Looping NZ Style: A Day Trip to Beaufort and Hilton Head Island

Sometimes we don't make up our minds about the day's activities until it is almost too late to begin!

We did, however, manage to get ourselves together enough to get out the door and on the road by 10am. Because we only spent one night in Beaufort (pronounced Bew fort, in these parts...coz there is a Beaufort in North Carolina pronounced the French way!), we had decided to go back there by road and discover the Historic district. As it turned out, it was a good thing to do!:) The history is fascinating, in the South, and of course, we all know that Charleston is where the American Civil War started!! These parts have seen good and better times and some shockingly dreadful ones too. This is the heart of Slave Territory....therein lies a whole other story that is too painful for me to recount.

Beautiful homes along the waterfront...the ICW, to be exact. This one is on a prominent corner in the town of Beaufort. This town was once a very wealthy place, and had also seen such bad times as to be unimaginable.

Of course, now, the main street is a tourist mecca, and there were plenty of them around on Mother's Day...Sunday.

Again, old homes along the ICW (Background). These homes are now businesses/restaurants.

Along Bay Street there are the City Father's homes. We took a long walk and photographed so many of them.The trees everywhere are stunning...so huge, old and green. Without them, the heat is insufferable! seriously!

Magnolia Grandiflora in bloom everywhere. It is known as the Southern Magnolia in these parts.

This fence is one of the oldest in town.

The lovely town park, along the waterfront is a lovely feature of this small town. We ate at a restaurant on the park, under the shade of one of the large trees.

The Rail Bridge we managed to get under (30 ft) on our way into the marina on the river, here in Beaufort. These swings are all along the waterfront walk.

The restaurant where we ate is just to the right rear of this woman..you can just see the outdoor seating.

I hope you will take the time to read these...sorry for the shorting of the top!

The Rail Bridge over the ICW

Waterfront Park.

More history...

We decided at around 2pm, to go further south east to Hilton Head Island. We liked the look of it as were passing it on the ICW, but didn't dock there. We didn't take any photos there...It looked what it is...an expensive place to live...well manicured all along the highway, with country clubs, Golf and Yacht Clubs and planned communities. We have seen them all before, and aren't particularly impressed. Like I said, they all look a bit the same, after a while.

We came home in time (7pm) to cook the Mahimahi (Dolphin Fish) our friends had caught on Friday, and which we didn't want to freeze...I cooked all four pieces, eating two and putting the other in the fridge. It was intended for a Fish Pie!:)

It is pretty tiring, all this Tiki-touring! but we still went to bed at the usual hour...around 11pm....................................

Some more Beaufort images....

This canon is one of many along the waterfront.