Things to Do in Mount Pleasant

Cocaptains Chip Deaton and Scott Connelly anchored their individual childhood experiences on the water to their passion for aquatic surfaces when they founded Charleston Water Taxi. Here, the duo helms two types of vessels to whisk passengers around Charleston's pristine waterways, navigating through their harbor route. Aboard the intimate boats, riders glimpse some of the city's most eye-plucking sights, such as the Civil War–era Castle Pinckney and the newly constructed Cooper River Bridge—a popular haunt for dolphins who frolic about or shout at humans to speak dolphin when they’re on the sea.

Though built only in 2011, the nonprofit Redux Contemporary Art Center’s new 12,000-square-foot facility stays bustling all year, hosting six to eight free exhibitions in two galleries. After taking in the artwork, visitors can attend numerous free events, such as artist talks, film screenings, panels, and concerts. More than 100 classes foster artistic inclinations throughout the year as local qualified instructors help students master disciplines such as painting, drawing, and printmaking.

Redux's galleries stay full thanks in part to its 22 private artist studios, which accommodate emerging and mid-career artists with up to 240 square feet of creative space. Twenty-four-hour studio passes grant access to Redux’s darkroom, print studio, and woodshop. To encourage a sense of community, artists can participate in quarterly critiques, attend visiting-artist lectures, and debate their studio neighbors on artistic controversies such as whether Michelangelo’s David is as good as the earlier one he sculpted from Play-Doh.

The warm summer sun beats down on the shops and restaurants in the island town of Folly Beach, where FB Watersports vessels careen across the waves of the surrounding Atlantic ocean and Folly River. Bottlenose dolphins and turtles inhabit the scenic waters, living harmoniously alongside the center's fleet of kayaks, boards, and jet skis. The staff conducts private lessons in a wide range of watersports throughout the week and also leads tours across the ecologically diverse shores in pursuit of fish, crabs, and the legendary shark who ate the mayor's toupee.

For more than 20 years, the aquatic athletes at Trophy Lakes have set national and world records all the while maintaining a 100-acre water-sports and disc-golf complex that has been admired by WaterSki magazine. Disc golfers launch frisbees from 35 concrete tee pads, sinking their discs into 18 baskets. Along the way, water holes and a host of tee-and-pin locations challenge players' throwing skills. Alternatively, two private lakes boast three watersports cables, as well as a slalom course and ski jump. Knowledgeable staff members rent ropes, gloves, skis, wakeboards, and MasterCraft Boats from their well-stocked pro shop. Additionally, Trophy Lakes hosts disc-golf competitions, wakeboard festivals, water-ski tournaments, and lake-drinking contests each year.

Mary White believes in the power of movement to rehabilitate both bodies and minds. As an alternative health expert who has been practicing for almost 20 years, she relies on an integration of yoga, massage, and water movement therapy to put clients on the path to wellness. Her programs are entirely inclusive, welcoming yoga beginners to experience the same restorative poses that have benefitted athletes and irreparably tangled acrobat pairs.

Inside the studio, a blend of styles—including Kundalini, Bikram, and Vinyasa flow—merge with Pilates and muscle-specific stretches. The combination of motion-based techniques works to combat pain and recurring ailments as it hones enough mental focus to defuse a bomb while stressed out by the fact that you’re in a cartoon in the first place. Mary strives to dispense her teachings to walk-in students as well as specific therapy groups, including Alzheimer's patients and single women in need of support.

A Snappy Event brings Charleston residents together for fun and food-centric events held throughout the year. The party-planning machinations started with the Mac Off, a no-holds-barred mac ‘n’ cheese cook off, and have spread to other cuisine-themed bashes such as rib festivals, oyster roasts, and ground-beef food fights. The annual food truck hoedown beats back the February chill with satisfying food and a raging bonfire, while the Top Gun ’80s party on Memorial Day is held from the flight deck of the USS Yorktown.