Lucky rabbit foot

Huey Cooper, Lake City, SC   

Hmmm....looking up the details on this statue in Lake City, SC I discovered that he was a beloved pan handler who let folks rub his lucky rabbit good for a nickel. The other interesting fact is that the police department built him a little house and he lived to be 105. He sounds like a character that found a home in their hearts.

I realize I owe you some actual Charleston Daily Photos but I did get a good haul of blog fodder shots on my recent trip to Lake City. I'll bring you back home to the lowcountry shortly. 

The statue, created by Florence’s resident sculptor Alex Palkovich, is a bronze, larger than life portrait of Huey Cooper based on photographs of the man sitting in one of his favorite spots. Cooper became a Lake City icon with his lucky rabbit’s foot and walking cane, his requests for nickels and his whistling invitations.
Originally hailing from Williamsburg County, Cooper made Lake City his home and lived in many places throughout the town: in the shed at the back of one couple’s yard, in another behind one grandmother’s home, in a small home built for him by the city’s police department behind the now-gone Dairy Queen.
A familiar face in Lake City for decades, several generations of those growing up in Lake City have a story or two to share about Huey Cooper. Most can recall giving him nickels to rub his lucky rabbit’s foot – something today’s visitors can now continue. His statue proudly offers a rabbit’s foot for luck just as Cooper once did and a small coin slot in his pants pocket allows nickels to be deposited.

Walking Quotes

Thoreau, Lake City, SC   

I found a few good walking quotes in a botanical display in Lake City, SC

Portrait Contest - Artfields

Artfields, Lake City, SC   

There was a respectful hush in the building where the portrait contest was taking place at Artfields in Lake City. The artists were painting their models on the ground floor and observers were allowed to walk in on either side and watch the work in progress. Most of the models had two different artists.

It was fascinating to watch. Twenty-four artists competed for "Best in Show" and over $1500 in cash prizes while creating portraits in three four hour timed rounds.

ArtFields 2017

Lake City, SC    

If you are artsy, all roads lead to Lake City this week. Since 2013, this week long art festival in little Lake City offers more that $120,000 in prizes and invites attendees to pop into almost every business in town from barbershops to boutiques to enjoy the art on display. Everyone in town seems to be in on the project. I particularly enjoyed the elementary and high school art. Some of it was pretty incredible. The festival continues through next weekend. Go if you can!

Artfields: An annual, nine-day art competition in Lake City, South Carolina – and the largest competition of its kind – Artfields awards more than $120,000 in cash prizes to artists from across the Southeast. And, it’s also infused new energy, creativity, and growth into Lake City and its surrounding communities.

Artfields - Lake City, S.C.

Lake City, S.C.

I made it up to Lake City on the very last day of Artfields driving up from Charleston to get to the Moore Botanical Garden for the 10 a.m. tour which was a great treat. After the garden tour we headed into Lake City to the sense that the art festival party had fizzled. It was billed to last until the Sunday but I imagine if they handed out the awards on Saturday that felt like the end of the party for most folks. Some of the locations gradually opened and we were able to see some of the art hanging but there was no energetic festive buzz. The Bean Market Building was empty. Restaurant Table 118 didn't even open for lunch and their web site didn't work so everyone piled into the Railway Restaurant for the buffet. We walked down to the ROB to see the art below and then wandered back through town peeking into closed up shops and headed home. I've made a note not to go on the last day next year.

Some of the art was great. I almost hate to show pictures without the artist's names but I don't have them all. Enlarge the picture of Marilyn Monroe to see the fun details! Check this site for more art and links to the artists. Congratulations to the winners!

Table 118? Not so much.

Table 118, Lake City, S.C.

I often post photos of delicious meals I've enjoyed but rarely make a fuss about meals that weren't such a hit. Readers often try restaurants I've recommended so I consider not talking about them enough. I simply haven't given publicity to places where the food or service has been disappointing.

I am willing to make an exception for Table 118 except for one little snag. I can't even get inside and I already have a bad taste in my mouth. 

After the great success of Artfields art festival in Lake City earlier this year I was eager to promote the entire project. I told everyone I knew about the festival. I loved the idea of reviving an entire little town around an art festival. I heard raves about Table 118 described as a high end restaurant in the little town and I was determined to come back to support it.

I've tried. Believe me. The first time I tried to go back it was for dinner. I checked the web site for dates and hours, called to be sure, left a couple messages asking for a reservation (got no response) and finally went ahead to made plans to head all the way there from Charleston since the answering machine message said they were open for dinner. Late that very afternoon after numerous calls I finally got someone to answer the phone who said they weren't going to be open for dinner. Huh? I was really annoyed. I told her that their web site said they were, their answering machine said they were and no one had returned my calls. She didn't know anything about that.

