I heard about the Brick House Kitchen long before I actually ate there or ventured there for an event. As one of James Island’s unique landmarks, the Brick House Kitchen is an interesting combination of a restaurant and a community venue. If you’re lucky, you’ll catch the Kitchen on a lazy weekend when you can truly appreciate the food and atmosphere. But if you get there and the whole place is crowded, yard and all, you’ll still end up having a blast.

There isn’t a shortage of brunch spots on the Island, but the Brick House Kitchen seemed to be the perfect spot for my sister’s post-birthday gathering. It was an utterly lazy Sunday when we all decided to try out the place for a low-key breakfast. We crossed our fingers that it would be open since we’d never been on a Sunday, but it was.

The atmosphere at the Brick House Kitchen is unlike many other restaurants, since it’s inside of an old farmhouse. Walk inside and you immediately feel like you’re not inside a business, but instead having a meal at a friend’s cozy home. The tables are all different, the décor has a homey feel to it, and there are several different rooms, including one with a giant case of homemade desserts.

“It feels like we’re at someone’s grandmother’s house,” exclaimed my neighbor as we eagerly gathered around our table. We all agreed. It was the perfect place to relax after a night of celebration.

The food was just as wholesome as the vibe. I enjoyed my fried egg and cheese sandwich, complete with a hearty side of grits, a cup of coffee and fresh juice. Everyone enjoyed different entrees and although the food is not fancy, it’s tasty and local.

We eyed the dessert case after breakfast, feeling justified since it was my sister’s birthday, and she took home a piece of homemade cake as part of her gift. All of the desserts are created in-house, and there’s always a great selection. Dinner selections after 5 p.m. include dishes like pasta, fresh seafood, salads and vegetarian options. There’s also a full bar.

But aside from yummy food and welcoming atmosphere, the Brick House Kitchen also hosts a variety of awesome events for the island, from the recent Food Truck Rodeo to plenty of musical features. The old farmhouse has an extensive property complete with shady oak trees. It’s the perfect spot for sipping a beverage and listening to live bands. There is also an outdoor artisan market every so often, with the chance to purchase local crafts from vendors and listen to bluegrass. Private parties are also welcome—just call in advance.

Remember to bring either your checkbook or cash when you visit the Brick House Kitchen, since they don’t accept credit or debit cards. They’re located at 1575 Folly Road. For more information about upcoming events or the menu, visit their website at brickhousecharleston.com.

I’m a movie snob. I admit it. Those big, blockbuster comedies that everyone goes to see are just not my style. Give me the independent flicks any day—and growing up in a small town, I didn’t have the option to see so many indie films until I moved to James Island, the home of the Terrace Theater.

The Terrace is Charleston’s only real art-house theater, although the city is brimming with other terrific options for movies. James Island also has the James Island 8, which offers a lot of popular picks and eight screens. Other areas of the Lowcountry have several theater options, including IMAX and the Cinnebarre, where you can even have dinner as you watch. However, the Terrace is in a class by itself, since you can count on it for a selection off the beaten path.

This past weekend, for example, was one of the hottest Saturdays in Charleston history. It was too hot to go to the beach or enjoy anything outside. It made perfect sense, therefore, to see a movie. After all, movie theaters have some of the best air conditioning around! It was a great time to see a matinee showing of Woody Allen’s newest flick, Midnight in Paris, which was thoroughly enjoyable. Talk about a great way to spend the day! Plus the theater was recently remodeled with much more comfortable seats and even small tables that fold out for your concessions.

Speaking of concessions, the Terrace offers a bit more than your usual soda and greasy popcorn—although there is plenty of that as well. Enjoy a glass of wine or a beer with your movie, since the Terrace has a wide range (over fifty) of beverages. And now, guests can beat the summer heat with Paolo’s Gelato, an Italian type of ice cream made downtown on John Street. For candy addicts your choices include gourmet chocolates and other unusual confections. If you do choose popcorn, you’ll enjoy doctoring it up yourself with the array of butters and seasonings at the bar.

The Terrace offers a lot of show times, but if you’re looking to get matinee prices then make sure to get there early. Tickets typically cost $10 per person, but shows before 3 pm are just $7 per person. If you’re a senior citizen with proper ID, you can enjoy $7 in the evening. Military with ID is $8 in the evening.

The theater really lends itself to being a community space, regularly hosting events like the Charleston Film Festival, art shows, poetry readings, plus other private and public events. Contact the theater if you’re interested in renting the space; they’re more than happy to accommodate.

