Home Care In Mount Pleasant, SC

MOUNT PLEASANT — After a pumpkin spill on an exit ramp of the Ravenel Bridge stopped traffic for hours, a local church fundraiser might suffer.

An 18-wheeler hit a low-hanging limb as it exited the bridge toward Coleman Boulevard on Oct. 15, ripping off the top and back doors of the truck. It had to stop as pumpkins tumbled out, leading to locals taking them for themselves and leaving less than a quarter of the truck’s inventory for Hibben United Methodist Church’s pumpkin patch, which donates a portion of the proceeds to local nonprofits.

It’s the church’s 25th year operating its pumpkin patch, according to Amanda Moore, Hibben UMC’s children’s and communications director.

The pumpkins are delivered from New Mexico and Arizona through Pumpkins USA, which grows and provides pumpkins specifically for fundraisers. Hibben UMC pays Pumpkins USA for the supply based on gross sales, Moore said. The church does not have to pay for the pumpkins lost in the spill.

If the church reaches a threshold of selling $48,000 worth of pumpkins, Hibben UMC can retain between 30 and 40 percent of the funds and donate to local nonprofits, like Meals on Wheels, East Cooper Habitat for Humanity, Delancey Street Foundation and Kairos Prison Ministry.

But because the church has significantly less inventory for the pumpkin patch, there’s a possibility it won’t be able to donate as much as usual, Moore said.

As of Oct. 20, she said the church is on track with sales, but the rest of October will determine if Hibben UMC makes the same amount of money it usually does from the pumpkin patch to donate. Moore said they’ll lose some sales because some of the best-sellers did not make it from the spill on Coleman Boulevard.

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCBD) – A new vape shop is set to open at 709 Coleman Boulevard, less than a mile away from Moultrie Middle School.

It’s right along the route that students walk to and from school every day.

“I’m on a neighborhood text thread. We’ve had at least 100 back and forth texts about it.” Said Kristin Salottolo, a Moultrie Middle School parent.

“There’s a lot of young, impressionable kids that are going to be walking by this intersection every day to and from.” Continued Salottolo.

54 Smoke and Vape Shop hopes to open inside the rental property, submitting signage designs to the town of Mount Pleasant for approval.

“The signage is is not appropriate for our community here. We live in a very beautiful community full of neighborhood schools and neighborhoods all around.” Said Carolina Jewett, a Moultrie parent and CCSD Board Member.

“We don’t need neon signs of of kratom and vaping and things that are addicting to children, to people.” Continued Jewett.

According to the Food and Drug Administration, over 5% of middle and high school students currently use e-cigarettes.

Parents saying they’re worried about not only what kids might find inside the shop, but also around it.

“The disposing of them, how, you know, expired products are disposed of. We don’t really know.” Said Jewett.

“It’s scary to think that there might be expired products that they might get exposed to without even walking in.” Jewett continued.

News 2 did reach out to the landlord and the shop owner, and are waiting to hear back.

In Mount Pleasant, there is currently no required buffer zone between a tobacco shop and a school. But the town says light of the shop opening, that’s something that may warrant more discussion.

As of now, they can only approve whether the signage is in line with the town’s standards.

“The people in this community are willing to drag this out for as long as possible to make sure this doesn’t happen.” Said Salottolo.

Mount Pleasant Town Council is expected to discuss the stop signage at the next meeting on October 28th.

So far, around 20 sick birds have been found in Mount Pleasant and 11 in North Charleston (PHOTO: PHOTOJOURNALIST MADISON WILBER).

CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCIV) — A die-off of geese in the North Charleston and Mount Pleasant areas is under investigation by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.

SCDNR released a statement stating they suspect the cause is avian influenza, also known as "bird flu."

The issue first came to light Monday, Oct. 19, after North Charleston officials announced they recovered the bodies of several geese and ducks at Quarterman Park.

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In Mount Pleasant, officials said dead birds were found in The Meridian, Park West and Watermark Drive neighborhoods.

Neighbors said the situation has changed their routines, especially for people walking pets near ponds and waterfowl.

“I just avoid any areas where the geese are, any birds," Sarah Cambiati, a Quarterman’s Pond neighbor, said. "I try to walk (my dogs) in yards versus in the duck pond area.”

