Irvin House Wines and Firefly Distillery

Today my mom and I traveled to Wadmala Island to visit this local winery and distillery.  It was a gorgeous day and a fantastic trip!  They are the makers of Firefly Vodka along with several wines. Firefly Vodka Sweet Tea is a local favorite and well worth trying, in fact...  I think it's one of the best drinks around.  The tea is made with vodka from this distillery and tea from a local plantation too, the only thing in it not from here in Charleston is the raw sugar cane used from Louisiana.  All in all a true southern creation.  The same distillery is also a winery that uses the native muscadine grape  (in four varieties) to makes some terrific wines. Cool little fact, the muscadine grape is the only grape variety with one extra pair of chromosomes.  It is quite literally the smart grape, and as such is immune to all known grape diseases.  This means they can be grown and harvested without pesticides or chemicals. Muscadine grapes also have 8 times the amount of antioxidants and some other good for you thing than any other grape which makes this wine actually good for you!  What better excuse do you need to enjoy a wonderful glass! Check out the video below...

Celebrating 50 Years of Alvin Ailey

Last night my mom and I went to see the Alvin Ailey company's performance at Spoleto. The production was chronicling the past 50 years of his Alvin's choreography and work. It was incredibly beautiful, moving, and left the entire audience in awe. It was one of the best dance performances I have ever seen, and a true experience. I have always wanted to see this company before and they far exceeded my expectations. Check out the video clip and pictures below from the performance!

Spoleto Sand Sculptures

Hello Blog Buddies!  I'm on vacation and enjoying my time at home in Charleston so much! I got here a few days ago and spent the first couple days sleeping, tanning, grilling out, and meet up with old but still great friends.  Yesterday a famous art festival here in Charleston kicked off.  It's called Spoleto, and it is this huge festival that lasts a couple weeks. Yeah, a couple weeks cause it's that awesome and my favorite part is that it includes all different types of art: music, dancing, visual arts, sculptures, acting, and more.  Today I went over to Isle of Palms to check out the sand sculpture competition (which you probably read about on my twitter- if not follow me, my sn is travisyork).  Here are some photo's I snagged...

Best in Show, it was pretty sweet.

Best Architecture! I really liked it.

Peace

This is a replica of a light house off of Folly Island.

Corny!

The SC Quarter, very South Carolinian!

I loved this Sea Serpent! His name is Sam.

I liked the boat with the dock... it was a good idea.

I kept wanting a coke after seeing this polar bear!

My grandmother will love this one... she loves pigs, and this one's got wings!

 

Her Morning Elegance

Check out this new artist a friend of mine introduced me to this past weekend... Awesome music and an incredible video!