On Valentine’s Eve, the staff at Tiger Lily Florist in Charleston, South Carolina, got a whopper of a surprise when a very high-profile customer walked in the door: Vice President Mike Pence.

The shop got about a 15-minute heads up, thanks to a neighboring business that said Pence was in the area and eager to buy flowers before delivering a speech nearby at The Citadel.

A K-9 unit and Secret Service agents gave Tiger Lily a quick inspection, then came the smiling vice president who asked the sales girls to address him simply as “Mike.” He picked up a greeting card, box of chocolates and lush arrangement of hot pink roses and burgundy cymbidium orchids, then posed for several photos for Tiger Lily’s social media pages.

“He was in and out pretty quickly,” said Clara Gonzales, former owner turned consultant for Tiger Lily. “But I think he had fun, as the girls are a lively bunch.”

The shop’s social media posts caught the attention of reporters at several local media outlets, who shared the encounter on the evening and morning news.

Katie Hendrick Vincent is SAF’s senior contributing writer and editor.