NASCAR’s No. 47 pulled into at the home of the 787 for a quick pit stop this week to help pump up South Carolina’s annual Labor Day weekend racing extravaganza.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. wheeled his Chevy pickup to Boeing Co.’s North Charleston campus on Aug. 18 to tour the Dreamliner plant and to meet with workers who scored free passes to the 75th running of the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
Stenhouse is a Mississippi native who knows his way around the Lowcountry. The 2023 Daytona 500 winner said he grew up vacationing with his family on the Isle of Palms and was married at Runnymede, a private event venue on the Ashley River, in October 2022.
He and wife Madyson, who live just across the South Carolina border, are frequent visitors.
“I love the town, I love the old houses, I love all the great trees they have here — I’m kind of a weird tree guy,” Stenhouse said during a break Monday. “I wanted live oaks at our house in Charlotte but they don’t really grow that well.”
Among South Carolina sporting events, Boeing is best known for its financial backing of the RBC Heritage golf tournament on Hilton Head Island.
The 787 maker got racing fever in 2020 when it announced a partnership with the Pee Dee speedway, which is nicknamed the track “Too Tough To Tame.” The deal created what is now known as the “Boeing Backstretch” at Darlington.
Stenhouse, who drives for Hyak Motorsports and still needs a win to get into the 2025 championship field, did his part Monday by signing hats and posing for photographs with the 250 Boeing employees who each won four tickets to the race in a drawing.
“It’s really cool to be able to talk to them all here today and let them know what to expect,” he said.
NASCAR also brought the pace car to the Boeing plant.
The green flag for the marquee Cup Series race drops Aug. 31 at 6 p.m.
A Google Earth view of 24 trees during the wintertime on Daniel Island that residents don’t want to removed for the barrier they create.
Out on a limb
Who speaks for the trees? This Daniel Island Neighborhood Association, apparently.
The group of homeowners has filed a lawsuit against the City of Charleston‘s zoning board contesting its July 10 decision to allow a developer to cut down 24 hand-planted trees to make way for 24 townhomes.
Holder Properties was granted a variance to remove the trees — protected for their diameter, but not grand oaks — with assurance it will replant or replace them if they don’t survive. The developer intends to plant another 30 more in the same area, for a total of 800 trees added at its 37-acre Nowell Creek Village project.
Daniel Island residents for months attended meetings and submitted more than 600 comments in opposition of the proposal. And they aren’t taking the loss lightly.
In the Aug. 4 filing, the association said the board “erred” in granting the exception because Holder Properties gave “no evidence of extraordinary or exceptional conditions” to be allowed to remove the trees, other than changing its mind on the original footprint.
The group also said in the lawsuit removing the trees would “harm the adjacent property and the public good and character of the island” and cause “environmental and visual harm” to the residents.
The trees were planted on the side-slope of a berm added around 1999 to shield the former Charleston Battery stadium parking lot. With Holder’s most recent plans, they would be in the way of building the townhomes given the developer’s updated need to set them back in the property.
In the July 10 meeting, zoning board member Eric Schultz noted the shade they provide has grown so thick that “nothing else can survive” on the berm. Photos presented also showed the trees drop their leaves in the winter, rendering any shield almost non-existent.
The city is not taking a position on the appeal, according to a spokesperson.
“Waffles,” a statue from the city of Goose Creek’s Adopt a Goose Program, was nearly taken this month from the front of the Waffle House.
A statue from the city of Goose Creek’s Adopt a Goose Program was nearly bird-napped this month from the front of a local Waffle House.
The city posted a video of the crime in progress on social media, showing a man lifting the 4½-feet-tall figure off its perch and attempting to load it into a vehicle. He was quickly blocked in by law enforcement.
“Mess with the goose and you get the … beak? Seriously though, please don’t (attempt) to steal or vandalize our goose statues. The businesses who joined the Adopt a Goose Program worked hard to purchase a goose and take pride in their work of art! Thanks to our Goose Creek Police Department for responding to the scene,” the social media post read.
The statue, named Waffles, has stood at 120 S. Goose Creek Blvd. since May 2024 donning a WaHo uniform and holding a plate of waffles and a cup of coffee.
It among 41 faux geese spread around the city under a program that helps raise money for the arts and recreation commissions. Each one is painted by the Goose Creek Artists Guild to reflect their designated locations.
Waffles was adopted by the restaurant chain with donations from more than 900 customers and employees.
LJ Roscoe, chief of the Goose Creek Police Department, told News 2 that a former employee and customer were behind the suspected burglary and that the man in the video was charged with larceny.
Home, free
A historic East Battery museum home known for its furniture, silver, portraits and other decorative arts is offering free admission as part of its 200th anniversary celebration.
Visitors can take a self-guided tour without paying the usual $5-$15 entry fee to look inside the Edmondston-Alston House on Aug. 23.
The offer is good from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Enjoy a self-guided tour of the Edmondston-Alston House for free August 23, 2025.
The home, which was completed around 1825, is one of the oldest residences along the city’s High Battery. It’s withstood the Civil War, the 1886 earthquake and numerous hurricanes.
The museum portion of the 21 E. Battery property is managed by the Middleton Place Foundation.
Amazon Prime members in 1,000 cities can now order perishable foods and have them delivered the same day. Charleston is not among them.
Coming soon?
Amazon is making same-day delivery of perishable goods from its Whole Foods business available in 1,000 U.S. cities, but Charleston isn’t among then.
At least for now.
Same-day delivery from the two local Whole Foods stores remains limited to shelf-stable goods.
But that’s likely to change. Amazon plans later this year to expand by 1,300 the number of cities where Prime members can order time-sensitive food items like produce, dairy and meat and have them brought to their homes.
The next round of locations was not disclosed.
The rollout requires “specific training on proper handling of grocery items,” an Amazon spokesman said.
“This integration with our existing delivery infrastructure is one of the key operational efficiencies that makes this service possible at scale,” he added.
Amazon is looking to catch up with rivals Walmart and Instacart, which already offer shoppers same-day delivery of perishable foods.