting, plus live music from The Intracoastal Playboys & Whole Hog BBQ from Tank Jackson's Holy City Hogs. Bring your towel to take a dip in Starlight Motor Inn's saltwater and climate controlled pool. And football streaming on all screens.
SC Stingrays vs. Norfolk Admirals I 6:05 PM | North Charleston Coliseum & Performing Arts Center I Family-friendly fun watching your 3-time champions!
Southern Screams Haunted House 2025: IMMORTAL | 7:30 - 11 PM | Holy City Brewing | Experience Charleston's premier haunted house attraction - Southern Screams: IMMORTAL. Open for 25 terrifying nights beginning September 26 thru November 8.
For a COMPLETE list of events in the Charleston area, bookmark the site below!
Myrtle’s Rising. Charleston’s Redefining
Myrtle Beach’s Market Common
Let’s be honest — Charleston folks don’t usually look up Highway 17 and say, “Hey, maybe we should take notes from Myrtle Beach.” The Grand Strand has long been our louder, tackier cousin — affectionately (and sometimes not) nicknamed Dirty Myrtle. Fun for a weekend, sure, but rarely mentioned in the same breath as “urban planning.”
Because Myrtle Beach has quietly nailed something Charleston’s still in the middle of: turning a former military base into a real community. Market Common Myrtle Beach, built on the site of the old Air Force Base, is a legit success story — shops, restaurants, parks, trails, and neighborhoods that actually work together. The same developer even delivered Market Common Clarendon up in my hometown of D.C. (technically Arlington, VA), another walkable, mixed-use district that’s aged beautifully.
So yeah, maybe Charleston could tip its hat northward.
That said, Navy Yard Charleston is already shaping up to be one of the most compelling redevelopments on the East Coast. Storehouse Row — those brick warehouses reborn as creative offices, restaurants, and now apartments — is adaptive reuse at its finest: history polished, not erased. Add what’s still to come — hotels, retail, public spaces, and the broader re-imagining of Union Pier downtown — and Charleston’s transformation stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the best from D.C. to Miami.
So yes, hats off to Dirty Myrtle for showing what’s possible. But here in Charleston, we’re writing our own playbook — one restored brick and riverside sunset at a time.
IN THE COMMUNITY
No shocker here—South Carolina’s standout bridge is the one every visitor Instagrams. All cables, curves, and salt-air swagger.
“Hidden gem,” huh? Pretty bold words for a place where the line snakes down Nassau and the smoke’s been visible from space since 2016.
Charleston just snagged “Best East Coast City to Live In” for 2025, leaving bigger names eating shrimp and grits dust. Turns out charm, walkability, and good brisket beat skyscrapers every time.
Two decades in, MUSC’s therapy dogs got their own blessing—and a mayoral proclamation to boot. Dozens of pups, from poodles to retrievers, proved once again that bedside manner sometimes comes with a wag.
Cambridge is bulldozing its crumbling twin, but Charleston’s Dockside still waits in limbo. The city’s standing by while engineers—and gravity—take their time.
WHERE ARE WE?
Each week, watch this space for a random snap from somewhere in Charleston. Where are we? Just hit reply to this email, or if you’re reading on our website, email me here. The first person to guess correctly will get a shout-out at the top of our issue next week!
Click the button below if you have a photo you think will stump our eagle-eyed community! Landscape (horizontal) orientation works best.
LIVE MUSIC LOCALLY
Whoa, if you saw no other live music other than the lineup at Riverfront Revival this weekend, it’d be a fabulous time. Don’t worry, we have it all below, along with shows at your other favorite Charleston venues. Check it ALL out below.
ICYMI
Charleston fast-tracked a new overlay zone giving MUSC big leeway to build higher and move faster—cue the side-eye from neighbors. Preservationists say the city’s letting the hospital play doctor with its own skyline.
Charleston’s fall openings bring Michelin stars, Oaxacan spice, and New York slices to town. From Humm at Charleston Place to Allora, Xolo, and Prince Street Pizza, the city’s eating well this season.
Charleston’s catching passes from Elway, Tebow, and Bortles, who want to plant a pro stadium — and some serious real estate — in the Holy City. Turns out the new playbook’s less about touchdowns, more about land grabs.
Tucked off King, Merci glows like a Paris postcard with a Southern accent and only 26 seats to share it. Focaccia, beef Wellington, and a hush of candlelight make this Pitt Street bistro feel like Charleston’s quietest flex.
Charleston’s first Black brewer, April Dove, is back with Unity, a fonio lager brewed with Holy City that tastes like nutty sunshine and purpose. She’s turning beer into a bridge—one pint, one grain, one community at a time.
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FEEDBACK
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