Homage to July 4 and Vickery's

Thumbs Up

The Fourth of July in the Lowcountry is second to none. Well, maybe second to what they do in Boston each year with the televised, symphonic performance of the "1812 Overture," synced up with firing cannons. That's hard to beat.

But as for the Lowcountry, the Fourth means so many boats in Charleston Harbor, patriotic events at Patriots Point, fireworks at the RiverDogs game and our many beaches, and that's just the tip of what would be a rapidly melting iceberg in this summer heat. As a child, Brittlebank Park was always the place to be on the Fourth, or perhaps eating hot dogs and hamburgers in a neighbor's backyard. By the way, is anyone else upset that it is illegal these days to buy bottle rockets in South Carolina? Those used to be my favorite item at the fireworks stand. Then again, when I remember some of the stupid things my friends and I used to do with those flying explosives, I can understand why they're no longer available.

Regardless, every Fourth of July we celebrate what is essentially America's secession from Great Britain, in the cradle of Southern secession. And this year, as every year, it was a hoot.

Thumbs Down

The week before Vickery's downtown closed, I had lunch there twice. Once was with good friend and author Kirkpatrick Sale, who, speaking of the Fourth of July, is one of the world's leading advocates of modern-day secession. "Kirk," as his friends call him, used to work for The Nation magazine and The New York Times, but now lives in Mount Pleasant. Our lunches at Vickery's had become almost a bimonthly tradition and I'll miss having them there.

And I already miss Vickery's, overall. For 18 years, the restaurant and bar was a primary meeting place for drinks or dinner, and a place that virtually everyone knew and liked. There's probably not a moment of my life for the last two decades that I can't relate back in some manner to an experience at Vickery's. Vickery's used to have one of my favorite calamari dishes in town, or "Southern fried squid," and in addition to its quality and affordable menu, the relaxed vibe was always familiar and inviting. Not being a big outdoors guy, Vickery's was one of the few places I could always be persuaded to dine on the patio, under the shady trees and so long as it wasn't 90 degrees. The owners say they plan to reopen elsewhere, but there will always be something special about the Beaufain Street location. Farewell to what was unquestionably a Charleston institution.