Flickavoyages: November 25. 2014

Woke to clearing skies, moderate winds, 46 degrees. Waited until slack tide then drove up to the fuel dock to top off, then to a slip where we pulled in for the next two days to visit Beaufort, SC – a small town chocked full of historical sites and stories. One of the more colorful is that Black Beard the pirate - one Edward Teach who hung out in Beaufort. His girl friend was Elizabeth who never married Edward but after his demise was married 7 times before she was 24 - the husbands kept disappearing.

I was lucky to discover that two of my VMI Brother Rats were in the area – Gregory Scott Kinsey and Ned Perrot and his lovely wife Florence. Scott and Ned are both Virginia boys. Scott hails from Salem and Ned from Lynchburg. Florence is from The Plains and attended Stuart Hall.

These are very fine folk. Scott has been a professional musician all his working life, having pursued his dream in Nashville and other places. He is an accomplished song writer and a luthier – a builder of musical instruments. He has been based in Beaufort pretty much since graduation from VMI. Ned is a lawyer and farmer. He and Florence still live in Lynchburg but they love the SC shore so much years ago they bought a place in Edisto and go there often.

The Downtown Marina was full of boats, both sail and motor – many pleasure trawlers and many headed south for the season. The good folks there provided a courtesy car for guests so we were able to go uptown to the Be-Lo Store for provisions.

Scott met us in the late morning and hauled us out to a hardware store for other stuff and we had a delightful lunch with Ned and Florence. They were all very gracious and helpful.

Scott and the Other Guy

We capped of a delightful day by taking a horse drawn carriage through old Beaufort. Our tour guide was this fantastic woman who talked nonstop about Beaufort history. Beaufort is filled with historical homes and sites. They take their preservation very seriously. Home owners in the historic areas must maintain their properties to the highest standards and historically accurate. Must drive a libertarian (which I am not) up the wall crazy.