BERYL CONTINUES TO PLAY WITH ME

May 30, 2012  Dateline:  Beaufort, SC USA

Tropical storm “Beryl” continued to move strong winds through Hilton Head Island and Rich and Carol dragged their feet in leaving Harbour Town Marina and so when they finally decided to go, I left at low tide.  What else is new, Rich can pick low tide months in advance all he has to do is to pick a time to leave.  The trip was a short one, only 23 miles to Beaufort, SC.  Matt and Cindy along with Lucy and Eva drove from Savannah to Beaufort and met us there.  By the way Lucy and Eva are their two American Bulldogs.  Here is Eva doing what she does best, investigating.

The history of Beaufort is very interesting and the city is very beautiful.  Originally, it was a place where wealthy cotton growers had cottages built so they could escape the heat and bugs on the low country islands in the summer, where they had their plantations.  The Beaufort homes are anything but cottages. Some of them are 11,000 square feet in floor space.  These homes survived the Civil War and that is an interesting story.  Beaufort, SC was the city where Southerners first met to declare their independence from the north.  There is a home called the Secession House where it all took place.  Those who drew up the plan wrote their names on the basement wall.  A Union solder wrote over them “Union Forever”. Shortly after the Civil War started Beaufort fell to the North. When the North sailed some ships up Port Royal Sound, the Beaufortians abandoned their city. The north occupied the city without a fight and it served as a major hospital center for the Union.  The result was that the large houses remained untouched by the war.  It is said that the Union soldiers found half eaten meals on dining room tables.