The Terrace is located at 1956D Maybank Highway, in James Island. You can visit their website for shows and other information at www.terracetheater.org.

If you find yourself making dinner plans with the adamant sushi lover—but you, not so much—then head over to Savory Sushi and Catering on James Island. They offer a menu so diverse both of you will be immensely satisfied.

Owner Rhett Tanner started rolling his sushi a few years ago from his own home, and eventually discovered that he needed more space.

“This building used to be a place called the Savory Market, and they did lunches and sandwiches and stuff like that,” says Tanner. “My wife Hailey and I were rolling our own sushi, so we bought the building and revamped it to combine sushi and other stuff.”

The concept for Savory Sushi is that both sushi lovers and sushi haters can enjoy dinner, thanks to the expansive menu.

“We also do sandwiches, salads, and various tapas,” says Tanner. “As for sushi, we try to feature stuff that’s off the beaten path. All of us have different culinary backgrounds, from different parts of the world. We try to incorporate that diversity into our sushi rolls.”

Popular rolls have included the Sexy Melon, the TNT, the Tijuana Roll and the BBQ Duck. Or try the special like we did—that day it was blackened shrimp, cream cheese, and portabella mushroom wrapped in New York Strip tataki. Very tasty.

As for non-sushi enthusiasts, Tanner recommends the meat loaf sandwich—“It’s awesome,” he says—as well as the Lowcountry Egg Rolls and the burgers.

Happy Hour at Savory includes deals on their craft beer and wine list. Get half off your bottle wine to take home, or enjoy it on site. Or get $1 off a glass of wine and 50 cents off of beer and saki shots.

Besides good food and brews, Savory also features catering and commercial platters to go.

“We do a lot of stuff in this small space,” laughs Tanner. “We can customize your catering order for weddings and other celebrations, and we also offer pre-designed platter options.

Smaller platters include yummy choices like tea sandwiches, miniature crab cakes, fruit and cheese, and more. Larger platters include Chicken satay, beef tenderloin, or pork loin.

“We try to be green friendly by encouraging folks to bring in their own platters too, rather than using our plastic ones,” says Tanner. “Those just get thrown away anyway—and it’s more personal.”

If you’re scrounging around for a dinner option last minute, stop in and grab one of Savory’s famous tomato pies, lasagna, or any of the other small casseroles that are ready to cook. It’s a very fast way to serve dinner to your family, or friends—we won’t tell them you didn’t bake it.

Visit Savory Sushi and Catering on James Island at 1956-B Maybank Highway. Or call them ahead of time about available casseroles and catering at 843-762-3338.

Michele Durante, owner of the now-revamped Café Kronic, is letting creativity take the helm at the new location.

Formerly known as Kronic Coffee, the café was originally located farther up the road, but in their new spot (right beside Mondo’s Restaurant), the freshness and the abundance of space has inspired plenty of changes for James Islanders to check out.

“One of the first things we have planned is an art reception on July 26, from 6 until 9 p.m., featuring the photography of Trey Jaskiewicz,” Durante says. “We’re going to have tons of new, fun stuff like that at this location. For folks who come to the art show, we’ll have tasting samples of our upcoming tapas menu. The tapas menu will be in full-swing starting in August.”

Kronic has always been the only place on the Island offering all-fruit smoothies, as well as fair-trade, organic coffee, but it’s not just coffee anymore. Nowadays, you can bring in a bottle of your favorite wine or champagne to enjoy during meals, for just a small corking fee.

“Stop by the grocery store, grab a bottle of wine, and let us introduce you to our new menu items,” says Durante. “We’re doing breakfast, lunch and dinner now—plus Sunday brunch. You can even bring your own champagne to brunch.”

Sunday brunch items include egg dishes, breakfast burritos, omelets and other rotating specials. The lunch menu includes classical favorites such as the Kronic Panini—turkey, cream cheese, cranberry and avocado—plus a few newcomers. The number of vegetarian items is downright impressive. For example, try the Veg-Out Wrap, with seasoned black beans, carrots, roasted red peppers, spinach, onion, dill havarti and house mayo.

“We’re also glad to make any sandwich you see on the menu into a vegetarian version,” says Durante. “We off gluten-free options as well.”

For your 3 p.m. pick-me-up, it’s likely that Durante and crew have just the right snack. Pastry options include Danish, cinnamon rolls, assorted muffins, bagels, and other goodies.