Cambiati said she also helped a woman report a sick goose to animal control.

“It was just staying to the edge and I think just kind of like flapping around confused,” she said.

Stephen Schabel, president and CEO of the Avian Conservation Center, said avian influenza spreads among birds much like other viruses spread through social contact.

“It's a virus like any other, right? How do you get the flu? Well, you go hang out with a group of your friends, somebody's got the flu, they may not be symptomatic, they sneeze on you, you got the flu, right?," Schabel said. "It's a social thing and waterfowl are social birds."

Schabel said the risk to most people is low.

“Normal people living a normal life, not really anything to worry about from a human health perspective,” he said.

While it is possible for humans to contract bird flu, it is very rare. Experts said people should be on alert about pets getting near dead birds.

“So you're walking around a pond in your neighborhood, there's a dead bird over there, you're going to want to go the other direction, you're going to want to make sure your dog doesn't go over there and sniff and eat and get too close,” Schabel said.

Experts also urged people to avoid touching or handling dead or sick birds. Backyard poultry owners are advised to monitor their flocks for signs of illness and follow guidance from state animal health officials.

Anyone who sees birds they suspect are sick should call local animal control.

So far, around 20 sick birds have been found in Mount Pleasant and 11 in North Charleston.

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCBD) – Halloween has arrived in a big way on Mornindale Drive in Mount Pleasant’s Ivy Hall subdivision.

Ghosts, witches, skeletons, tombstones and glowing pumpkins have taken over the front yard of resident Kelly Miller, whose elaborate display has become a neighborhood tradition and a destination for Halloween enthusiasts.

Many of the creepy creations move, talk and surprise visitors. Even Miller’s vehicle gets into the spirit, sporting zombie hands and skeleton decorations that are hard to miss around town.

“I’ve always loved Halloween,” Miller said. “I’ve been doing this since 2010. It started very, very small.”

What began as a modest display has grown into a sprawling Halloween scene that takes weeks to assemble each year.

Miller said she usually starts setting up around Sept. 10 and spends evenings and weekends building, repairing, and arranging decorations.

Many of the props are handmade.

“I’ve built a lot of props myself by hand,” she said. “So when people come here, they see a lot of things that they’ve never seen before in stores.”

Some animated figures run on repurposed motors, including windshield wiper motors and replacement motors designed for Christmas decorations. Miller said much of the process involves trial and error.

“I’m no engineer by any means,” she said.

Despite the long hours, Miller said the real reward comes from seeing families stop by and watching children explore the display.

“I love kids,” she said. “I love coming out because I’m out here a lot at nighttime fixing stuff and changing batteries and making sure everything’s working. So I get to talk to a lot of the people.”

Over the years, she said she has gotten to know visitors who return each Halloween and enjoys answering questions from children curious about how the decorations were built.

Miller often hands out small Halloween-themed trinkets to young visitors and shares photos and video of the display on social media so more families can enjoy it.

MOUNT PLEASANT — Standing behind a wooden chef’s counter, Ethelbert Peries clutched the black handle of a large silver spoon. Its long neck disappeared as she leaned over a broad pot, mixing up and down, then back and forth, with calm precision.

Scents of roasted curry, coriander and chili powder spilled out of the cooking vessel, into a small dining room and even out into the parking lot of this Mount Pleasant strip center.

“It smells so good!” proclaimed the diner to my right, one of about 20 prepared to experience Sri Lankan food for the first time.

In the Charleston area, Bertie’s Kitchen is the only place to do it.

The pop-up operates inside Cramer’s Kitchen, Owen Bernstein’s restaurant that opens Wednesday through Saturday. For the past year, the chef has lent the kitchen to Peries, who goes by Bertie, and her daughter, Neomi Peries, on Tuesday nights.

Many of the diners who scoop up reservations within hours after they drop discover Bertie’s Kitchen via TikTok or Instagram, Neomi Peries said. The private chef, who spends the rest of her week helping lead Bernstein’s dinner services, is grateful for the attention they have garnered since Charleston residents began posting videos of Bertie on social media.

