Today's destination is Beaufort -- our plan is to park the boat on the free town dock while we explore the town and run a couple of errands. Once done, we figured we drop off the dock (no overnight parking allowed) and drop a hook in the harbor.
Beaufort is a thriving tourism center in the low country. First chartered in the early 1700's, it was a center for the rice and indigo trade before the Civil War. It was captured by the Union early in the war and hence escaped much of the destruction wrought on other southern cities. It's main industry after the war was Phosphate mining and in the 20th century, many films have been made there because of its wonderfully preserved architecture and vibrant waterfront (the Big Chill, the Great Santini, Forest Gump).
The trip was uncomplicated: take a cut from the Ashapoo to the Coosaw river, head down it a while and make a left into the Beaufort river to get to the city. It was also fast -- we had the current with us pretty much all the way and were there by late morning despite a 20 minute delay at the bridge just north of the town.
Once through the bridge, we headed for the town dock; sadly, there was "no room at the inn" -- three other boats had beaten us to the freebie docking. The good news was that there was a marina with a long, mostly unoccupied fuel dock right next to the town dock; we needed diesel and we figured that we could probably leave the boat there for a few hours for a nominal fee -- which is exactly what we did.
We opted to have lunch in town and then walked along its main street and visited some of its shops -- we also tried, in vain, to find a grocery with some fresh produce -- we walked up to an area that Google showed had three different "groceries" -- one was out of the 1950's and only had potatoes and onions; the second was an Asian grocery with (strangely) no produce at all and the third was an organic grocery with unrecognizable and expensive produce -- we passed on buying any. The walk did give us a chance to see some of the back streets and neighborhoods of the town -- neat streets lined with moss-laden oaks and older homes in good shape on moderate lots -- nice !!
Back at the marina, we took a quick shower (again, for a nominal fee) and drove My Weigh from the fuel dock to a mooring ball 100 yards away -- our home for the evening and an "easy exit" next morning.
Beaufort is a thriving tourism center in the low country. First chartered in the early 1700's, it was a center for the rice and indigo trade before the Civil War. It was captured by the Union early in the war and hence escaped much of the destruction wrought on other southern cities. It's main industry after the war was Phosphate mining and in the 20th century, many films have been made there because of its wonderfully preserved architecture and vibrant waterfront (the Big Chill, the Great Santini, Forest Gump).
The trip was uncomplicated: take a cut from the Ashapoo to the Coosaw river, head down it a while and make a left into the Beaufort river to get to the city. It was also fast -- we had the current with us pretty much all the way and were there by late morning despite a 20 minute delay at the bridge just north of the town.
Once through the bridge, we headed for the town dock; sadly, there was "no room at the inn" -- three other boats had beaten us to the freebie docking. The good news was that there was a marina with a long, mostly unoccupied fuel dock right next to the town dock; we needed diesel and we figured that we could probably leave the boat there for a few hours for a nominal fee -- which is exactly what we did.
[Pictures to come -- stuck on bad computer]
[Pictures to come -- stuck on bad computer]
Back at the marina, we took a quick shower (again, for a nominal fee) and drove My Weigh from the fuel dock to a mooring ball 100 yards away -- our home for the evening and an "easy exit" next morning.
No comments:
Post a Comment