"Beautiful Beaufort" Top 5 Page for this destination Beaufort by grandmaR

Beaufort is a lovely little town, with a historic district right on the river within easy walking distance of the marina. It is also right on the ICW so we don't have to waste a lot of time getting to it.

However, in order to get from here to Charleston, it is quite a long hard day. We have to start really early because the Ladies Island Bridge just north of the marina has restricted opening hours and if we do not reach it before the restrictions start, we will not make it all the way to Charleston.

Parris Island from the water

Parris Island Marine Base is south of Beaufort. There used to be a military marina here, but it has silted in - with the 9 foot tides it would need to be deep so that boats would not be aground at high tide.

Next stop going south Thunderbolt GA.

When we went south in 2003, we went from Charleston to the Saint Mary's River in Florida, and we did the same coming north in 2004.

Our final visit to Beaufort was by car in February 2005.

Fuel dock north of town

In addition to Parris Island south of Beaufort, there is a marine air base north of the town. We see this fuel dock each time we come through here going down the river and speculate that it is connected with the marine base. It is a sign that we are approaching our destination or that we are on our way.

After the first time (fall 2000) when we by-passed Beaufort and went from Dataw (Datha) Island to Hilton Head, we've always stopped in Beaufort. The first time was in the spring of 2001.

After the spring 2001 trip north (when we ripped out the top of the staysail), we've always staged the trip on the south side of Charleston rather than trying to get all the way from Beaufort in one day. On the way down in the fall of 2001, we stopped at Ross Marina on Johns Island.

On March 24, 2002 we came up from Thunderbolt to Beaufort SC (47 sm). The ice cream place we liked was closed earlier than the times on the sign said. There was also a BIG thunderstorm while we were there. I was glad we were safely tied to the dock.

Coming back to Charleston, we were again aiming to get to Ross Marine. But we still have to leave early because of the bridge restriction.

Next stop going north - Johns Island and Charleston SC

• Pros:Lovely historic district near the waterfront
• Cons:Restricted bridge north of town
• In a nutshell:Beaufort pronounced as in Beautiful Beaufort