Best Jewelry Store in Johns Island, SC

JOHNS ISLAND, S.C. (Lowcountry Weekend) - If you love Mexican cuisine, you have a new dining option in the Lowcountry as of Thursday.

Minero Mexican Grill & Cantina is set to open for dinner on Thursday at the space formerly occupied by The Fat Hen, at 3140 Maybank Highway.

The Neighborhood Dining Group says the opening will mark a new chapter for the Minero name. The Johns Island location will continue its legacy of hand-pressed tortillas and Mexican favorites created by the former downtown Charleston Minero, with the addition of new menu items and an expanded indoor-outdoor footprint.

“We’re thrilled to bring Minero back in a new home on Johns Island, one of Charleston’s most exciting areas,” Neighborhood Dining Group President David Howard said. “Fans will recognize the same heart of what we do at Minero – attention to detail, great ingredients, and honoring Mexican traditions – but with a fresh take on both the menu and atmosphere. We can’t wait to serve Charleston once again and are appreciative of the warm welcome from the great residents of Johns Island.”

The kitchen is helmed by Executive Chef Shamil Velazquez, also of the group’s Delaney Oyster House, bringing inspiration from his Puerto Rican upbringing and chef-driven techniques to the newest outpost of the concept.

The menu is anchored by Minero staples like charcoal-grilled wings, tacos, and the burrito, as well as the tradition of making corn tortillas from scratch daily, but with exciting new additions for a fresh take on the Mexican concept.

Velazquez incorporates Latin American influences into the menu, including more seafood dishes, crudos, and ceviches, while drawing from Mexico’s coastal regions for inspiration.

“We knew the Minero favorites weren’t going anywhere on the menu, but we wanted to bring some additional elements, especially to highlight some of the great ingredients we get in the South and along our coast,” Velazquez said. “Mexican food can be celebrated through many different techniques, and I’m looking forward to bring a new perspective to the concept with the same emphasis on local ingredients and quality offerings.”

Click here to see the full menu.

Minero’s menu honors Mexico’s culinary traditions while weaving in inspiration from the culinary South.

The menu features longstanding Minero favorites including Charcoal-Grilled Wings tossed with Valentina; a Salsa Tasting including Benne, Rojo, and Verde; and the Minero Burrito featuring red rice, beans, Oaxaca cheese, crema, poblano, cabbage, cilantro, salsa verde, and avocado.

Exciting new additions include the Fajitas Al Carbon with charred onions, bell peppers, pico de gallo, crema, guacamole, red rice, beans, and housemade flour tortillas; the Yucatán Style Local Catch featuring crispy fingerling potatoes, pickled yum yum peppers, and pibil sauce; and Shrimp & Snapper Ceviche made with a ceviche sour michelada mix, cucumber, peanut, red onion, mandarin, radish and chips. The restaurant offers five signature tacos, including Fried Catfish or Grilled Fish, Cauliflower, Charcoal Chicken, Grilled Steak, and Pork Al Pastor. Select brunch items will be served on the weekends, including Steak and Eggs and Breakfast Burrito with hash brown, salsa verde, and huevos.

Beverages include the classic Minero Margarita with reposado and añejo tequilas, fresh lime, orange juice, curaçao, and agave, guests can personalize their margarita experience by DIY-ing it, adding a pineapple twist, boosting it for a crowd (the “Party” serves six), or even making it extra with a bottle-down Modelito and a choice of sidecar. Frozen concoctions, such as the Frosé Sangria and the El Santanico, and a comprehensive beer list featuring both Mexican and local options round out the alcoholic offerings, while a zero-proof margarita and refreshers provide plenty of options to abstain.

No reservations are needed. Seating is first-come, first-served.

The restaurant will open for dinner Sunday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 4 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Happy Hour is Monday through Thursday from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The restaurant plans to add daytime service at a later date.

Copyright 2022 WCSC. All rights reserved.

JOHNS ISLAND, S.C. (WCBD) – Lowcountry activists are moving forward with efforts to protect a historic tree on Johns Island. It’s a vision that first sprouted back in 2008 when development threatened to cut the angel oak down. The angel oak tree is an estimated four to five hundred years old and preservationists want it to stand tall for hundreds of years to come.

Leaders will discuss several methods of preservation for the 35 acres of land surrounding the angel oak park. Among them include green space and walking trails throughout the property.

