Cocktails & Campers

For SHANNON SULLINS and STEPHAN STEWART, their mobile event bar In Good Spirits allows them to stir up both their bar management and crafting skills to deliver a fun option for events.

In Good Spirits provides a mobile bar and photo booth out of two vintage campers that the duo renovated. In it, they are able to serve custom cocktails and take photos at gatherings both in Wilmington and Athens, Georgia.

Before riding off to events together, Sullins and Stewart met through music.

“We started dating soon after we met (totally different story) and the rest is history. He had never been a bartender for anyone other than himself, but he loves cooking,” Sullins says. “I have a long background in mixology. I invited him to pick up shift with me at Live Wire Athens, a music venue in Athens, Georgia.”

With her experience managing bars and event planning, Sullins and Stewart (who she refers to as Steveo) decided to go into the venture together.

“Steveo has been a craftsman for more than two decades. We seem to both be habitual entrepreneurs. When we saw the opportunity, we jumped on it,” she says. “We are both pretty obsessive and believed that we could provide a super fun service, while also being very professional and organized.”

Sullins shares details on the renovated campers, people’s reception of the mobile bar as well as a summer cocktail recipe.

WILMA: How did you come up with the idea to have a mobile camper and photo booth?
SULLINS: “We often volunteered to bartend music festivals. It is a fun way to get free tickets and all-access passes. We ended up tending bar in a camper for the first time five years ago. We left there saying ‘we could totally do this.’ Two weeks later, on my birthday, we brought home the Frolic that would become Clyde. Less than a year later, we wanted to diversify, and Bonnie was born, this time on Steveo’s birthday.

WILMA: What kind of events does In Good Spirits serve?
SULLINS: “Most of the events are weddings, but we have participated in block parties, tailgating events, festivals, and corporate events. We frequently use them for customer appreciation events, especially in coordination with our insurance agency. There is no better way to say thank you to people who we know, or meet people who we don’t know yet.”

WILMA: What has people’s reception been like of the campers?
SULLINS: “They are always a show-stopper. Whether it is a neighborhood party or a wedding, folks often end up hanging around the campers, asking questions about the build, the history, the names. And we generally have stories behind each design decision made on the campers, so there is loads to talk about. For instance, the fact that Clyde was Steveo’s grandfather’s name and Bonnie was my grandmother, or the story about the barn that we rebuilt and used the old metal roof for the interior, or picking the wallpaper color blindfolded!”

WILMA: How do you come up with a cocktail menu for events?
SULLINS: “We ask questions about the personal preferences of the hosts and the guests. Often, we will recommend one light and one dark liquor. A fresh-tasting, cucumber cocktail with a vodka base coupled with a stout old-fashioned for the bourbon lovers. It totally depends on the preferences.”

WILMA: Could you share your favorite summer cocktail to make at home?

Strawberry Basil Smash

1-2 basil leaves and 1/2 strawberry – muddled

.75 oz lemon Juice

.75 oz strawberry basil simple syrup

1.5 oz vodka

Shake, top with a splash of club soda, and garnish with 3 blueberries

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