“John Pabst from Cypress Restaurant is our new pastry chef,” explains Durante. “He’s making several of our pastries in-house, including a lot of the breads. We’re also featuring ice cream now.”

One of the café’s future goals is to have live music in the evenings, along with dinner.

“I really want to feature the café as a night spot for the island,” says Durante. “I think James Island needs a new option and now we have the space to give it to them.”

Learn more about Café Kronic’s upcoming tapas menu, plus special events, by checking out their facebook page. Or visit them at 915-Q Folly Road.

You might not realize this, but there’s no way to get to the magical place that is Folly Beach without wandering through James Island. For those of us who live in the area, this fact is met with plenty of alternate routes and preparation. For folks on vacation, well, unless they’re reading this article, we pity them.

In the cooler months, getting to the beach is typically no problem. You can shoot straight down Folly Road, even if it happens to be peak sun hours. However, we don’t recommend rush hour, so if you want to enjoy the darkening, chilly beach of the winter season, wait a little later! It’s actually a good idea to enjoy the beach in the winter—it’s quieter, less crowded and easier to reach.

But those of us who love a good beach day are not going to stay away during the spring and summer months. So if you are loading up the car to make that journey, we have a few tips.

First, the time of day you leave matters, particularly if you’re coming from deeper in James Island. I live beside the connector, closer to downtown than to the beach, so I like to plan. The best thing to do is to leave in the morning, the earlier the better. This way you’ll beat the college crowd and the throngs of young people who are just getting out of bed around lunchtime to sweat out their hangovers on the sand.

If you don’t wake up early enough or you don’t get the family together quickly enough to leave early, then wait until the later afternoon, when everyone has had enough sun and goes home to shower. This way you can enjoy the later hours on the beach, and even stay on Folly for dinner and drinks without facing a lot of traffic.

We suggest that you take an alternate route, besides straight on Folly Road, in the peak months. One that we like to use is traveling down Fort Johnson, then Secessionville, then finally turning left onto Battery Island Road before hitting Folly. That way, you’ve nixed a lot of local traffic. If you’re on the other side of the island, we suggest traveling up Riverland Drive and getting out on Sol Legare.

Don’t forget to pack your car properly so you don’t have to make a bunch of stops before Folly Beach. If you do forget snacks and food, stop at the Piggly Wiggly before you hit the beach (right around the area we’re describing as your route). They have everything you could need at the Pig, including coolers and chairs.

If you get all the way to the beach and you still need something, stop at the Red & White store (also known as Bert’s Market), on the East side, for basic conveniences like beverages and ice.

Remember, the more you plan your day at the beach, the less hassle you’ll encounter before you find yourself lounging happily on the sand! Don’t forget the SPF, and have fun.

Living in Charleston means constantly discovering something new, and awesome, about the city—even on James Island. Although James Island isn’t large, there are still nooks and crannies that I’ve yet to discover…even after seven years of living in the area! Take, for example, this weekend’s adventure to Sunrise Park.

I’d always heard about Sunrise Park but I had never had the chance to visit. Fortunately that’s what Sunday afternoons are for—a long, leisurely brunch at the Brickhouse Kitchen (more on that later!) followed by a nice drive to the park.

There’s more than one method to get to Sunrise Park, as our carload of friends discovered. On the way there, we turned by the Little Cricket convenience store, winded our way down a bunch of questionable dirt roads, and finally made it to our destination.

“There’s got to be an easier way,” we said to each other.

On the way back, we discovered that there is an all-paved route to the park. Still, the dirt roads were fun—it kind of made us feel adventurous!

The actual park was a quiet (and hot, since it was the middle of the day in the summer) paradise. It had everything you’d expect from a park—sturdy picnic tables, benches, piers that led visitors out over the harbor, plus fantastic views of the city and the bridges. But what made this park extra special was the miniature beach, where the Charleston harbor met with the island.

I immediately got excited, realizing that this little beach is perfect for tons of things—catching rays, taking pictures, dining al fresco, and of course, wading! I was wearing pants, but I rolled them up and walked right into the water. Around me, the few people who were also enjoying the park did the same. There weren’t many folks there, and the ones I saw were quietly sunbathing or fishing. It wasn’t nearly as obnoxious or crowded as the beach! Plus you can bring your pets too—just remember a leash.

