Road Trip
Adorable Beaufort WHERE PROUD SOUTHERN HERITAGE MEETS A MODERN COASTLINE ARTICLE SUE G COLLINS | PHOTOGRAPHY JOHN ARTHUR PHOTOGRAPHY
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pending a long weekend in beautiful Beaufort, S.C., is like going to a favorite auntie’s home where you feel the warm embrace of familiar history, the open arms of an authentic welcome and the promise of new adventures at the table that will surprise yet reassure even the most dedicated Lowcountry foodie. You will itch that scratch you didn’t know you had for being outdoors, committing to a serious stroll through the town’s 300 historically designated acres, rambling coastal trails of the many neighboring
protected sea islands and finding new ways to explore the waterways that surrounds the city founded in 1711.With postcard views of the Beaufort River dotted with working shrimp boats heading out around the barrier islands, soft marshes where inter-coastal kayakers and paddle boarders play and of cobbled streets lined with pre-Civil War homesteads, Beaufort will keep you engaged from the moment you arrive after your short four-hour drive from Atlanta. (I arrived in a gorgeous Lexus RX350 that cradled me in V6 comfort, thank you very much!) Beaufort has more antebellum homes than its more tourist crazed South Carolina sister city, Charleston, 70 miles up the coast. The Beaufort Visitor Center offers up a map for a self-guided walking (or biking) tour of some 27 homes build as early as 1717 (this one also The author gets a land paddling lesson from Tim Lovett of Higher served as a private school Ground Outfitters for boys in the 1800s and is beautifully maintained
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today). Or, climb aboard a horse-drawn buggy with The Sea Island Carriage Co. and if you’re lucky, your guide and driver will be Debbie who will point out where movies were filmed, where history was made and how special the Angle Oak trees are that bend to the ground and grow high again from the sandy soil. Local outdoorsman Tim Lovett at Higher Ground Outfitters will get you kayaking through the tidal marshes, land paddling (long skate board + a stubby paddle = tons of fun) along the newly paved rail-to-trail 3.3 mile Spanish Moss Trail or stand up paddle boarding where you feel like a ship captain exploring a new world. We were joined by dolphins, working shrimp boats and small leisure boats as we paddled out from Waterfront Park downtown and into the Beaufort River early one misty morning. Hunting Island State Park across the bridge is another quiet giant, with