A couple of weeks ago, a friend texted me with this simple question: What do you love most about Mount Pleasant? I didn’t know at the time, so I ignored it then (oops, sorry M!) But it prompted me to think about it. So here is my list – I’m sure this will be ever-changing and grow as our time here does. And … Please add your own in the comments below – this will give me more ideas of things to check out!

1. Outside of a couple of vacations or road-trips, we didn’t spend a ton of time here before we decided to move here (I know, crazy, huh?) So far, it seems like a beachy vacation town – laid back vibe where flip flops and bathing suits are acceptable any day of the week. There are palm trees and sun.A ton of locally-owned shops and restaurants scattered in with the larger ones. And afternoon thunderstorms that seem to come out of nowhere.

2. There are too many ‘new to us’ places to eat like Jack’s Cosmic Dogs for gourmet hotdogs (fresh cut fries with malt vinegar anyone??) and Mellow Mushroom for (very good) carryout pizza. Or have your morning donuts DELIVERED by Glazed Gourmet Doughnuts of Charleston.

3. Our neighborhood is a safe place for kids to play, venture from house to house, ride bikes and scooters. It’s what I dreamed of for mine.

4. There’s a US Postal Service counter at the Sweetgrass Ace Hardware near home.

5. The doggie daycare has tvs and webcams.

6. We live 22 minutes to the beach (door to sand). Isle of Palms (also known as IOP) is the closest beach. But we’ve also ventured out to Sullivan’s Island, Edisto and Folly.

7. Everyone says y’all. And they even spell it out when writing it down (see first sentence).

8. Speaking of accents, it’s unlikely that anyone here will ask ‘where are you from?’ as soon as they hear me speak, like they did when we lived in the Midwest. The flipside of this is my ‘accent’ will probably get a bit thicker. #LOL

9. Fresh Seafood. Any time you want it. But honestly, we’ve only had it a handful of times since we’re still doing our part of social-distance. One of those times was at the Acme Lowcountry Kitchen, which was incredibly tasty. We also had takeout from the Long Island Café both on Isle of Palms.

10. Charleston has always been one of my favorite ‘southern towns’. It’s quaint, yet cultural. Historic yet beachy. Touristy, yet not.

11. MILD WINTERS – ok, so we just moved here in the middle of summer and have survived through 100+ heat days with 100% humidity .. BUT according to my reputable online sources, the winter temps in say December through February are in the 50s/60s. TOTALLY doable – considering we’re coming from subzero winter temps! Woot!

12. Outer Banks on Netflix is filmed here – which identifies as a ‘teen show’. CLEARLY, I am out of their target viewer .. but will admit to binging the first season pretty early on in the pandemic, after a friend’s suggestion.

13. Charleston is or has been home to several beloved celebrities including Bill Murray, Darius Rucker (only the best male voice of all time), Stephen Colbert and Lauren Hutton. How cool is that?

14. You can spot an alligator in your neighborhood pond. We haven’t YET.. but I do look each time we drive by. (FYI this should probably also be on my list of things to worry about, but I haven’t written that list yet).

15. I’d love to volunteer or even have the kids volunteer for Sea Turtle efforts. There are volunteer teams who scour the beaches for evidence of new nests each spring/summer. And then watch over the nests. This would be so interesting!

16. My kids get to grow up by the coast. This is how I grew up and I’m excited the kids get to have a similar (hopefully better!) experience than I did.

17. It’s a short 7 hours from my mom’s. (which seems very manageable considering we had to drive 18 or more before we moved) We already have plans to drive up for Thanksgiving!

18. Palm Trees, Crape Myrtles, Magnolias and Spanish Moss! These speak for themselves. Nothing more to say here.

19. Fruit is just fresher. I have had so many delicious peaches since we’ve been here. You can’t beat it.

20. Sunrises and Sunsets are accessible! You can easily take in a sunrise on the beach then later that day head over Shem Creek, Memorial Waterfront Park or Pitt Street Pier to take in the sunset. Can’t be beat!