Beautiful Beaufort

Along the way:

We've sen a hippo and a gorilla in yards along the waterway.  Now this:

The channel is sometimes pretty narrow!

The intracoastal runs through Camp Lejeune, a marine base:

We didn't see any activity, but could hear tank or artillery fire.  A target:

This range tower made John nostalgic for the tank range at Camp Grayling:

Along our route today, we passed a small sailboat tied to an intracoastal marker.  Its cabin was open but there didn't appear to be anyone aboard.  Because of wind direction, it was right in the ICW.  We called the coast guard and saw one of their boats head that way soon after.  Approaching Beaufort:

Now, dear readers, for those of you who remember we stayed at Beaufort a while ago some clarification is in order.  We are now in Beaufort (pronounced bo-fert), North Carolina.  The other "beautiful Beaufort" (bue-fert)  is in South Carolina.  This one is also charming.  We went to the North Carolina Maritime Museum.  It is very nice.  This is a model based on the pirate Blackbeard's Queen Anne's Revenge, which was wrecked just outside the Beaufort Inlet.

Across the street they build and restore boats:

The local historical society bought a double decker bus from London, had the roof removed so the top deck is open, and use it for tours:

There are many beautiful old houses and live oaks:

 

This shotgun house was a surprise:

We saw horses on one of the islands.  Islands all along the East Coast have horses on them-some left behind when property owners moved or died, and some believed to have made their way ashore from early Spanish shipwrecks.

After our tour, we visited the Old Burying Ground.  The historic society has a brochure, like the historic building walking tours we like to do, but this visit is to a cemetery established in 1709 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  Most of the graves face east so the residents will be facing the sun on "Judgement Morn".

According to the brochure, in the 1700's this little girl went to England with her father, who promised her mother that he'd bring her home.  When she died on the trip home, instead of a burial at sea he bought a case of rum to preserve her body so he could keep his promise to return her to Beaufort.

Mary Frances at Beaufort.  The boat behind us to the right in the picture is Francine and Wayne's "My Way" and the one to the left is Mary and John's "Passport".