One of those well-lit frames landed in my inbox, prompting a visit to the pop-up. I found it to be unlike any other dinner destination in the Charleston area.

Coast to coast

Guests start filing into the 700 S. Shelmore Blvd. space just before 6:30 p.m. Not long after they enter, the five chefs begin a fun foray into the food prepared by a Sri Lankan family that immigrated to the U.S.

It centers around crab curry, a dish served along the western coast of Sri Lanka, where Bertie, 80, and her husband were both born and raised. There, it’s made with mud crabs, massive crustaceans that thrive in the country’s warm, tropical environment.

Though not trained in culinary arts, Bertie is always the one in the center of the kitchen during family gatherings. In California, where the couple eventually settled down, she incorporated the region’s more plentiful Dungeness crabs into her family crab curry recipe.

That’s how she's been serving it at Bertie’s Kitchen since 2025, one year after she moved to the Lowcountry to be closer to her daughter and son-in-law, Adam McCarthy.

New to cooking in a restaurant, Bertie has an experienced partner by her side.

Neomi Peries, for her part, is a trained chef who moved to Charleston a decade ago to produce “Top Chef.” After starting as a production assistant, Peries climbed the ranks to become a food stylist and culinary producer, working with Anthony Bourdain, Padma Lakshmi and other notable chefs.

She stayed in television until 2024, transitioning from behind the screen to in front of dinner guests at private events. When she met Bernstein of Cramer’s Kitchen, and subsequently signed on to cook at his tasting menu restaurant, she had a request: She wanted one dedicated night to cook with her mom.

Bertie’s Kitchen was born.

It began as a monthly pop-up with a rotating menu. When diners began posting videos of Bertie cooking saucy crabs to be cracked and eaten by hand, word started to spread.

Eventually, the dinner moved to weekly services — and those Sri Lankan curry crabs became a fixture on the menu.

“This was a very special dinner for me growing up. It’s something that we always had for birthdays and holidays,” Neomi Peries said. “We’re serving it to you how I grew up eating it.”

The main event

Bertie begins preparations on Mondays, marinating the crabs in citrus and spices. After that, she makes the sauce, a balanced composition incorporating chopped onions and a range of spices, from curry and pandan leaves to lemongrass, chili powder, turmeric, coriander and dark roasted curry powder.

The crab curry stews and simmers in the pot until it’s time for the messy, magical main event to begin. A handful of distinct Sri Lankan-inspired small plates — or “bites,” as they’re called in the island country — commences before then.

There’s the rich riff on deviled eggs prepared by sous chef Diana Hayes, and the curry-spiced fried beef patties, which are as delicately crisp as can be.

Neomi Peries’s culinary acumen comes to the forefront with a butter lettuce salad. Dressed in a light vinaigrette of honey and olive oil, the greens are topped with local cherry tomatoes, curry-seasoned red Argentinian shrimp and pol mallung, shredded coconut tempered with onions and aromatics.

Another variation on a traditional Sri Lankan dish comes via gnocchi, the Italian dumplings coated in a coconut milk gravy named kiri hothi.

“I grew up eating kiri hothi at least once or twice a week. That was a staple as a child,” Peries said. “(Bertie) cooked it with vegetables over rice or lentils. I tried it with the sweet potato gnocchi, and it’s been a hit.”

When the last small plate is cleared, diners are directed to the crab many saw on social media. The saucy seafood lives up to any expectations they brought with them.

Plastic bibs wrapped around our necks, we pried the tender white flakes from the shell, letting the savory sauce with just a touch of heat coat the rice beneath. As we cracked and removed clean, succulent meat from the crab’s legs, claws and body, silence settled across the room.

It was the moment when guests, including us, could taste the Sri Lankan culture of the woman who grew up nearly 10,000 miles from where we sat.

From the smile on her face and the twinkle in her eyes as empty plates were cleared, I got the sense she enjoys sharing her family heritage with Charleston.

Bertie’s Kitchen reservations can be made by visiting resy.com. It shows up as Cramer’s Kitchen, but if you book a Tuesday night reservation, it will be for Bertie’s Kitchen.

Reach Parker Milner at 843-830-3911. Follow him on Twitter @parkermilner_. Subscribe to CHS Menu newsletter