Beaufort
The sun also rises here in Beaufort, and today's was the best one yet. My morning view is a bit more obstructed than the evening's, but when the colors are both rich and high in the sky, a little foreground clutter is forgivable. The day quickly turned beautiful with warm sunshine, clear sky, and still water. We unloaded the replacement solar panel from Barry's Escape and secured it along with the other two behind our cockpit ladder. With that little project complete, it was time to walk back into the Historic District for our self-guided walking tour.
Beaufort was settled by the British in 1709, but was first known as Fishtown (because of the fishing industry). It was later named Beaufort in honor of Henry Somerset, Duke of Beaufort. The Plan of Beaufort Towne, laid out in 1713, survives in a 12-block area which today is on the National Register of Historic Places. Our first stop was at the welcome center to pick up printed maps. The tour began literally out the door in the two-acre Beaufort Historic Site. The Old Jail (c. 1829) has 28-inch walls and was in use until 1954. The jailer and his family lived inside alongside the prisoners. The Carteret County Courthouse (c. 1796) is the oldest wood-frame courthouse in North Carolina. The brilliant colors of the afternoon, offered hints of April instead of January. The Apothecary & Doctor's Office (c. 1859) was said to be essentially unchanged in appearance over the years. Approximately 150 buildings have historic markers. We turned the corner and came to our destination. The Old Burying Ground is the top attaction. Barry opened up the map and we entered.
Twenty-eight gravesites were highlighted on the tour with short stories. What strikes me as most interesting about old cemeteries is the intricacies of the grave markers. All of the elaborate carvings and inscriptions were done by hand. Even if they were to be produced with today's technology, these memorials would still be impressive. One of the tour markers was not accompanied by a gravestone. The Crissie Wright Common Grave is the final resting place for the sailors who froze to death after the wreck of the Crissie Wright in January 1886. By far, the most "famous" gravesite is that of the "Girl in Barrel of Rum." A girl and her father were traveling back from London in the 1700s when the girl passed. Refusing to bury her at sea, the father bought an entire keg of rum and stored her body inside. When they arrived home, the girl was not removed from the keg, but the keg was buried with her still inside. To this day, folks make an odd pilgrimage to the gravesite to leave momentos in her honor.
Done with the cemetery, we walked up and down the gridwork of streets. Purvis Chapel (c. 1820) is Beaufort's oldest church in continuous use. The First Baptist Church steeple towered above all other buildings. Before long, we were back to Front Street and the waterfront. Our faces attempted to reflect the warmth of the afternoon. The face on the pansy did a much better job. Our final destination of the day was one I learned of on the Roadside America app. We had walked by this spot dozens of times and eaten at Clawson's several times without realizing there was a memorial marker right under our nose. The stone monument is placed in memory of Beaufort native Michael Smith who lost his life on January 28, 1986 when the space shuttle Challenger exploded. He was the pilot and his voice was the last one heard on the shuttle voice recorder, saying, "Uh-oh." And, yes, I remember where I was when that happened. In my First Year at UVA, I was at work downstairs in the Sports Information Office when the news came across the radio.
Tonight's sunset was another good one. We did not hear from the contractors today, but hope that was due to the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. All being equal though, today's no-jacket-required day in Beaufort was supremely superior to the blanket of white that covered our house in Richmond.
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