Rebekah Hope | Memories and Melodies from the Mississippi Coast: Beaufort, South Carolina

It was May before my family and I finally decided what we were going to do for our summer vacation! Different ideas and plans had gotten thrown out the window, and we came to the conclusion that we just needed to go to South Carolina. My dad's family lives there, and we wanted to spend some time with them. We also decided that, while we were there, we should drive down to Beaufort. It's only a couple hours away from my dad's hometown, but we'd never taken the time to see it before! So we spent the weekend and greatly enjoyed sight-seeing around this beautiful old town.

The drive to Beaufort is down a long two-lane road under a canopy of trees. It was so peaceful.

We were so thankful to find a place to stay at MCAS Beaufort! We made our travel plans too late, and all the campgrounds were full, so we couldn't take our camper. There wasn't a graduation from Parris Island Marine recruit depot that weekend (which is rare), and we were able to stay only about 10 minutes away from downtown Beaufort. That was a blessing indeed.

The Beaufort Arsenal, which now houses a visitor's center.

The architecture in Beaufort is wonderful. Many of the old houses were in the process of being restored.

We spent some time wandering around the cemetery at St. Helena Episcopal Church. The gravestones date back to the Revolutionary War!

St. Helena's was used as a hospital during the Civil War, and the large granite slabs on top of the tombstones were used as operating tables.

The church wasn't open that morning, but we decided to come back a couple days later when it was. (See pictures below!) Meanwhile, we walked a few more blocks...

...and were delighted to see this! It's part of the historic Rhett House Inn, and was featured in the December 2010 issue of Southern Living!

I had wanted to see the Inn ever since I first read about it, and we had a wonderful time looking around the common areas on the main floor.
(We weren't able to see any rooms.)

Many movies have been filmed in Beaufort, and Mama remembered this location from "The Big Chill" in 1983.

Upon numerous recommendations, we stopped by The Chocolate Tree!

It was fun to see these giant chocolate Eagle, Globe, and Anchors - Beaufort is only a few miles away from Parris Island.

(See? They really are huge!)

I think this basket cost somewhere around $90?!

The chocolates there were sold for $17.99 a pound...so this box cost us around $11. Gracious. It was so good, though.

We went to a church in North Charleston that Sunday morning, and (long story short) ended up in downtown Charleston for lunch.
We had a delicious meal at Fleet Landing!

When in Charleston, one must get Shrimp and Grits.

We were right across from the Customs House!

When we were in Charleston for a couple days to sight see 4 years ago, it was in November and the weather was perfect for walking around town.
Not so much in July! I was glad we got to drive by St. Michael's Episcopal Church again, though.

We drove down and over to Edisto Island that Sunday afternoon as we made our way back to Beaufort. My grandparents used to have a timeshare condo on the island, and my parents remembered eating at The Old Post Office restaurant.

One of several beautiful old churches on the island.

On Monday morning, we went back to St. Helena's. Our tour guide was friendly and knowledgeable, and we were so encouraged to hear of how God is working in and through this congregation! His Word is proclaimed faithfully and lives are being changed, both in the church and in the community.

The man who was buried here was terrified of being buried alive, so he requested that he be buried in this structure with bread, water, and an axe! (He's still under there.)

We took a tour of the Verdier House (pronounced Ver-DEER) - it was quite interesting!
It's still in the process of restoration, but well worth $10 for the tour.