Wadmalaw Island--Here's something to "wine" about Traditional Cache
Edisto Patto: Gonna pull the plug on this one....has gone missing too many times....Thanks to all who logged it
Wadmalaw Island--Here's something to "wine" about
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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Wadmalaw Island is generally bypassed by tourists although it is home to several unique locations.
Wadmalaw Island is located generally to the southwest of Johns Island and more than halfway encircled by it. To the north it is bordered by Church Creek; to the northeast and east by Bohicket Creek; to the south by the North Edisto River; and to the west by the Wadmalaw River. The island's only connection to the mainland is via a bridge over the Wadmalaw River. The island is about 10 miles long by 6 miles wide. It has a land area of about 42 sq mi. The 2000 census reported a population of 2,611 persons, with the largest concentration in its only town of Rockville with 137 people in its half square mile area.
Wadmalaw Island was landed upon by Captain Robert Sanford and the crew of the Berkeley Bay in mid-June of 1666 after an excursion up the Bohicket Creek. It is believed that Sandford landed where Rockville now sits. On June 23, 1666, Captain and crew carried out the ritual of “turf and twig”, claiming the land for England and the Lords Proprietors.
Turf and Twig is an English ceremony dating from the 12th century, practiced regularly during English colonialism to take sovereign possession over unclaimed lands.
The process has taken several forms over the centuries. Dr. Bernulf Hodge in A History of Malmesbury describes the process as:
"The lucky new commoner goes to his "given" acre and cuts a turf from the selected site and drops two shillings in the hole made. The High Steward then twitches him with a twig and sticks the twig in the turf, then hands it to him saying, "This turf and twig I give to thee, as free as Athelstan (the King of England from 924 to939) gave to me, and I hope a loving brother thou wilt be." The High Steward then takes the money out of the hole and the new landowner replaces the turf." The practice was discontinued in the late 17th century.
Considered the most unspoiled of all the Charleston sea islands, it is primarily rural with farming, fishing, crabbing and shrimping the predominant activities. Along with the growing of tea (highlighted in another nearby cache), the area is also home to the Low Country’s only working vineyard. Every Southerner has heard of---if not grown up on muscadine (also known as scuppernong) wine. This is the only grape that will grow in the hot humid climate found here. Not frost hardy, these grapes will not grow in the traditional wine growing regions of the US. The vine can grow to 60-100 feet. The first wines to be made on this continent were from muscadine grapes. The entire wine-making process from cultivation, to harvesting and packaging is done here on this beautiful plantation adorned with aged live oaks draped with Spanish moss.
Although the vineyard is open for tours several days a week February-December, you do not need to enter the vineyard property to find the cache. Cache is a small black container with room for log and a few small trade items..
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Treasures
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