What makes a town unique? Is it a special aspect of a place that speaks to your soul? Is it that indefinable quality that marks an area as your hometown? When asked about Mount Pleasant, residents bring up a variety of images central to their lives.

Close enough to Charleston to enjoy its charms, locals head over the bridge at the end of the day to a community with a more relaxed frame of mind. There’s always a table waiting, ready to serve up an abundance of fresh local foods. Generations of fishermen, shrimpers and farmers have left locals with high expectations from their eating establishments.

There’s also the tradition of the do-it-yourselfers. Many a morning has been spent on the Old Pitt Street Bridge with a fishing rod, cast net or a piece of chicken tied to a string to lure in a crab. The bridge was replaced by the Ben Sawyer Bridge as access to Sullivan’s Island across the Intracoastal Waterway. Now the causeway has been set up as a long walkway park planted with Palmettos.

If you’re looking for a less labor intensive meal, just stop by one of the docks on Shem Creek. When the shrimp boats come in, there’s not a more welcome sight than the wares in their baskets. Shem Creek is also a great touring spot for kayakers, canoeists and an occasional stand-up paddle boarder.

If shopping is your passion, the rise in the median income of Mt. Pleasant residents has brought an influx of better shops to the area. The whole family can find entertainment at Towne Center. From upscale dress shops to a major movie theatre, there’s something for everyone.

On a smaller scale is the Pitt Street Pharmacy. Generations of locals have come here for relief whether prescriptions or just an ice cream with friends. The old fashioned service keeps folks coming back. Fifty years ago, this block was the medical center with a doctor’s office and druggist. A clothing shop and hardware store rounded out the bustling shopping area.

Boone Hall has gone from a tourist destination to a new life as a venue for festivals and events. Now home to the Oyster Festival and Taste of Charleston, it also hosts concerts and historical re-enactments.

Just past Boone Hall is one of the area’s U Pick Farms. (The Giant Strawberry lives here in season), the farms allow for a closer to the earth food experience than a trip to the grocery store. Strawberries, blueberries and tomatoes are the headliners to a large cast of locally grown delicacies.

Heading north, lining the sides of Highway 17, you’ll see the stalls of the basket ladies. Their hands produce the famous sweetgrass baskets that grace everyday tables and art galleries alike, proof that the Gullah culture survives and thrives in Mount Pleasant. There’s a Sweetgrass Museum under the Ravenel Bridge next to the Visitor’s Center where you can learn the history of the Gullah people and their baskets.

The Visitor’s Center is a new addition to the area. Located on the banks of the Cooper River, it is host to events throughout the year. Fishing tournaments are held on its pier, real family events that allow for entrants as young as three up to as old as you want to be.

The natural beauty of the Lowcountry can be found throughout the area. The marshes and creeks, the egret standing in a pond and the slow sway of Spanish moss draping an ancient oak have enticed many visitors to stay and put down their own roots in Mt Pleasant. Each has their own reason, but they add up to a true All American Town.