(Beaufort, South Carolina) About an hour and a half south of Charleston hides Beaufort, a charming town nestled in the Barriers Islands, the islands that surround the Atlantic coast between North Carolina and northern Florida. Founded in 1711, it’s South Carolina’s second-oldest city after Charleston, but since it was spared the fighting of the Civil War, its heart has been perfectly preserved. Tour of an exceptional city.
historical heart
PHOTO PIERRE-MARC DURIVAGE, THE PRESS
The Cuthbert House Inn, a 233-year-old inn run by Frenchman Pierre-Édouard Binot and his wife Connie
With its majestic holm oaks, the oldest of which are over 600 years old, the Old Point district offers a real step back in time. Its majestic residences inspired by British colonial architecture in the West Indies are unique and bear witness to the splendor in which the first plantation owners of South Carolina lived. Alerted to the arrival of the Unionist army at the start of the Civil War, the owners of Beaufort chose to flee in disaster, leaving behind residences and slaves. The Armée du Nord therefore made Beaufort a base of operations, several of the largest houses being converted into field hospitals, which explains the exceptional state of preservation of the heart of the city. In fact, the entire area, plus downtown and The Bluff, The Old Commons, and the Northwest Quadrant neighborhoods, are protected under the National Monuments Act.
We welcome tourists who have already seen New York, Las Vegas and New Orleans and who are looking for something quieter. They want to experience the real Americana, which is why we are visited by people who do a little more research.
Linda Jeffries, Sales Manager at Greater Beaufort
“We are exactly between Charleston and Savannah, we can attract tourists who are looking for something that is more on a human scale”, underlines Mme Jeffries.
Robert Smalls
PHOTO PIERRE-MARC DURIVAGE, THE PRESS
The house where Robert Smalls lived until his death in 1915
Some of the slaves freed after the disaster departure of the southern owners were able to redeem the mansions left vacant. This is the case of Robert Smalls, one of the most legendary figures in the history of Beaufort — a statue in his honor has been erected on Carlton Street, near the Baptist Church and the cemetery where he was buried in 1915. Trained to work in port facilities, Smalls had stolen a Southern ship in Charleston before bringing it and a few men to the port of Beaufort, controlled by the Unionists. His house is still intact on Prince Street in the Old Point neighborhood.
The Penn Center and Gullah Culture
PHOTO PIERRE-MARC DURIVAGE, THE PRESS
The Penn Center allows you to learn a little more about the Gullah culture, developed by the freed slaves of the islands that surround the coast of the Southeast States.
Many of the freed slaves in Beaufort and the region were given land on the belt islands, giving rise to the Gullah-Geechee culture, which is distinguished among other things by a dialect spoken from North Carolina to the north of Florida. Several families are still established on the island of Saint Helena – it is here that we find the Penn Center, site of the first school built for the freed slaves of the region.
hunting island
PHOTO PIERRE-MARC DURIVAGE, THE PRESS
Hunting Island State Park Beach
Its visit is highly recommended before continuing the road to Hunting Island State Park and its majestic lighthouse, but above all its superb beach spared from any commercial construction. Access to the park is also completely exotic with its subtropical vegetation, so that it feels like you have arrived in Hawaii. No wonder to learn that sequences from the films G.I. Jane and jungle book were filmed here.
Run forest run
PHOTO PIERRE-MARC DURIVAGE, THE PRESS
Shrimp fishing boats docked near Gay Fish Company, Beaufort County business that inspired the Bubba Gump business in the movie Forest Gump.
But the most famous shoot made in the Beaufort area — people here pronounce it Biou-feuwrt — was certainly that of Forest Gump. The Beaufort swing bridge is the one that, in the film, spans the Mississippi River in one of the sequences where the unforgettable character played by Tom Hanks runs tirelessly across the United States. A little further on the neighboring island of Saint Helena is the small shrimp fishing port Gay Fish Company, the site that inspired the creation in the film of the famous Bubba Gump restaurant chain – it has since become a real teaches with restaurants all over the world.
Taste the flavors of the Lowcountry
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PHOTO PIERRE-MARC DURIVAGE, THE PRESS
Old Bull Tavern, West Street
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PHOTO PIERRE-MARC DURIVAGE, THE PRESS
Lowcountry Cider Co. & Superior Coffee, West Street in Beaufort, and Sea Island Parkway, in Saint Helena
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PHOTO PIERRE-MARC DURIVAGE, THE PRESS
Breakwater Restaurant & Bar, rue Carteret
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PHOTO PIERRE-MARC DURIVAGE, THE PRESS
Lowcountry Produce Market & Café, rue Carteret
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Shrimp is given pride of place in Beaufort, the cradle of the Lowcountry, an area located in the lowlands of the southern part of South Carolina which is distinguished by a typical cuisine inspired in particular by the Gullah culture. You have to taste the she crab soupa blue crab bisque, the shrimp and gritsgrilled shrimp served on a thick cream of ground corn, grilled oysters, tomato pie or hushpuppieskind of fried crab cakes.
The costs of this report were paid by Travel South, which exercised no right to inspect the content of the report.