Our day to explore Beaufort started off with temperatures in the high 30s. We bundled up in layers and walked up to the ticket office to catch our 10:00 carriage tour of the historic district. We were informed that the tours would be operating on a one hour delay because of the cold. After chatting with the ticket agent for a while we walked through the square where workers were wrapping the central evergreen with colored lights. Down by the waterfront the carriages were being dressed with wreathes and ribbons for the day's tours. I met our horse Stucky, a semi-retired Amish plow horse from Missouri, who was getting fed and fitted with his jingle bell sash. We loaded into the carriage with two other couples and tour guide Liz. The entire downtown area is part of the National Historic Register so we were quickly being directed to look left and right and various grand houses. There was only one problem ... Stucky was not happy. Seems he did not like the jingle bells at all and was not bashful about letting everyone know. Liz made a quick call to the office and someone arrived shortly to remove the offending jingle bells. Happy with the quiet, Stucky graciously resumed our tour.
Most of the tour was spent in Beaufort's most prominent neighborhood, The Point. Historic houses lined the streets, all with large oaks and/or palms and Spanish moss. We also passed Tabernacle Baptist Church, notable for its parishioner-crafted stained glass windows and as the burial site of Robert Smalls. Smalls was born a slave, commandeered the Confederate gunboat Planter, and ultimately served nine years in Congress. His has a pretty incredible story.
Next to the Smalls monument will soon be a monument to Harriet Tubman, who was a nurse in Beaufort's contraband hospital, but is most famous for being the conductor of the Underground Railroad. Following the tour we returned to Crossroads for a quick lunch and to warm up. For the afternoon we did our own walking tour. We began by heading up Church Street toward a majestic white steeple we could see from the waterfront. The Parish Church of St. Helena was established in 1712 and the current building was constructed in 1724. I enjoy visiting old churches so we went inside where we were greeted by a docent who gave us a bit more history on this building that was also used as both a stable and hospital over the years. An interesting feature of this church is no stained glass windows, and no windows of any type behind the altar. The side walls are lined with windows of clear glass that look out upon 300-year old gravestones. The pipes dominated the sanctuary's rear balcony. The gravestones ranged from modest to opulent. This one caught my eye as Lt. Gen. Anderson fought in the Battle of Cold Harbor with the Army of Northern Virginia. A short distance down the street, the Baptist Church of Beaufort dominates the better part of a block.
Next stop was a return to the Arsenal that we visited yesterday. The Beaufort History Museum is located upstairs and was open today. The structure is being renovated and many of the windows are being replaced. The new panes staged in the courtyard captured a cool reflection of the 1852 building. The windows were purposely made to resemble those of a church with the reasoning that enemies would not attack a house of worship. It worked and the building stands today in its original form. Another excellent docent gave us her take on the 500 year history of the Beaufort District through wars, rice, indigo, cotton and lettuce. Believe it or not, Beaufort's nickname is "Lettuce City." Across the street is the National Park Service visitor's center. Fourteen display boards chronicle Beaufort's leading role in the Reconstruction Era. We headed back to the marina as the Christmas lights began to come on for the evening.
Another great sunset concluded our final day in Beaufort. There is so much still to see and do here that we'd love to stop here again. Early tomorrow morning we'll bring the dock lines back onboard and head to Savannah.
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