“If you can tell the story of the Angel Oak, you can tell the story of Johns Island,” says Samantha Siegel, Angel Oak Project Manager for Lowcountry Land Trust.

South Carolina’s history is rooted deep on Johns Island delicate in nature and growing every single day. The way of life for an Angel Oak, make it more important than ever for activists to make sure it’s protected.

“The woods that we are surrounded by right now could have been condos and retail space,” says Siegel.

The Lowcountry Land Trust purchased 35 acres surrounding the Angel Oak tree in 2008. Since then, they’ve been working to reimagine the property. This summer, a landscape firm will work to transform the park while building better protection for the tree.

“The vision is walking trails, very light on the land with historical and cultural information,” says Siegel.

Nurturing the land and historic tree while enhancing the resources it can provide to visitors. Siegel believes making the space an outdoor classroom for visitors of all ages will lead to additional preservation down the road.

“Enhance the ecosystem for the Angel Oak while also providing some additional green space for Johns Islanders and visitors,” says Siegel.

Officials will hold public meetings Thursday, June 9th at 7:00 p.m. and Wednesday, June 15th at 6:30 p.m., at the Johns Island Library. Officials will share their plan with residents before an official design for the preservation is brought to life over the coming months.

“This planning process is the result of a lot of community input that we’ve received,” says Siegel.

It’s a vision to strengthen an iconic piece of history with the hopes of protecting it for decades to come.

“And this will end that battle, this land will be conserved after we are gone,” says Siegel.

Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Firm will lead the build. Official drawings of the design are expected to be drafted and presented for public comment later this year.

JOHNS ISLAND — A lot of effort went into saving the 35 acres surrounding the Angel Oak from development. Now, nearly a decade later, the Lowcountry Land Trust is ready to collect community input on what to do with the property.

This week begins a schedule of opportunities for people to share how they’d like to see the wooded space around the iconic oak used. But the ultimate goal remains: that the planned Angel Oak Preserve be passive, publicly accessible green space complemented with trails, boardwalks and interpretive notes, and that the tree itself not be harmed.

The land trust will share a presentation on the tree’s history and the future preserve at 7 p.m. June 9, and again at 6:30 p.m. June 15, at the Johns Island Library. Public comments will be collected during the presentations.

This special tree holds deeply rooted history in the Lowcountry. It is named after the Angel family that once owned the land where it stands. The tree is estimated to be at least 300 years old, making it quite possibly one of the oldest trees of its kind east of the Mississippi River.

It’s also a behemoth. City surveys estimate the tree to be 65 feet tall with a circumference of 25.5 feet, shading an area of 17,000 square feet beneath the extensive canopy.

Based on the city’s most recent inspection, “the health of the Angel Oak could not be better,” said David Grant, Charleston’s park and tree administrator.

The area surrounding the Angel Oak is so special that community members rallied together to ensure not much changed there. In 2008, Charleston City Council approved plans for a densely built collection of shops, offices and multifamily homes near the Angel Oak Park at Maybank Highway and Bohicket Road.

But there were concerns about the impact this development would have on the tree.

So after collecting more than 12,000 donations, plus Charleston County Greenbelt and S.C. Conservation Bank funds, the Lowcountry Land Trust was able to buy the property for $7 million to save it from development. This is the space that will become Angel Oak Preserve.

“Putting this heavy development there would have impacted the root system, the hydrologic flows, the soils, everything that’s needed to be preserved for the health of this tree,” said Jason Crowley, Coastal Conservation League’s communities and transportation senior program director.

The 35 acres owned by the land trust is comprised of every soil necessary for an ancient live oak to thrive, Crowley said.

The Angel Oak’s significance as a community landmark goes back generations. Crowley said the late South Carolina educator-activist Septima Clark mentioned in interviews how she would often take breaks from teaching and sit underneath the tree, and even sometimes gather there with her students.

“Even though this was technically private property, it harkens back to the era of Johns Island and the Sea Islands themselves as this place where property boundaries were fluid in the sense of people could walk across private property in order to access things like waterways and a shady tree like this,” Crowley said.

The tree’s interests have become a cultural issue on Johns Island in recent years as some places that were once accessible to Gullah-Geechee residents for fishing, crabbing and launching boats are now being privatized.

