COASTAL OBSERVER

Lindy Myers of Pawleys Island still remembers the blues sounds of the Mullets, the crisp and slightly malty taste of Fosters beer and the smell of Cajun seasoning from the S.C. Crawfish Festival and Aquaculture Fair in 1994.

“I don’t remember any kids being there,” she said. “A lot of drinking, and eating, and a lot of drinking.”

Last weekend’s inaugural S.C. Crawfish and Music Festival lived up to the 15-year legacy the previous festival had from 1980 to 1995, she said. 

Myers was among a crowd of at least 3,000 people. Seven local chefs came up with crawfish dishes in a chef competition for the audience to sample and vote for the best. Adam Kirby, chef and co-owner of Bistro 217, was crowned Crawfish King of the Day.

Many things stayed the same other than the crowd and the Fosters that took the backseat to Michelob Ultra.

“It’s different. There aren’t as many locals that I have noticed because this area’s had a lot of newcomers,” Myers said. “I could walk through and know 20, 25, 30 people, and now I’ve seen three.”

She stood under the VIP tent, a new feature of the festival at JB’s Celebration Park, and was sporting the festival T-shirt that she bought in 1994. 

“Mine won’t fit me anymore,” said Rob Myers, her husband. “It was a different age, different time and a lot of fun.”

The Myers were fond acquaintances of Jim Bindner, whom JB’s Celebration Park is named for. The park opened last year on land leased from Georgetown County.

Cindy Bindner, who spearheaded the effort to revive the S.C. Crawfish Festival, said she was inspired because of her late husband’s love for the festival.

“I’m glad that they’re reviving it and glad they’re doing it in his honor,” Rob said. “I’m happy to be a part of that, we both are.”

Some people came to the festival for nostalgia; others came for their first crawfish festival experience.

Jeff Stinson was digging into a styrofoam container overflowing with crawfish while his wife, Kim, watched from a distance. Her look became one of disapproval as he slurped the disconnected head of the crawfish for flavor.

“The thought of it sounds disgusting to me, so I would never,” Kim said. “I’m from Louisiana, and I was forced to eat them as a child.”

The Stinsons relocated to Pawleys Island about 30 years ago from Gulf Shores, Ala. He usually prefers shrimp but he said he was happy to get a taste of something different.

“It’s different, I guess, for us. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a crawfish festival here,” Jeff said. “She came to keep me company. I thought I was marrying a seafood lover 40 years ago.”

Josh and Savannah Davis of Breaux Bridge, La., the crawfish capital of the world, were there for a taste of home.

“When we saw there was a crawfish festival, of course we had to go,” Savannah said.

“You can’t find crawfish here like you can in Louisiana,” Josh added.

They were pleasantly surprised to learn that the 1,800 pounds of crawfish came from a farm in Eunice, La.

“We have more than that,” said Dwayne Zaunbrecher, who supplied the festival with crawfish he raised. “This is just a small portion of what we get every day.”

He has raised crawfish since 1991 and now takes care of 800 acres with his two sons.

Zaunbrecher heard of the crawfish festival from a friend of a friend who introduced him to Brian Henry, whose prepared food business, Get Carried Away, was the main sponsor of the event.

“I’m going to start working with him. We’ve got to find a way to get crawfish over here,” Zaunbrecher said.

He said the prime season for crawfish is from December to June. Once it gets too hot, he said, the female crawdads bury themselves and are done for the rest of the year.

“You start getting to the middle of March to the middle of May, that’s when they’re best,” he said.

Zaunbrecher raises rice as well. He harvested the crop in August and flooded the fields in October for the crawfish. In January, he began to fish them out of the fields.

It takes between 10 and 12 weeks for the crawfish to get large enough for Zaunbrecher to start catching them. 

“Crawfish and rice coincide with each other,” he said. “My crawfish crop follows the rice crop.”

Plantation owners in Georgetown County were experimenting with raising crawfish in the former rice fields. There were 23 former rice plantations that signed on as sponsors for the 1985 festival.

The festival’s purpose was to draw tourists and promote the fledgling crawfish industry.

Zaunbrecher uses a boat to get through 400 acres of crawfish that he gathers with nets and traps.

In the late 1960s and ’70s, he said, a majority of crawfish came from river basins. Today, a majority of the crop come from rice fields.

“For some reason, nobody can produce crawfish like we can produce in southwest Louisiana,” he said. “Nobody can.”

“Eunice knows what they’re doing,” Josh Davis said.

Zaunbrecher stood under a cloud of steam as he poured cups of Cajun seasoning into a fresh batch of crawdads inside of a large chest cooler usually meant for beverages.

The spice level was just right, he said. Although the Davises are seafood fanatics, they said it’s not really about the taste.

“It’s a community thing. You do it with friends and families,” Savannah said. “I think it’s bigger than just the food. It’s not all about the crawfish. It’s more about the experience.”

Josh said it takes a lot of work to boil crawfish and even more work to prepare it.

“It’s like an event all day with family,” he said. “So it’s better to have people around you. It’s boring by yourself.”