First stop, Beaufort, SC, “the South’s Best Small Town”

July 04, 2022

Our first road trip requiring hotels and restaurants, we packed some snacks, nutrition bars, and a new cooler along with plenty of clothing for a long trip. Add to that two sets of golf clubs and two folding lawn chairs, and the suv is packed to the hilt! My rationalization of why NOT to bring the clubs, or at least only his set, fell on deaf ears, and a stop to buy Florida citrus to take as a gift to the northerners proved little space left for anything else. See, I said! OMG, I knew I was going to hear about this the whole trip, he said! And we are off!

Traffic became heavy and snail paced as we approached our destination, and we arrived tired and hungry, some eight hours after leaving. Already I am missing my Motorhome, as we lug things to our room, and find the door, which having apparently been painted and then closed, was only able to be opened by a tough shove of the weighted shoulder, the room 65 degrees, the toilet paper standing up on a broken dispenser bar, and a wobbly faucet! Now, call me picky, but for a Hampton Inn of the Hilton chain and $250 a night, I guess I would have expected things to be in good repair.

The view of low country from the hotel is however lovely!

But I digress. We set out for town the next morning early in a pleasant 73 degrees for a walk along the water park, a lovely area between the waterfront and the historic downtown, and to recconoiter the shops before they open.

Unique swing part of the bridge opening for boat traffic

A tribute to often overlooked Vietnam Veterans service to our country.

Swing bridge leading to Hunting and Fipps Islands.

South Carolina’s signer of the Declaration of Independence

Then a highly enlightening and enjoyable golf cart tour through the beautiful antebellum and Victorian homes and churches, as well as the National Cemetery, learning the history of the area, as well as tales of actors renting locally while the many motion pictures shot in the area were filmed. What fun to learn that the unusual swing bridge we had watched open on our morning walk was the one Tom Hanks ran over in Forest Gump. But it was actually his brother who filled in for him, as Tom doesn’t like to run. The brothers stayed in town and were said to have asked to be seated with locals in restaurants in order to visit, and sometimes photo bombed some weddings.

Antebellum and Victorian buildings :

Many faced south, rather than toward the street, in order to catch the breezes And those with two sets of stairs leading up, not one of which I managed to photograph, were meant so the ladies could take one set and the gentlemen the other, so as not to see the ladies ankles as they raised their skirts to ascend!

At Helena Church, one of the oldest in the nation.

First Black Baptist Church, built by freed slaves, after the Civil War. There is some speculation that Harriet Tubman gathered those she freed at the church. They raised a monument to her not far from this site to honor her service.

We booked late on a busy weekend, and could only get back facing seats, but glad we took them!

National Cemetery:

Over 7500 civil war soldiers buried here

Over 4000 unknown soldiers from civil war.

Unique curved layout for civil war cemeteries, like spokes of a wheel.

More recent grave stones in traditional arrangement.

Confederate soldier section

I had researched lunch spots, and when our tour guide recommended one of my choices, we were able to claim a table on the back porch of Plum, overlooking the waterfront park and water. Though the day was warming, in the shade with the breeze, we enjoyed a pleasant time and tasty meal served by a fun waitress who laughed readily at Clems’ silly banter.

Back now to the shops, where I tried to be selective, but Clem has just so much patience, so we headed out for a drive to some of the many the other islands. Literally surrounded by water , there were many to choose from, including Paris Island, the home to the Marine Corp Training Camp. Civilians are allowed there to drive around and take in the museum, but Clem was not very interested in that, so we headed over the swing bridge and out to Hunting and Fipps Islands, and in search of the lighthouse. The stupid GPS sent us down a dirt path and told us we had arrived at the lighthouse, when in fact we were at a dead end in the middle of nowhere! Really heavy traffic, caused mostly by a bottleneck which in my mind should be corrected, and a difficult search for the lighthouse, left my travel partner in a cranky mood, despite the fact that I was driving, so we headed back to town. I did manage to convince him to explore the historic church and cemetery we had seen on our tour before heading back to our hotel.

St Helena church was established and built in early 1700’s, and is one of the oldest in the nation. Used by union soldiers as a hospital, before being returned to its former use.