It’s time for yet another weekend in the new year, and there’s plenty of fun on tap including a reopened Fort Sumter. First off, a little national news, which affects the Lowcountry and those coming to visit. As pretty much everyone knows by now, the U.S. government is in the midst of a shutdown. It’s officially the longest one ever. Nonessential government employees are having to stay home from work. Others, like TSA agents, are required to show up without receiving a paycheck. Sadly, one of the casualties has been national parks and monuments. Park service employees who maintain and run the facilities are not at work. This includes Charleston’s own Fort Sumter, where the Civil War began. Fort Sumter is a big draw and a standard on the to-do list for folks visiting the Charleston area.
Good News on the Fort Sumter Front
Well, there’s good news if you’re here in a Charleston beach house right now. Fort Sumter Tours has come to an agreement with the National Park Service to fund daily operating costs at Fort Sumter. That means Fort Sumter is open once again to the public. Yay! Regular tours officially resumed this week (on January 15th). A giant shout-out to Fort Sumter Tours for covering the costs of park operations. A similar thing happened recently in Yellowstone National Park. Xanterra, which runs much of the lodging and hospitality within Yellowstone, agreed to fund basic park operating costs. This includes necessary tasks like cleaning the bathrooms and plowing the roads for snow so visitors could get through. We’re just glad that if you’re coming to visit, you won’t have to miss out on seeing a national historic treasure.
Go Get a Taste of Folly
This weekend is the annual Taste of Folly, where you can sample some of the best that Folly Beach has to offer. These “Taste of…” festivals have become a reliably fun way to experience local cuisine in towns and cities across America. The Folly food fun kicks off tonight with the Taste of Folly Craft Cocktail Competition. Local Folly establishments will mix up concoctions using products from Cannon Distillery. It’ll kick off at 7:00 p.m. at the Tides Hotel, at 1 Center Street. Tasting tickets are $20-25 for those 21 and over. Then tomorrow (Saturday, January 19th) is the big Taste of Folly Street Festival on Center Street. They’ll close it off to vehicular traffic, so restaurants and bars can take over and strut their stuff. The event will take place from 10:00 a.m. till 4:00 p.m. In addition to local culinary & beverage offerings there will also be a hot dog eating contest, a chili cook-off, the Server-lympics, giant inflatables and fun for the kids, culinary-inspired arts and crafts, pots & pans percussion and local vendors. There will also be great live music on three separate stages by Thomas Champagne and Friends, The Joint Chiefs, Tres Matones, and Deadwin. General admission is $5, free for Folly residents and folks 12 and under. Read more here.
Last chance for CHS Restaurant Week: Winter Edition
As I’ve blogged about multiple times, Charleston Restaurant Week is going on now. Sunday’s the last day of the popular twice-yearly event. It’s a fun way to sample some of the cuisine culture Charleston is famous for. There are well over a hundred restaurants taking part, and all are within a decent driving distance from the beach. Actually I ate out this week at a restaurant that wasn’t even on the official list, and they too had a special Restaurant Week menu option. So in other words, there are a lot of choices out there. Restaurants on the IOP are participating. So you don’t even need to leave the island to take advantage of Charleston Restaurant Week. So have some Charleston Fort Sumter and foodie fun this weekend. And be sure to call us at EP when you are looking for beach rentals Charleston for your corporate retreat or just a private gathering. All best, Lowcountry Lisa your Isle of Palms vacation blogger