Ashley Demosthenes, CEO and president of the Lowcountry Land Trust, said many locals believe the land around the tree is sacred and have expressed desires to explore the woods there.

“They want it to be a place for education for residents, visitors and the local schools,” Demosthenes said. “So that’s a huge opportunity that we see, that education component with students.”

Overall they want it to be a place open for walking, observing nature and enjoying picnics with family, Demosthenes said.

While the Angel Oak is obviously the main attraction in that part of Johns Island, the Lowcountry Land Trust wants to utilize its 35 acres to relieve some of the pressure on the tree.

So, essentially, the preserve will help distribute visitors across the entire property — not just at the 9-acre Angel Oak Park — using trails, boardwalks and interpretation woven throughout to explain the ecology and cultural significance of the area.

Since the city-owned park is a direct neighbor to the preserve, it makes sense for the two groups to partner in developing a vision and plan for the area, said Jason Kronsberg, director of parks for the city of Charleston.

He sits on the preserve’s steering committee with Crowley and people from several other groups, including The Avery Center, The Progressive Club and the Charleston Parks Conservancy.

Members of the community can share their desires for the preserve through an online survey at bit.ly/3xrCh2P. The land trust will have a table at the Sea Island Farmers Market from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. June 11 and June 25. There also will be an information table set up from 2 to 4 p.m. each Friday at Angel Oak Park.

Nelson Byrd Woltz Architects will lead the comprehensive planning process. The goal is to have a design completed in early 2023.

CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) - The United States Department of Agriculture’s senior farmers market nutrition program is back. Through the South Carolina Department of Social Services, low-income seniors can access fresh local produce.

For the first time, the program is going statewide. Eligible seniors in all 46 counties will have access to fresh fruits and veggies, not just those in rural or urban areas.

Eligible seniors 60 and older will be given 25 dollars’ worth of vouchers to be used at participating roadside stands and farmers markets from June 1st through the fall. This program is funded by a grant through the USDA.

Connelly-Anne Ragley with DSS says there are a few changes to the application process this year. One of the biggest changes is eligible recipients must complete their application in person at an approved location. Recipients will also be able to get their vouchers the same day.

Ragley says this program not only helps seniors in the state but local farmers as well.

“We know that being able to help South Carolina farmers directly by purchasing these items through stands, vendors, and markets really will help put that money back in the economy,” Ragley says.

Juanita Pinckney and her son Devonne Hammond own and run Fields Market Farm on Johns Island. Hammond says this 3rd generation family business has been part of this program since about the start, and it’s a great way for them to provide for their community.

“From the farmers’ vantage point, we are able to reach probably a lot of consumers who otherwise may not be able to afford to get fresh produce,” Hammond says.

Fields Market Farm says even when they aren’t open, they are and love to connect and serve their community, and others across the state are gearing up to do the same.

DSS says eligible seniors can only apply at a designated location in the county they live in.

Click here for eligibility and designated application locations.

Participating markets can be found here.

Copyright 2022 WCSC. All rights reserved.

You may already know all about the Angel Oak and how its history spans half a millennium. As Charlestonians, we’re a part of this local landmark’s past, present, and future.

We’ll go out on a limb + say you may not know about Angel Oak Preserve — a project featuring a public green space surrounding Angel Oak Park on Johns Island that’s currently in the planning + public feedback stage.

The project is intended to: Provide a publicly-accessible landscape Conserve the Angel Oak’s integrity Protect the surrounding ecosystem Spread out foot traffic at the park Honor the rural + cultural context of the land

Almost a decade of community outreach has gone into plans for the preserve. The Lowcountry Land Trust, local partners, and the Save the Angel Oak initiative acquired 35 acres surrounding the live oak which will make up the green space.

Lowcountry Land Trust chose Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects to design a comprehensive plan with the help of Robinson Engineering. The planning process, which launches this summer, will include public meetings and surveys. We could see a complete design by early next year, knock on wood.

Public meetings kick off June 9 at 7 p.m. + June 15 at 6:30 p.m. at John’s Island Regional Library. Come prepared to share what you want to see at the preserve and be ready to learn more about Lowcountry Land Trust, the Angel Oak, and how you can help.

Before you make like a tree and leave, sign up for the Angel Oak Preserve newsletter and take the survey.