If you’re here this weekend, your Saturday can be filled with festive fun, including a genuine grape stomping. Two popular day festivals are happening tomorrow, August 18th. They offer the chance to cool off or at least seriously quench your thirst.
Grape stomping on an Island
Tomorrow from 10:00 a.m. till 5:00 is the 15th annual Grape Stomping Festival at Deep Water Vineyard. You may recall this was formerly known as Irvin-House Vineyards. They produce a nice selection of local wines that with names like Low Tide, Lowcountry Red, Magnolia, High Tide, and Deep Water Blend. It’s also the location of Firefly Distillery, famous for its Sweet Tea Vodka. (This makes a great souvenir from your Lowcountry stay, by the way.) The fun takes place at 6775 Bears Bluff Road on Wadmalaw Island. It’s a 30 minute drive south of Charleston, so figure about an hour or so from the Isle of Palms. The cost is $10 per car advance or $20 at the gate, and part of the proceeds will be given to local charities. There will be plenty of food as well as tastings available for purchase. Food trucks will include El Pincho Taco, Coast Crust Pizza, Home Team BBQ, Dave 'n' Dub Hot Dogs, The Immortal Lobster, and Rebel Taqueria. Tastings are $6 or $7 and include a souvenir wine or shot glass. They’ll also have their refreshing frozen Wine-a-Ritas ready to sip, as well as beer from Low Tide Brewing. Bootless (local Southern rock/country) and Dall Baker & Friends (beachy Lowcountry roots-grass) will provide live music. It’s also appropriate for the kids, as there will be fun activities for them.
Make like Lucy and Ethel
But the main attraction is the grape stomping contest, inspired by the famous 1956 episode of I Love Lucy. For fans of the show, it was the episode entitled “Lucy’s Italian Movie” from Season 5 of the iconic show. Teams of two people each (the Stomper and the Swabber) will have three minutes to stomp 20 pounds of fresh grapes with bare feet. The one that produces the most juice, wins. And of course, you are encouraged to dress like Lucille Ball from the iconic TV scene. In fact, concurrent to the stomping contest will be a Lucy Look-A-Like Contest. See above pic for costume and hair ideas. There will be three adult stomps and one kids’ stomp. Here’s the schedule:
10:00 - Gates Open 11:00 - 12:00 - Dallas Baker and Friends (Set #1) 12:00 - Kids' Grape Stomping 12:25 - 1:15 - Dallas Baker and Friends (Set #2) 1:15 - 1st Adult Grape Stomping 1:45 - 2:30 - Bootless (Set #1) 2:30 - 2nd Adult Grape Stomping 2:50 - 3:45 - Bootless (Set #2) 3:45 - 3rd Adult Grape Stomping 4:00 - Lucy Look-a-Like Contest 4:15 - 5:00 Bootless (Set #3) 5:00 - Contest Winners Announced
You’re encouraged to bring lawn chairs or blankets, but not coolers. Here are more details, including the rules and parameters and ticket sales. Wadmalaw Island is actually quite a nice and scenic drive from the Isle of Palms. It’s an island known for farms and fresh produce, so while there you can stock up on local, healthy food to bring back home.
Brewskis galore
Also Saturday evening, from 7:00-10:00 p.m. is the 16th annual Ballpark Festival of Beers. It’s a 21-and over only event, so leave the kids and teens at home. This takes place at The Joe, Charleston’s beloved baseball park, and it’s a wildly popular event. A $30 ticket/wristband allows you to sample some of approximately 100 beers, everything from stouts, pilsners, lagers, you name it, from this country and abroad. There will also be $15 designated driver wristbands. It’s sponsored by The Kickin’ Chicken, which will also provide food, along with Semilla, Towin’ the Dough, Big Daddy Pork Skins and more. Here are some of the beers that will be available:
- Local breweries Commonhouse Aleworks, Palmetto Brewing Company, Rusty Bull Brewing Company, and Edmund’s Oast Brewing;
- Angry Orchard from New York;
- Catawba Brewing Company from western North Carolina;
- Green Man Brewing (Asheville, NC);
- Shock Top (Colorado);
- Raven Beer (Baltimore).
There will be live music by The Blue Plantation Band and Ben Fagan & The Holy City Hooligans. Oh - and in case this is your first time around here, you’ll get to experience one of the Lowcountry’s favorite pastimes: the joy that is cornhole. VIP tickets sell for $60 and allows early admission at 6:00 p.m. Here’s a link with more info. The Joe is located at 360 Fishburne Street on the downtown peninsula. So have fun, stay hydrated, and be safe. And when you’re searching for a luxurious Charleston beach house, be sure to call EP. All best, Lowcountry Lisa your Isle of Palms vacation blogger