Five years ago, Clara and I purchased an 0ld service station on the west side of peninsula Charleston. Our goal was to move Tiger Lily from our rented space on Meeting Street to a cool, large space that we owned. The site was abondoned, delapitated and contaminated, but had a great location and promise.

We went through a lot of challenges, but also had a lot of support. One of the highlights of my professional career was a short Tuesday evening meeting with Mayor Riley. It was just me and him for about 15 minutes. We reviewed the blueprints and discussed a few challenges we had with permitting. He said "This is one of the best examples or urban infill I've ever seen. We need to make this happen" With his support the pieces fell into place. To make a long story short, everything worked out beyond our expectations. In fact, the entire neighborhood is undergoing an incredible renovation without gentrification. Nobody appreciates this renovation more than the fine foks who have called our Elliottboro/Cannonboro neighborhood home for generations and for generations to come.

Just goes to show, dream big because it CAN happen!

So Charleston Magazine featured the Cannonboro/Elliottboro neighborhoods in their current May 2008 issue. They featured Tiger Lily along with our neighbors Hominy Grill, Lana's Cafe and more. It was cool to be considered one of the "hipsters" of Charleston. We look forward to being part of this awesome area for many, many years.