One of my favorite things to do on a Saturday is to head to a local farmers market for a good stroll and a bite to eat. Luckily for me, living in Charleston, SC means that I can literally feed this love of mine at one of the best farmers markets in the nation. If you’re planning on being in Charleston over a weekend, you absolutely cannot miss the opportunity to come out and see it…and smell it, and taste it.

This market has everything that a great farmers market should have – a wide variety of food trucks, lots of local produce, and a eclectic mix of artisans providing everything from jewelry to furniture. I always make sure to go to the market hungry and ready for lunch because I can’t pass up the food trucks. One of my favorites is called Roti Rolls, a stand that consistently churns out pure comfort in the form of crispy flatbread taco rolls. My standby purchase is the Thurman Merman roll which can best be described as a delicious mess of smoked pulled pork, creole Mac and cheese, and homemade kimchi. Are you drooling yet? I’d understand if you were. That being said, this past weekend I was really feeling a fried chicken sandwich and so I jumped in line at one of my other favorite stands: Street Bird. These guys have mastered the art of the fried chicken sandwich. I went for the southern twist: fried chicken with their homemade pimiento cheese and pickles. Mercy! (As my grandpa used to say.) That sandwich was heavenly.

My husband, on the other hand always chooses the crepe stand for his savory treat, and then often we’ll share a sweet one for dessert. Typically we go for a Nutella and banana crepe because you just can’t go wrong with that combination. Here’s Jamie’s simple, but oh so tasty ham and cheese crepe:

Once we’ve very successfully filled our bellies we wander our way around the craft vendors. I love perusing all the stalls, but of course I have my favorite vendors too. Like The Carolina Millinery Company whose stall sells gorgeous, handcrafted hats. These things are true southern classics and they’ll even do custom creations. I’m also a huge fan of the fresh flower stand that always has seasonal flower and leaf stems that I like to use to create live wreaths and garland. And recently I’ve had a reason to become especially interested in Urbane Baby + Kid, a company that sells the cutest baby girl apparel as well as bibs and burp rags. I’ve included a picture below of their “Rainbow Row” print on one of my own recent purchases.

My last stop is always the vegetable stands. I truly believe that buying locally sourced produce from a farmers market is just darn good for the soul. Nothing beats meeting the hard working people who are passionate about getting their hands dirty and growing their own food. One of my favorite things to do while picking out my produce is to start up conversations with the vendors about their favorite ways to use some of the seasonal crops they’re selling.

I’ve found that this is a great way to get inspiration for new recipes and to hear priceless stories about dishes that have been passed down through families for generations. Here in the south people like their food “like grandma used to make it!” And you can’t blame them. Those recipes really are always the best ones.