A few years ago, after coming out of a five year stretch of dealing with our daughter’s PFAPA periodic fever condition, my husband, Heath and I realized we hadn’t been anywhere just the two of us in six years. The PFAPA kept us home, unable to leave our girls with anyone for fear they would spike a fever and end up in the ER as they so frequently did. (For more information on that, you can find my blog about PFAPA and what it was like to be the parent of not one, but two children diagnosed with it here:
https://audreyherron.com/blog/tag/PFAPA
After two successful surgeries, our girls went from a flare ever 2 weeks to only a few a year…so we felt it was time we made “us” a priority for a few days to reconnect after what had been a very difficult five years for us. We picked Beaufort, South Carolina…we were looking for a place to try to remember how to relax….just sit on a porch and read, or take a stroll down the block. Beaufort was perfect….and we loved it so much, we’ve returned twice more. This past June 3 was our 15 year anniversary, and we went back to The Cuthbert House Inn (where we’ve stayed each time). We loved the hospitality the Inn Keepers, Ed and Connie provide and their gourmet French breakfasts are amazing!
The view from our bed and breakfast was stunning….we sat on the porch every day and watched the sailboats.
Beaufort Kayak Tours is amazing—we’ve been out with them the last two times we’ve been to Beaufort. This time, we went on their Dolphin Ecology tour. (And I elected to have my own kayak this time….last time we went tandem, and I got hit in the head with Heath’s paddle one too many times…;-) ) We wound our way through the narrow marsh trails, and at one point we stopped and Jim educated us about some local dolphins. While he was telling us about them, I noticed the water all of the sudden got very still…and where we had been slowly bobbing forward, we stopped and slowly began bobbing backward. The tide literally changed while we were sitting on the water and it was such a neat thing to experience! After we made our way to the open water, we were rewarded with seeing several dolphins swimming around our group of kayaks! Such an amazing experience! If you are ever in Beaufort, you have to go out with Jim and Terri. Their link is below!
One thing Heath and I haven’t done before was walk the Old Point Neighborhood. It was a quiet corner near Bay Street and wow were the historical homes beautiful! Live Oaks with spanish moss trailing from their branches lined the street, and old hitching posts and carriage steps could still be found in front of a few of the houses. We also went on a ghost tour in the evening (We love hearing the stories of the city) and listened to some interesting stories of some of the homes in the Old Point Neighborhood…including Pinky, the ghost that haunts the famous Beaufort “Castle” grounds.
Another day, Heath and I went out on the barrier islands and followed some trails for some beautiful views! We love hiking and exploring—and this area didn’t disappoint!
The Chapel of Light and Sheldon Church ruins were a must for me to photograph…I’m a huge fan of history and to see the ruins of these churches and think about the people who worshipped there was a pretty amazing glimpse into the past.
Bay Street is always fun to explore….the restaurants are amazing and I loved seeing some literary references….the Nevermore Book Shop and the Scout sweet tea bar was pretty neat!!
I’m hoping we can return to this special place next year for our anniversary…it’s definitely become our favorite getaway spot.
