Mount Pleasant Magazine May/June 2023

100 www. ReadMPM. com | www.MountPl easantMagaz i ne. com | www. ShemCreekRes taurant s . com hobbies and leisure BY B I L L FARLEY It’s Peak Picnic Season Pack a basket and a blanket Some folks say that just living in Mount Pleasant is a picnic. Others are convinced it’s also a great place to go on a picnic. Turns out, they’re both right. Picnicking is popular, particularly in the balmy days of spring. There are plenty of beautiful places to picnic, from the lush green lawns and pier at Mount Pleasant Memorial Waterfront Park to the beach at Isle of Palms. The Pitt Street Bridge, the Charles Pinckney National Historical Site and the Park West Recreational Complex offer other enticing options, and there are so many more, perhaps some underrated gems that most people haven’t yet discovered. That might explain why the very word “picnic” sounds like fun. Picnicking conjures Norman Rockwell images of a colorful blanket spread on a carpet of green with mom and dad and Buddy and Sis - maybe Rover, too - gathered around a Thermos cooler and a big wicker basket overflowing with tasty morsels. Could anything say Americana better? Maybe not, because even if Americans didn’t invent the picnic, they certainly discovered it. The origins of the picnic can be murky, but initial references don’t appear much until 1800s Europe. As a tradition, it started out more like an indoors “covered dish” gathering or potluck, to which all the guests were required to bring something for everyone to share. Then, some savant had the idea of taking the whole party outdoors and the term “picnic” arose. It is believed to have derived from the French word “piquenique,” and its origin is in the French verb “piquer,” which means to sting, as in an insect bite. Starting to sound familiar? Despite those drawbacks, settlers in the New World adopted the custom, shortening its name to the Anglicized “picnic.” In America the practice of dining on a blanket on a lawn started among the upper classes and didn’t reach the everyday family until the 20th century, when people started to have leisure time. When picnicking caught on, it attracted everyone regardless of socioeconomic status and eventually grew into a popular outdoor activity. And with no dearth of insects in America, the “piquer” part lived on. In 2023, on any sunny weekend you will find picnickers throughout Mount Pleasant and the Lowcountry enjoying this traditional pastime. Erica and Michael Kozma, the former a homemaker and the latter a cybersecurity expert working for the U.S. Navy, and their sons Gavin, 5, and Tyler, 3, relish the outdoors. Their favorite spot — on land at least — is Palmetto Islands County Park, where they can roam the nature trail looking for fiddler crabs. “There are well-maintained picnic tables along the way. We’ve

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