SUNDAY MAY 9TH

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

A clear, sunny morning. Ross returned the rental car and we were off for Beaufort, South Carolina. 

The water has become much more clear and the tidal currents have been running strong. We saw more dolphins today than I think we have total in the entire trip. They will often spot us and come over to us and race along up by the bow. We passed though one area that was filled with jellyfish. They looked like pink mushrooms floating under the surface.

Arrived at the Beaufort Downtown Marina. Got settled and decided to take a bike around to explore. 

Beaufort is a very scenic southern town established in 1711. It has one of the best natural harbors on the Atlantic coast. 

Our bike ride took us past the St. Helena’s Episcopal Church. We stopped and went in. It is a beautiful church founded in 1712 and built mostly with bricks that arrived in the U.S. as ballast in ships coming from England.  The brick wall that surrounds the cemetery and churchyard is also made of ballast bricks. The wall was used to keep wandering cattle out. 

During the Revolutionary War the British gutted the church and used it as a stables. The locals where horrified that the British would be so disrespectful of the Church of England. 

During the Civil War the church was once more gutted. The Union Army took 24 hours to take control of Beaufort, at which point it used St. Helena’s as a hospital to perform amputations. Since they didn’t have operating tables, they removed the tombstone/slabs on the crypts and laid them across pews for makeshift tables. After the war ended, the locals replaced the stones, but were not entirely certain which stone went where. I didn’t see any, but we were told that you can see slash marks on some of the stones from the amputation saws. With the total lack of sanitation and the insects, it’s amazing that anyone survived surgery. 

We don’t know which grave belong to the guy, but we read that there was doctor who was obsessed with worry about being buried alive. It did happen, especially during the yellow fever breakouts. He had a crypt built with a speaking tube so he could call out (if need be) and his friends agreed to place bread, water and an axe (so he could break his way out…..right) in the coffin with him.

We stopped downtown and purchased tickets to take a carriage ride in morning to learn more about the area.

I had phone calls from both John and Krista wishing me a happy Mothers Day. Ross and I both called our moms to wish them the same. It was a good Mothers Day, despite being away from home.