Perfect Day on the Great Loop

Beaufort, SC

Bill replaced the bilge pump which we were starting to have problems with. Lucky we had a spare! We have spares of everything...and enough tools on board to be a mechanics shop.

I spent hours walking around town exploring. Bill wasn't interested in "old stuff". He thought he had the better day hanging out on the boat fixing stuff.

Spent two nights here. Really cute town. Tons of historic buildings, quaint, shops, restaurants, nice marina.

Talk about timing: the famous New York Best Seller author Pat Connor who grew up and lives here (author of the Great Santini and the Prince of Tides) died 2 days before we got here and the whole talk of the town was his funeral.

Lots of movies have been flimed here: Prince of Tides, Forest Gump, The Big Chill, Legend of Baggar Vance, etc.

Episcopal church from the 1707. The docent gave me a private narrated 1 hour tour - turns out she and her husband did the Loop 4 years ago then relocated her from Wisconsin. A number of people still attend this church that are descendants of original members several hundred yers ago. Many famous people buried in graveyard here- constitutions signers, civil wars generals, ets. It gives you a real sense of mortality.

So...the difference between a graveyard and a cemetary is?.....The graveyard is attached to the church. I am learning so much trivia!

Turns out our school history books are wrong! Shards of pottery discoved here found Santa Elena which is the first established town in 1512 (200 homes and was there for 20 years) . It is NOT

St. Augustine or Jamestown as our history books say. They are in the process of changing history books now.

-Had docktails twice with a Canadian couple who had been triyng to finish the Loop for 34 years. That's got to be the record finishing time. (Duirng that time however they've been all over the world including spending 4 years in France doing the canal system in a different boat). Gave us some great ideas!

Lots of mansions still standing from the early 1800's as this was a big, important shipping place back then. I was in "mansion heaven" as Bill would say.

When the Civil War happened the townspeople fled so the Union army just took over and didn't destroy and burn it down like they did many other towns