Borrowing from the immortal Robin Williams, GOOOOOOD MORNING, CHARLESTON! Why am I so hyped this lovely Friday morning?

I won’t apologize for what some might regard as hyperbole. This weekend in Charleston is HUGE, one of the biggest on the calendar.

It’s time for the 48th Cooper River Bridge Run. The Credit One Charleston Open is all weekend long on Daniel island, and of course everyone’s pulling for our hometown talent, Emma Navarro. And to top things off, the Flowertown Festival is in Summerville!

Are you sufficiently energized?! Go out and enjoy this weekend, it’s gonna be epic.

Congrats to Michael H. of Mount Pleasant who was the 1st to guess correctly in our “Where Are We” segment last week! We were at Fort Johnson on James Island. When I read The Demon Of Unrest—Erik Larson’s terrific book about the months leading up to the start of the Civil War—I was fascinated to learn that Major Anderson’s Union troops, hunkered down at Fort Sumter, could actually hear the voices of Confederate soldiers in Fort Johnson in the dead of night.

In today’s newsletter:

• Wonder why the Cooper River Bridge Run is such a big deal? We break down some numbers and get you ready.

• Pickleball shows no signs of slowing down in CHS. A HUGE new gym is opening in North Charleston.

• ICYMI. Coffee, bagels and fried chicken, what a combo.

Friday 79° / 66° ⛅ 💧21%

Saturday 79° / 68° ⛅ 💧14%

Sunday 78° / 67° ⛅ 💧11%

Friday, April 4

• Session 11 Day: Credit One Charleston Open I 11 AM | Credit One Stadium, 7596, 161 Seven Farms Drive, Charleston | Gates open at 10am. Match play is scheduled to begin at 11am. Day session tickets will have valid entry into the grounds until 5pm. Please note that match play times are subject to change.

• Bridge Run Pre-Party at Cantina 76 | 5:30 - 10 PM | Cantina 76, 819 Coleman Blvd, Mount Pleasant | Get ready for the ultimate pre-party! 🎶 Live Music by Johnny Holliday @johnnyholliday_ 🛍️ Local Vendor Market 🍹 Happy Hour (4-7 PM) 🎉 Don Julio & 21 Seeds Tastings

• Myrtle Beach Pelicans at Charleston RiverDogs I 7:05 PM | The Joe, 360 Fishburne St, Charleston I It’s Opening Day at The Joe, and it’s gonna be perfect baseball weather! Plus The Joe has terrific new food options this year, and what’s not to like about post-game fireworks over the Ashley River?

Saturday, April 5

• Cooper River Bridge Run | 645 Coleman Blvd, Mount Pleasant | Join us for the 48th Annual Cooper River Bridge Run! The Cooper River Bridge Run provides a world-class 10-K foot race. The race promotes continuous physical activity and a healthy lifestyle through education and opportunity.

• The Citadel Football Spring Game | 1 - 4 PM | The Citadel, 171 Moultrie St, Charleston | Come out and support THE local college football team after the Bridge Run in their Spring Game!

• Kids Are Cool Family Festival I 1 PM , The Woodlands, 4279 Ashley River Rd, Charleston | Join us for an exciting, kid-powered festival where creativity and entrepreneurship take center stage! Kids Are Cool: For Kids, By Kids is a celebration of young talent—where kids become the vendors, the creators, and the innovators.

• BRIDGE RUN DARTY | The Commodore, 504 Meeting St Suite C, Charleston | This year, we're THROWING DOWN for the Bridge Run starting at 9 AM with food trucks, DJs, and MORE! Join us in the evening, too! Opener: Jerry Feels Good (8:30 PM) Main: 50 Shades of Rae (10 PM)

Sunday, April 6

• The Works with Molly @ Twenty-One Magazine | 9 AM - 10 PM | Twenty-One Magazine, 21 Magazine Street, Charleston | Start your Sunday with movement, nourishment, and good company at #TwentyOneMagazine. Join us for a signature The Works @theworkschs class led by Molly MacLean in a historic picturesque event space. After class, refuel with a curated breakfast from Alcove Market @alcovemarketchs, featuring fresh juices and nourishing bites.⁠⁠ Set in the heart of Harleston Village, this exclusive wellness pop-up is the perfect way to reset and refresh. Tickets are $40

• Flowertown Festival | 9 AM - 4 PM I Azalea Park, 500 S. Main St, Summerville | Event Details Every spring, thousands of people visit Summerville to see nature's bounty awash in color, from the hot pink azaleas to the purple wisteria, to the delicate white dogwood. On this three-day weekend, festival-goers transcend this gracious Southern town to take in the flowers and hospitality and attend one of the largest arts and crafts festivals in the Southeast.

• DI Egg Hunt & Community Day | 1 - 3 PM Daniel Island | Join in for the 2025 Daniel Island Easter Egg Hunt & Community Day! The Easter Egg Hunt will be a fun afternoon filled with an egg hunt, games, face paint, balloon art, a DJ, a chance to snap a picture with the Easter Bunny, community vendors, and more! The event will be from 1:00 – 3:00 PM with the Egg Hunt starting at 1:30 PM.

