Glimpses of Charleston by David R. AvRutick

Author:David R. AvRutick
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781493037544
Publisher: Globe Pequot Press
Published: 2018-12-17T16:00:00+00:00

Holiday Charleston

Charleston loves holidays. Not just Christmas and Hanukkah, where it dresses up elegantly and festively, but also Halloween, Thanksgiving, the Fourth of July, and more. These holidays are all reasons to decorate and celebrate.

Halloween is one of my favorites. Trick-or-treating is a massive event in our neighborhood. We have hundreds of costumed children come to our door each year. Our neighborhood overflows with ghosts (well, we have those year-round), witches, Power Rangers, gorillas, princesses, and fairies. The grown-ups may come dressed up as well, carrying wine glasses that they hope to have refilled at each of their friends’ houses. Our first year in the neighborhood, we had bought five or six bags of candy, which we expected to be plenty, and had no alcohol on hand. We quickly ran out of candy and horrified the parents looking for wine.

With that, a new family tradition was born. Each year my wife buys tremendous quantities of candy, makes various types of chili, and lays out a lot of wine, beer, and other beverages. We fling open the doors, and friends and family stop by to eat, drink, and join us on the porch in handing out candy. It’s a wonderful time of food and a lot of fun.

When the candy and wine have run out—which is always surprising—we close the gate and turn off the porch lights, signaling an end to the night. This happens up and down the street, all at about the same time. At that point an eerie sugar-filled calm descends. The next morning, we compare with our neighbors how many bags of candy we went through and share our favorite stories from the night before.

A favorite story of mine was once when the trick-or-treating was wrapping up, our candy supply had run down, and the usual wide selection had dwindled. One young man, dressed as a vampire, came up to our porch and very politely said, “Trick or treat.” As we were looking to shut things down, I just held out the bowl so he could take what he wanted. After carefully perusing our offerings, he looked up and, again very politely, said, “No, thanks,” and went back down the stairs. It was very humbling.

Another of my favorite holidays is Thanksgiving. This is a more formal affair in our Charleston home. My wife loves to pull out the fancy French linens; set our formal dining room with the good china, crystal, and silver; and gather our family and friends. She cooks up a storm, using many family recipes, alongside her piles of Charleston cookbooks. A real Charleston flair that we have added is having local oysters delivered that morning and serving them freshly shucked (by me), on the front porch, along with champagne and plenty of lemon and homemade cocktail sauce.

Whatever the holiday, Charleston can be counted on to celebrate it, and celebrate it all out.

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