There’s plenty to do in the CSRA this weekend, from wine tasting to community clean-ups and even a little bit of time travel.
The Augusta Museum of History is partnering with Destination Augusta to kick off its “Time Detectives” experience on Saturday.
Part of the Authentic Augusta program, the event is described as “part escape room, part scavenger hunt, and all fun!” Participants take on the roles of “time-traveling detectives” who must solve various riddles and puzzles to collect misplaced objects from Augusta’s history and return them to their correct timeline.
When the Authentic Augusta tasked the museum with creating new experiences to promote the city, staff considered a new spin on teaching history: a game reminiscent of “Carmen Sandiego.”
“There’s a group of bad guys that come in and replace objects, and people have to learn stories,” said education manager Brandy Lisser. “Go save the object, return them back to their proper location and save the timeline from a group of bandits, so to say.”
Teams of two to four time-travelers are provided with a tablet and a “top secret tool kit” to help them solve all the ciphers and break all the codes within the hour time limit.
The Time Detectives event will launch on Saturday, April 22, starting at 9 a.m., and will be a permanent fixture at the museum, every second Tuesday and fourth Saturday. The museum is located at 560 Reynolds St. For ticket prices and more information, visit https://www.augustamuseum.org/TimeDetectives.
The Augusta Spring Wine Festival will kick off the same day at the Columbia County Amphitheater in Evans.
Alongside wine-tasting, the interactive bazaar will host food trucks and other vendors—one of which will be painting studio Wine and Design Augusta. There will also be unlimited mimosas, raffles and giveaways, and even a dance group teaching line dancing.
“I saw how Atlanta and Charlotte, a lot of the places had wine festivals, but we never had one here,” said Bridget Lynch, who coordinated the festival as a networking and fundraising event in support of the Fatty Marsha Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to supporting those with HIV and AIDS.
Augusta Commissioner Sean Frantom will be hosting the event. Lynch contacted him at the suggestion of Columbia County rental events coordinator Anthony Sweat.
“I reached out to him, and he did not hesitate to jump on board,” she said.
Some of the proceeds of the festival will go toward funding the Fatty Marshall Foundation’s annual gala and toy drive in December, which collects toys and clothes for women and children living with HIV.
The Spring Wine Festival is on Saturday from 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. For tickets visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/augusta-gas-spring-wine-festival-tickets-491990285187.
Other events include: the annual Earth Day Augusta celebration at the Phinizy Center and Nature Park, 1858 Lock and Dam Road, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Local arts and crafts, hayride tours, food vendors and Wade Carruth’s Raptors will complement designed cleanups by volunteers throughout the area; 7 Brew Coffee at 105 Charlestowne Way (right off Washington Road) having its Community Day grand opening event; the Garden City Festival at the Sacred Heart Cultural Center, and the Augusta Craft Beer Festival at SRP Park, 187 Railroad Ave. in North Augusta.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
