‘Elvis’ spends Black Friday in an Old Town store

We had a rather unusual Thanksgiving this year.

We, on most of the feast days, sometimes have twenty or so guests dining with us. One year, I squeezed thirty in and we had a grand time. This holiday we realized there would only be four for dinner so I did something I have never done.

Our daughter Tat heard that The Pearl Restaurant on Calhoun Street was going to be open and serving dinner all day. We flipped a coin to see if we were going to call them for a reservation and The Pearl won. (No, it wasn’t a two-headed coin). Two of our party got the traditional turkey dinner. I ordered crabcakes and Tat dined on filet mignon.

We had Eric as our waiter. He is hilarious, and we had a really fun time. Even though the restaurant was quite busy, we were well taken care of and did not have to wash dishes afterwards. This weekend I am going to stuff myself with something I have been thinking of and I really missed.... chestnut stuffing minus the “old bird.”

Black Friday rolled around bright and early the next day so I was off to The Store to greet hoards of shoppers. There were no large crowds but a steady stream of fun shoppers intent, it seemed, on finding just the right gift for people on their lists.

I was helping a customer and had just finished when a man came over and asked me if I liked Elvis. I have an “Elvis Lives” car tag on my wall and other Elvis goodies tacked around my store and I do like Elvis. The customer asked me what sort of Elvis songs were my favorites. Of course my mind drew a blank and then I named a few of my favorites.

Well, you won’t believe this, but I was nose to nose with an Elvis impersonator. Brian Ledbetter, who goes by the stage name of “Brian Kaye,” was in Bluffton with his friend Margaret Oliver visiting Margaret’s cousins Bruce and Suzi Oliver who live in Baynard Park. Cousin Bruce is with the security office at USCBluffton and his wife Suzi is an RN, a member of the Rotary Club and also finds time to work closely with local veterans.

I was thrilled when “Elvis” started singing to me and so were other people in my store. The only thing missing was an old hound dog lying around on the floor.

Brian and Margaret bid me adieu and hopped in their car for the trip back to Florida where Brian is in the administration department at the University of Florida in Gainesville and Margaret, who is a retired RN, to her cottage in The Villages. It was the brightest Black Friday ever and one I won’t soon forget.

Go to market in your pajamas

You are invited to Bluffton’s first ever pajama party from 3 to 5 p.m. Thursday, December 15. That date is the last day of the Bluffton Farmers’ Market for 2016 and we decided to celebrate. So you can wear your nighty clothes and come join the fun with us.

Opera, anyone?

What do you get the person who has everything?

You get them a ticket to The Charleston Opera production of the Puccini masterwork La Boheme at the gorgeous Sonesta Resort in Shipyard.

The opera takes place in Paris in the 1890s and is a beautiful, tragic love story and one of the most famous Italian operas. The production features almost a hundred people including opera singers, orchestra and is one of the most complicated of all the performing arts.

This will be a great present for anyone really. Two tickets to the Opera by the Ocean are $300 and that includes a deluxe room for the night.

Just think of it - a fabulous opera, a beautiful room so you don’t have to drive home in the dark and a lovely walk on the beach the next morning.

For reservations go to theCharlestonOpera.com.

This story was originally published November 30, 2016 at 9:21 AM with the headline "‘Elvis’ spends Black Friday in an Old Town store."