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

COMMUNITY

Time To Get Over It

3rd-largest 10K in the country.

31,156 runner/walkers in 2024.

$35 million economic impact.

How impressive are these numbers? They’re well-earned for such a superbly-organized race.

The Cooper River Bridge Run is upon us. It goes off at 8:00 AM tomorrow at the corner of Simmons Street and Coleman Boulevard in Mount Pleasant and ends 6.1 miles later in Marion Square downtown.

It’s not only a beautiful course—passing over Shem Creek about a mile in, ascending and descending the majestic Ravenel Bridge, traveling down Meeting and King Streets—it’s got its challenges.

Particularly around Mile 2.

Yep, Doug’s got that right.

But this is the 7th time for me, and I love running it every time.

As of about a month ago, Irv Batten, the Bridge Run Race Director, reported they were around 2,000 registrants over 2024 numbers.

By now, I suspect the number’s easily over 35,000.

Come out and cheer us on. I’l be the guy with the goofy grin—before I attack that 5% incline.

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!

SPONSORED BY RACE 4 ACHIEVEMENT

Mark Your Calendars For The 10th Doughnut Dash 5K And The #Race4Wanza

Y’all need to come out on Saturday, April 26 and run (or walk, your choice!) the 10th annual Race 4 Wanza, the premier event of Race 4 Achievement.

Race 4 Achievement has such an important mission, and I’m 100% behind it. Our real estate company, The Farrell Group, is sponsoring the race. And I’ll be running it in anticipation of a Krispy Kreme doughnut at the finish!

Race 4 Achievement helps guide high school and middle school students in North and South Carolina communities who aspire to develop professional skills and become well-rounded scholars and citizens in their neighborhoods.

The race carries on the legacy of Tywanza Sanders. Tywanza was 26 years old when he was fatally shot during Bible study at Mother Emanuel AME in downtown Charleston, SC. He was the beloved son of Mr. Tyrone and Mrs. Felicia Sanders and a young man just beginning his mark on the world.

Race 4 Achievement exists to forever ensure that Tywanza’s impact on the lives of others is remembered, honored and celebrated.

Please come out and support the good work Race 4 Achievement is doing, get your fitness on, and enjoy a doughnut and fellowship on April 26!

SPECIAL EVENT SHOUT-OUT

Gear Up For Girls Is This Monday at Blue Sky Endurance in Mount Pleasant!

If you’ve noticed a theme in this week’s issue, trust your instincts. You know we’re all about #ShopLocal, #DineLocal. We’re equally committed to local people doing great work in the community.

Melyssa Jaskiewicz and her team at Leveling The Fields personifies that.

You don’t have to a be a dad of 2 daughters who ran back-to-back, 75-minute soccer practices every Spring and Fall for 6 years, and loved every second of it. 😁

Here’s what I do know: there’s a girl(s) in your life or community who’s pretty special, and you’d LOVE to support her/them and help them grow, right?!’

Here’s your chance. Join me and the Leveling The Fields team at Blue Sky Endurance in Mount Pleasant this Monday for Gear Up For Girls.

It's going to be a great night! Leveling The Fields is hosting a gear drive, there will be tons of prizes (plus a raffle), and there will be exclusive deals all night long! The icing on the cake? Blue Sky Endurance will be donating a portion of the event proceeds back to LTF! 

It’s at Blue Sky Endurance’s new(ish) store in the Bottles shopping center on Coleman Boulevard.

So come out and grab some gear for your next 10K run. And help your girl be the next Emma Navarro.

RETAIL

New Pickleball Gym Coming To North Charleston

Charleston tennis players, rejoice! A new 40,000 square foot pickleball gym is opening in North Charleston.

Maybe NOW you’ll be able to reclaim some of your courts.

But seriously, PickleRage is opening at the corner of Ashley Phosphate Road and Dorchester Road in North Charleston. They expect to be open by Fall.

This is on the heels of Pickleball Kingdom opening in Mount Pleasant last month.

When do we reach Peak Pickleball?

ICYMI

🍴 Under the heading of “Never Too Much”, there’s a new fried chicken restaurant in town. If the great Dawn Staley, USC’s women’s basketball coach, is a fan, why not you?

🏠 Wonder what $10.5 million buys you on Sullivans Island? Wonder no more.

🥯 Charleston is getting more bagels. Jeff’s Bagel Run’s 1st location will open on Daniel Island late April, with 4 more in the works around CHS.

🍽️ There’s some great new restaurants opening in CHS this Spring. Eater Carolinas serves up ours.

☕ James Island is getting a new coffee shop. Follow Dawn Patrol Coffeehouse’s Instagram for updates.

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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 traffic moves over the Don Holt Bridge at 4:00 PM on a Friday). 👇