Beaufort "Knife and Forker"

That's what you call it when the project trip calls to mind a few good restaurants.  In the case of Beaufort, SC last week, the restaurants were definitely one of the highlights - I expect that I'll be able to compare and contrast with next month's trip to Barstow, CA (although I may be writing about In 'n' Out...I don't know off hand if they've got one).

On Monday night, after our first day of project work - site visits and preliminary interviews, we headed out to a place in Beaufort along the water front there - authentic place along the pier with shrimp boats docked right in front of it, suggesting, of course, they bring in their own.  I had the shrimp and grits, something I've heard about many times - it was very good.  I paired that up with a salad - I saw the rich sauce before I ordered it as another table's fare was delivered.

On Tuesday night, we went to a new place in Beaufort proper, I had the stew - another shrimp dish.  And on the last night in town, the group went to the club at Parris Island, for steak night.  Phew.

On that second night as we were walking around town, I was struck by how much the area reminded me of Chestertown, Maryland, with lower prices.  Here's a photo of the house I might choose if I was going to settle there...don't worry, there is no temptation.

Now, there was a cultural connection that I am able to post about today...actually, the final post will have a cultural element to it also, but this one is also historic in nature.  The area that MCAS Beaufort is built upon is actually pieced together out of several old plantations that were owned by families stretching back to the colonial era.

In fact, on Parris Island, they have a few archaeological sites that can be traced to Spanish explorations in the early to mid 1500's. 

It happened that one of the plantation owning families had their cemetery across the street from the base lodging, and easy walk for me before breakfast (you had to keep your eyes open though - there were some streams and ponds around, and I saw a gator in one).  The white stone in this cemetery marks a family member who served as a Major in the Revolutionary War.

A plaque nearby says the plantations had fallen into disrepair from wars and Reconstruction before first the Navy and then the Marines moved into the area beginning in the early 1900's. 

While we were taking care of some logistics at the gate on Monday, a couple was there working on getting their visitor credentials.  I overheard them talking about the trip they'd made up from Florida to do genealogical research - they wanted to visit this little cemetery and one other on the base over near the flight line.

As they were waiting on their pass, I showed them the big post map that was in the gate house and pointed out the cemeteries, since I'd already checked them out that morning.  Nice accessory to the business part of the trip, being able to help them out.

Tomorrow I have one final post about the Beaufort trip - as I mentioned above, there is a "cultural" aspect to it.  Remember, this was a Marines fighter base I was visiting.  The whole atmosphere is charged with history and tradition.