May 8, Day 317 – In Port Royal

We woke early this morning, had breakfast and then Gerry dove into the bilge to perform his engine oil change. He loves this job !!! Linda tried to stay out of the way. Once he had everything out there’s no going back and forth between the galley and the cabin. She did perform some perfunctory duties like finding more containers to put the old oil in, getting out the carts and boxes to put the old oil in for transport to the oil disposal area, and putting the new oil within his easy reach. By 11:00 or so the job was done. This will last us until we get home.

After finishing our chores we cleaned up, called a taxi and went into Beaufort for the day. We walked the main streets, had lunch, took a carriage ride, strolled the riverwalk area, shopped a bit and then finished off with dinner. It was incredibly hot and humid today. Probably the most miserable day, heat wise, we’ve had on the trip. We need to head farther north.

Back at the boat we got a real surprise. A phone call from the gang of Second Star and, with them were Carole and Michel from Emotion 3 -- our Canadian friends we traveled with from Lake Michigan all the way to the Big Bend area of Florida. They were all in Fernandina Beach. Hopefully we will see Emotion 3 along the way some where. Later we did a few odds and ends, watched a little TV and then off to bed. We plan on leaving first thing in the morning. Destination: unknown – wherever we make it to.

This is the Beaufort riverwalk area. Very nicely landscaped with lots of places to stroll and sit.

Another shot of the riverwalk area

Here's Gerry walking beside the river. Behind him a small cruise boat like the one we passed the other day. We were on the carriage tour with several people from the ship. They were traveling from Charleston to Jacksonville on the ICW.

Linda enjoying one of the swings along the riverfront

This is the Beaufort City Marina -- we recognized a couple of boats at the docks

We had lunch at this little restaurant, Luthers. It was very good.

We went on a carriage ride through the historical area. Here's the carriage and our trusty horse, Pecos.

Our tour guide, Walter Gay, was very knowledgeable. He has lived in Beaufort his entire life.

There are many old churches in Beaufort. This is the Parish Church of St. Helena built in 1712.

... and this is the First African Baptist Church

We saw many antebellum homes -- this one is for sale for 2.5 million

More of the historical homes

This is the "hanging tree" - used centuries ago to hang people.

This is an old oak tree where the branches have grown so they actually touch the ground. When this happens they are called Angel Oaks and are said to have healing powers.