As we travel across the country we have the opportunity to visit places we would probably never go. We will pass by a relatively small town that we have heard of in our lives and will stop by just to see what it is like. Sometimes these small towns don’t have much of interest (Roswell, NM comes to mind), but it’s nice to check the box and say we have been there. So when I was looking for something to do last Sunday, we decided to go down to Beaufort, SC.
I knew the town name from one of my favorite authors Pat Conroy (Prince of Tides, Great Santini) but I didn’t know much about it. Still it was nice to get out and it was a pleasant drive. And sometimes when you just drive something really wonderful happens. Turns out that Beaufort, SC is a VERY old town with streets that originated in 1711. And the houses…wow just gorgeous and we spent some time just driving around the small side streets looking at the most amazing restored homes.
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It wasn’t just the houses…it was also the beautiful old oak trees. I have never seen anything quite like it in a residential area and even with the rain it was absolutely beautiful.
I have never seen a tree crossing a road like this.
Clearance was 10 feet
Everyone has heard of the beautiful old homes in Charleston and Savannah but these were just as great.
This was my favorite…built in 1850
The working gas lights in front of many of the homes were amazing
Tidalholm was used in the movie The Great Santini and The big Chill
Interspersed throughout the home were beautiful channels and marsh
And several small park areas
And right next to the historic neighborhood was an old armory that is open to the public.
After leaving the neighborhood we drove through the small downtown with shops and stumbled across a Pat Conroy museum. I had no idea it was there and better still it was actually open open a Sunday. So we parked quickly and went inside. It was a small building (free to enter) and was a treasure trove of artifacts.
A jacket from The Price of Tides movie
The jacket from the Great Santini movie
Pictures of Pat
They even had his writing desk and allowed people to sit in his chair …gave me chills.
Pat’s hat when he went to the Citadel
A beautiful quilt
A note board which is lovely
They had many items for sale including these great small wall plaques
What a lovely surprise this day was, and the Literary Center was amazing. To cap the day off, we took Jack to Fish Hall beach during a break in the rain. This beach is the Gullah area on the outside of Hilton Head and is very dog friendly.
We did see this sign when we entered which made me worry a little bit for Jack 🙂
Love…love this picture!
One last thing..we were super close to Parris Island so we drove right up to the gate. We could have gone farther but neither of us thought that was a good idea, but it was neat to see Parris Island…at least the entrance to it. Lots of cool stuff in this area.
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Camper Chronicles 
I never visited Beaufort. I need to go
On Sun, Feb 7, 2021 at 9:01 AM Camper Chronicles wrote:
> Lee and Tracy posted: “As we travel across the country we have the > opportunity to visit places we would probably never go. We will pass by a > relatively small town that we have heard of in our lives and will stop by > just to see what it is like. Sometimes these small towns don'” >
You would love it Mom
Beaufort’s a wonderful old south village!! It was one of the first places we visited 20 years ago when we started out as full-timers. We took our bikes and spent the entire day exploring all the nooks and crannies of this charming place……wonderful memories!!!!!
❤️
Nancy did you guys get your immunizations yet?