Charleston is proving itself to be a pretty awesome place, and we haven’t even made it downtown yet!
Our first night in town, we met up with Matt’s high school buddy, Zane, who took us out to this amazing outdoor music venue called Awendaw Green, located just outside of Charleston in Mt. Pleasant. Every Wednesday, they hold a barn jam featuring local and regional musicians of all types. The line up changes each week, and includes half a dozen acts per night with genres ranging from bluegrass to punk to country to rock. A few bands get there start here, including an American Idol runner up who still comes back to play every now and again. The bands were all pretty good, but it was the setting that really did it for me. The place is outdoors, with lawn chairs and fire pits scattered around the stage, which is actually an old barn with a tin roof awning that was the “stage”. Posters of acts that had played here before were plastered along the faded pine wood on the side. There were white Christmas lights strung up everywhere that gave it this ethereal glow, and a huge tree just off the stage with old trombones, horns and saxophones hanging from it. It was like a festival scene, but much smaller, and so much cooler. I’m horrible at estimating, but If I had to guess, I’d say that there were about 150 people there in total, ranging from young to old, from families to hipsters to lowcountry locals, kids and pets alike, all just hanging out together and enjoying some good music in this surreal setting.
We met up with Zane’s lovely wife, Karen, and their two boys, who greeted us with a cooler full of beer and a picnic table set with all sorts of munchies. The place was amazing, the company was wonderful and the music kicked ass. It was pretty much the perfect night. If we lived here, we’d be hanging out at this place every week with our camping chairs and cooler (and probably Zane & Karen) in tow.
I really wish I would have taken more pictures, but I was pretty much a walking zombie at this point, having been up for nearly 24 hours straight. Despite my struggle to stay coherent, this place absolutely blew my mind. If you’re ever in the Charleston area on a Wednesday night, it’s well worth the trip to go check it out.
Thanks so much, Zane, for sharing this little gem with us! What a great way to kick off our stay!
