Beautiful Beaufort (Bew-fert) and Houdini Coastline

Eat first, is often our motto. 

Hence, when we arrived in Beaufort, for our low country day trip, we sidled right into Nippy's for a shrimp basket, and fish tacos for Ben.

  

Best not to order tacos in South Carolina, when you could have had a local specialty, Ben has realized.  

We have learned that small town cooks here are very heavy on the salt shaker, which is worrying our blood pressure.  However, the friendly greetings by Betty, Des Sr., and Diane were worth it.

Beaufort has more antebellum houses per square block than Savannah, so we were told.  We took the handy walking tour map provided by the Visitor Center and did a walk-about. 

Beaufort has an interesting history, especially after the Civil War, when federal re-constructionists took the area under control.  Black freedmen developed a black business and political culture and Beaufort flourished with a black middle and upper class.

No one was more influential than Robert Smalls, a slave who had commandeered the USS Planter and escaped with his family. He became a successful businessman and eventually, a Congressman.  He returned to Beaufort and bought his former master's house, where he lived until he died.  

In a sad turn of events in US history, Jim Crow laws passed by South Carolina and upheld by the Supreme Court, reversed the status of black people to second class, and caused a huge migration of the population out of Beaufort as they lost jobs and businesses.

This yo-yoing of Civil rights gains and losses goes on today.  We are back to the shameful practice of some States restricting voting rights, as just one example.

Political lesson over.  

Pictures can't do justice to the majestic live oaks festooned with Spanish moss.  Though it was an overcast day, the miles of lowland marshes were spectacular.

This cemetery had graves decorated with both US and Confederate flags.  This grave held 20 year old Captain Paul Hamilton who was given an elegnt epitaph which read in part, that "His gallantry was only equalled by his modesty."  

it moved me to consider how many millions of bright souls like his were extinguished in that terrible struggle for our Nation's soul.

We moved on to drive to Hunting Island, where a small State park provides the chance to walk through a maritime forest, a jungle of Palmetto, Loblolly pines, live oaks, wax myrtle, and even prickly pear cactus sprouts.  This info brought to you by Ben!

The forest goes right up to the surf line.  The surf line, by the way, is always moving.  This lighthouse, built in 1875, was designed to be movable. And move it, they did. 

In 1889 it became necessary to relocate it inland 1.25 miles, as it was already overcome by severe erosion, and was sitting out in the surf. The coastline has continued to recede due to hurricanes. The towering lighthouse is now just a hundred yards from the surf line!  May be time to move again soon.

172 steps to the top is only equal to 10 NYC subway exit staircases, so we climbed it with ease.  

A desire on my part to try she-crab soup took us on a detour to Lady's Island, and a local joint hanging over the docks. Tried it.

Enough said.

The clouds that had reigned the skies all day were finally breached by the sun, for a glorious sunset over the low country.