The Beaufort Inn

The Official State Dance

by KimberlyAnn

Imagine a state that has an official state dance! The Carolina shag, which came into style in the 1950s, is a rock and roll eight-step that's the legend of the South Carolina beaches. When you visit the towns that lie along South Carolina's coast you will find people dancing this dance, which is often described as the jitterbug meets rhythm and blues. Very little motion is made in the upper body, and the footwork is smooth and close to the floor, having begun on the beaches where kicking sand in your partners face was a distinct possibility. One southerner told me that the shag was designed to be danced with a beer in one hand and the lady in the other. Shag dancing is always casual, and women should never wear high heels.

Edgar Fripp House 1856 (#12 on walking tour)

by grandmaR

Tidalholm was built in 1856 at 1 Laurens Street by Edgar Fripp, a wealthy landowner, for a summer home to escape the heat an mosquitoes on his St. Helena plantation. The home has been used in major motion pictures The Great Santini in 1978 and The Big Chill in 1983.. It faces the river.

Milton Maxey House c 1813 (#23 on walking tour)

by grandmaR

The Milton Maxey house was built on an original tabby foundation which dated from 1743. Tabby is a cement made from lime, sand and oyster shells.

According to Janet H. Gritzner, "the vast majority of tabby structures were located on the southern Atlantic coast. This distribution reflects diffusion from two primary centers or hearths: one at Saint Augustine, Florida, and the other at Beaufort, South Carolina. These centers represented the core areas for two separate traditions in tabby building. ... British-built tabby arising out of Beaufort, South Carolina, had a quite different history and distribution from that of Spanish origin."

The Maxey house is at 1113 Craven Street and is known as the "Secession House" after the first meeting in favor of secession was held here. According to writings on the basement walls: “In this house the first meeting in favor of secession was held in 1851.”

The Ordinance of Secession breaking South Carolina’s ties with the United States was signed here.

It was also used as a headquarters by Union Army Gen. Rufus Saxon during the Civil War.

MM 536 Downtown Municipal Marina

by grandmaR

On the way north in the spring of 2001, we stopped here, and we stopped again going both ways for the 2001-2002 trips.

The radio is monitored by the office, and transferred to the dockmaster. He was blurry on his handheld (loud enough but hard to understand). He first told us we would be 'beside' the black boat, which I at first thought meant rafted on. But he really meant 'ahead of'. Maybe a local way of speech.

Transients (especially large boats) are mostly on the face docks. We were tied up ahead of a big black wooden sailboat,and a big power boat was put ahead of us.

Bob walked up into town - the marina personnel told him where he could find a hardware store and he walked there and bought lamp wicks for the new lamp he got in Fernandina (spring 2001). There were azaleas in bloom, but it is cold. The ramp up to the bank is very steep at low tide (we are on floating docks and the tide is about 8 feet). I was allowed to use the fax line in the office for email. All people were very helpful. Rates were $1.20/ft/day or 90 cents/ft for the week, 8:50/ft for the month or $7.00/ft for the year. They noted that weekly and monthly rates may not be offered during the transient season. A shrimp boat came in and tied up to the floating docks around sunset, and left at sunrise. Don't know how(or if) they paid.

Electricity and cable TV were included in the daily and weekly rates. Electricity is $70/month extra (called a live-aboard fee) for 30 amp. They say they also have a store, phones, a pumpout boat, ATM, and courtesy car for getting groceries. They allow an hour for the use of the car, but they don't like it if you go to the closest grocery store because that is across the Ladies Island Bridge, and sometimes people get stuck on the other side when it opens and can't get back within the hour.

beaufort south carolina

by doug48

"beaufort"

beaufort south carolina was founded in 1711 and is the second oldest city in south carolina. early settlers planted rice and indigo. sea island cotton, considered the finest in the world brought beauford incredible wealth from the 1790's to 1860. wealthy planters built grand homes in beaufort. beaufort style homes faced the water with two story porches to capture summer breezes and winter sun. the grandeur of beaufort's antebellum homes have been carefully protected by historic preservationists. beaufort is especially beautifull in the spring when the azaleas and dogwoods are in full bloom. beaufort is a wonderful experience for those interested in old southern charm and beautiful antebellum architecture.

in recent times this beautiful town has been the background for several hollywood movies including "the great santini", "forest gump", and the "prince of tides".

an excellent place to begin your tour of beaufort is the Spirit of Old Beaufort gift shop. they have maps and guide books of the town and they also offer guided tours. their address is 103 west street extention downtown. an excellent guide to the architecture of historic beaufort is "a guide to historic beaufort" pub: the historic beaufort foundation.

in my "things to do" tip section i have posted a small sampling of the beautiful and historic buildings and houses of beaufort. just a reminder to visitors to the beaufort historic district, the majority of the historical homes are private residences. please respect the property and privacy rights of the residents of this charming town.