‘Wine’ Down on Local Beauty

Wanting to explore the newest county park located in West Ashley while enjoying a nice glass of wine at the same time? No problem!
The Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission has come up with a novel way to introduce the public to the brand-new Old Towne Creek County Park on Wednesdays, Oct. 2, 16, and 30.
Presented by Manny’s Neighborhood Grille  and Manny’s Mediterranean Café, “Wine Down Wednesday” includes vino, live music, and hors d’oeuvres for $15, including a commemorative wine glass, from 5-7 p.m.
Parks publicity coordinator Sarah Reynolds said this week that many people have probably driven past the site “a thousand times” and not known it was there.
Located on the same side of Old Towne Road as Charles Towne Landing, Old Towne Creek Couny Park is the former site of Ashem Farm. Local preservationist Emily Ravenel Farrow, who conducted the St. Andrews Riding Academy on its gorgeous site, had owned the farm. Old Towne Creek County Park, formerly Ashem Farm, was home to Charleston preservationist Emily Ravenel Farrrow and her St. Andrews Riding Academy. The 67-acre estate is dotted with open fields mixed among groves of Live Oaks.
The former farm and equine center is resplendent with Live Oaks and acres of open land and a wet marsh, and it is located across a creek from South Carolina’s first English settlement at Charles Towne Landing.
Currently, the site is only available for rentals and special events. But in the coming years, it will become woven into the fabric of local parks.
Reynolds said Farrow was adamant that her former gem not be subdivided and developed, and so deeded it to the Lowcountry Open Land Trust, who then sold it to the county parks.
 
Wine Down Wednesdays will take place Oct. 2, 9, 16, and 30 at Old Towne Creek Park, located at 1400 Old Towne Road. For more information, call 762-2172 or visit www.ccprc.com.