The second time was my fault. No pre-planning. Caught them as they were closing. No harm done.

Third time looked like a charm. A friend was up for a road trip - why not give Lake City another chance? Two morning phone calls confirmed they were open until 2 p.m. on Saturdays. Zoom, zoom, zoom. We pulled up at 1:30 p.m. to a spot directly across from the restaurant to find it closed. What the heck? A woman came to the door and said they had decided to close early for renovations that day. We said we had called twice that morning before we made the drive to make sure. She said she didn't know anything about that.

Never mind Table 118. I headed around the corner for some good old BBQ and friendly company.

Perlow Rice & Cold Slaw

Mack's Bar B Que, Lake City, S.C.

I took the picture for the Perlow Rice and then spotted the rest of the quirky spelling. I spotted this at Mack's Bar-B-Que when I was in Lake City a few weeks ago.

Perlow Rice

Lime Beam

Pota Sald

Cold Slaw

Is it pilau, perloo. perlau, plaw, pilaw, pilaf, or pilaff? The word comes from the Turkish pilaw, from the Persian pilaw, and from the Osmanli pilav, "rice porridge."  Pronunciation is just as varied, as in PER-lo, PEELaf, or per-LO. According to Bill Neal, Charlestonians, no matter how they spell it, all pronounce it PER-low.

English writers spoke of the dish in the seventeenth century, and by the eighteenth century it had taken hold in Britain, especially after the empire spread through the Middle East and into India. In America, the Southern rice crops and the influence of the spice trade made the dish popular. Pilau has been a popular dish in many Southern states for 300 years, particularly South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana.

 

Moore Botanical Garden - Lake City, S.C.

Moore Botanical Gardens, Lake City, S.C.

A bonus happy surprise from my trip to Lake City was a quick stop at the Moore Botanical Gardens.
The garden wasn't open for tours but I enjoyed the drive in and a visit to the sod house on display near the entrance. The sod structure was designed and created by Herb Parker.

For a better tour, visit an earlier entry from Tales from the Laboratory with photos describing the entire garden.

Here is the good news - for folks interested in making the trip, there is an event coming up in May.

May Days: Plant sale and pig pickin’

For the first time ever, we’ll be combining two of our favorite things: Plants and BBQ!  Please join us in the garden from 8:30 am until 3:00 pm on both Friday, May 17th and Saturday, May 18th for this special open house. The plant sale will feature over 65 varieties of choice, hard to find and unusual plants from the garden. Some varieties will sell out quickly, so plan to arrive early for the best selection.

Artfields, Lake City, S.C.

Artfields, Lake City, S.C.

I don't need to ask if anyone else made the trip to the arts festival in tiny little Lake City this past week because the town was bustling with people touring the art displays. What a brilliant idea! Lake City is the home town of Darla Moore. Under her guidance, they renovated some of the buildings, encouraged business owners and announced an art festival with combined prizes of $100,000. That was enough to get people's attention!

The entire town seems in on the idea with paintings hanging in restaurants, shops and barbershops. Locals asked if I wanted to take pictures of them (I did!) and posed for me. The hostess of the buffet restaurant was amazing that she had a piece of art valued at $50,000 on her wall. Visitors were invited to vote on their favorites which meant every single one of us was welcome to traipse through each business. I loved the idea! I didn't have enough time to visit all the art but did a quick run through town and then headed out to Darla Moore's botanical garden.

Here is a quote from Charleston Magazine's recent interview:

But will the experiment work? Will visitors coming to see art be seduced by a quaint town’s quiet charms and stay a while, spend some tourism bucks? Maybe buy one of those 1910 fixer-uppers? Start a small business? A new hotel is already slated to open soon, a hopeful sign. ArtFields takes its lead from a similar event in Grand Rapids, Michigan, that had positive economic development outcomes, but the net gain for Lake City, besides the prize winning artworks that will stay in the city’s public spaces, remains to be seen. “Dr. George Washington Carver said, ‘Where there is no vision, there is no hope’,” says Lake City mayor Lovith Anderson Jr. “The people of Lake City and the surrounding communities are the beneficiaries of the hope and promise and progress which have sprung from the visionary effort and leadership of Darla Moore.”

My daughter took business and economics at USC and Darla Moore has been so generous in supporting her Alma Mater and the Darla Moore School of Business that I have been grateful fan for years. I will be delighted if this experiment works to revive a sleepy small town in South Carolina. Next year let's get some buses lined up to take people from Charleston for a field trip!