Line, Shag and What Not in D-Town
Blogreader, I'll be honest.Most of my experience with Darlington involves the stretch of Harry Byrd Highway that runs past Darlington Raceway. I've been in downtown Darlington and it's clean. Taki's serves an okay quesadilla (although their lemon meringue pie leaves much to be desired). And Chameleon Art Gallery seems like a nicely decorated joint.
Now, there's some Darlingtinos (Darlingtonians? Darlings? I'm not sure, blogreader) who have a desire to create a bit of family nightlife.
That seems like an oxymoron, but I assure you that is their goal.
The name of the place is Anne & Ray's Gathering Place. It's been open for about three months now, serving around 30-50 people every Thursday, Friday and Saturday. They've got concessions, line dancing, shag dancing and ball room dancing. On Thursdays they even offer ball room dancing lessons. The club is a "Christian themed" joint, according to co-owner Ray Crawford. It has a family night each Friday open to ages 7 to grandparents. It's $6 for adults and $3 for students. If you come on Thursday, ball room lessons are also a mere $3 and you can stay and brush your feet with ball room veterans for the open dancing.
It's located behind "The Welcome Store", a convenient store across the street from Darlington Raceway. It's an attempt to bring a bit of zest to an area that, for most of the year, remains a bit morose and foreboding a night - at least that's how it appears to me when I pass through the area.
For more info, check out my review of "The Gathering Place" in the Feb. 13 edition of 8 Days A Week. Or, you can ask them yourself. Call (843) 206-4736 and ask for Ray Crawford.
Posted by
on 02/05 at 03:38 PM
