Sweetgrass Baskets

Holiday Sweetgrass Baskets, Charleston, S.C.

Charleston is famous for sweetgrass baskets and I have a secret connection. My friend Sandra had a booth at the hospital's employee craft sale today. Whenever I need something special for a gift or wedding present I ask her to bring me something in the price range I can afford. They are not cheap but everyone in the lowcountry appreciates the value of a beautiful sweetgrass basket. The basket making method came from Africa with the slaves and is passed down in families to this day. 

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Kinda Sorta

Sweetgrass Basket Fountain, Market at Oakland, Mt. Pleasant, S.C.

I saw a little picture of this sweetgrass basket fountain in the Post & Courier recently and wondered where the heck it was. Now I can't find the original photo on the newspaper web site but I did find the real thing!

I was at our new Mt. Pleasant Hospital this morning interviewing potential volunteers and kept my eye out for a place for a late lunch on my way home. I turned into the Market at Oakland shopping area that has the Kohl's store and Walmart and had the most scrumptious lunch at Gringo's Fresh Southwest. It is described as "kinda, sorta Mexicanish". Heh.

What a great find! Owner Reggie Kinney had an amazing display of fresh ingredients laid out to put my order together and kept offering tastes of everything so I could make up my mind. Great find! The restaurant is a bit tucked away so here are the directions.

On the way out I practically walked into the fountain in one of the mallish traffic circles. Very cool.