Venture to Sunrise Park for yourself and enjoy the view. Just head down Fort Johnson Road in James Island, turn left onto Wildwood Road, and then left again onto Wampler Drive. (This is the paved route!)

One of our favorite things about James Island is the County Park, which is part of the Charleston County Park system. This park is sprawling and green, with plenty of activities year-round, including special events, and other fun outdoor diversions for the whole family.

The park is 643 acres total, and really feels like its own, separate paradise from the bustle of Folly Road and other parts of James Island. In the pleasant weather, it’s nice to take a book of poetry (or whatever you like reading) and chill out on the grass or in one of the many sitting areas. You’ll see people on bicycles, folks walking their dogs, and everyone just basically enjoying the natural beauty. General admission into the gates is just one dollar.

If you want something a little more active, the park offers plenty of fun. Try scaling the largest climbing wall in the state, or go to the Splash Zone, an outdoor water park that’s perfect for summer. You can also rent paddleboats and kayaks.

The James Island County Park is also a great place to camp, right along the Stono River marsh. There are cottages available, plus places to pitch your own tent, so if you long to be reunited with nature for an evening this is the place to be.

Lots of other great parks exist in the Charleston region, but James Island’s has arguably the best assortment of special events throughout the year. One of our personal favorites, the Cajun Festival, happens every spring and is a complete blast. It really ushers in the warm weather, and folks come out to drink real N’Awlins beer, eat authentic food like alligator and crawfish, and listen to zydeco tunes.

The Reggae Series is another attraction, bringing reggae music to sultry summer nights in the Lowcountry. You can park a blanket on the grass, purchase a beverage, and listen to groups like Mystic Vibrations and Da Gullah Rootz.

Of course, it’s likely that the most popular, and well-known, event that JICP hosts is the Holiday Festival of Lights, which runs from about the first week of November to the first week of January. It’s truly spectacular, and we suggest taking any visitors you might have during the holidays—grown-ups and children—to this breath-taking display. Not only are there literally millions of twinkling lights (go see if you don’t believe it!) but they’re artfully arranged in designs—some holiday-based like Santa Claus, and some Lowcountry-based like the Cooper River Bridges. It’s not just lights though—there’s also Santa’s Wonderland, where you can park your car and ride the merry-go-round or roast marshmallows. Wait for an actual chilly night in Charleston to enjoy this event—it definitely isn’t as magical in 60 degrees!

To find out about special events, admission prices, and seasonal hours for the James Island County Park, visit the Charleston County Parks and Recreation Commission page, at ccprc.com.

People tend to automatically think “downtown” during the arts extravaganzas that are Spoleto and Piccolo Spoleto. While it’s true that downtown Charleston has the bulk of the action, James Islanders are enjoying their own Piccolo events this year, for the first time ever. The Charleston Acting Studio on Folly Road, home of the Midtown Productions theater group, has broken onto the scene with its own list of Piccolo performances.

One such event is The Guys, performed by Threshold Repertory Theatre. The Guys is the story of Nick, a fire chief who lost the bulk of his crew during 9/11 and is attempting to write eulogies for their families. He’s at a loss for words—literally—and seeks assistance from Joan, a professional writer in the city.

Although the plot is simple, and made up almost entirely of dialogue, the philosophy behind The Guys is striking. It’s a message about how people bond during tragedy, and come to understand the specific things that make humans very much alike. It’s well worth seeing—and contemplating afterwards. Performers Pam Galle and Jeff Albertson make the characters believable and tragic, and the intimate setting allows the audience to feel almost part of Joan’s living room.

Viewing The Guys was my first time at the Charleston Acting Studio, but I know I’ll be back soon. It’s nice to attend a play without fighting the traffic of downtown, and residents of James Island will find it well worth their time to visit this cozy, neighborhood theater. The theater is small but it’s comfortable, and visitors can purchase wine and other beverages from the concession stand outside.

To learn more about the Charleston Acting Studio, visit the website at midtownproductions.org. You can sign up for acting classes (for both children and adults) and learn about upcoming events.

Join us in Cayce, SC on April 30th for a 200 mile relay race through beautiful South Carolina. The Palmetto 200 will take runners over the midlands of South Carolina into the Francis Marion National Forest through James Island to a finish at Folly Beach.Everyone is invited to participate in the Palmetto 200 in teams of 4-12 who will split 36 legs.

To learn more about the Palmetto 200, visit the Folly Beach website.