Beaufort, SC May 10,11

Left Charleston in a van, avoiding the gators/gunfire/route 17 ride and arrived at Spanish moss trail by 10.30.  Driving does have advantages.  Rode down to Port Royal, and out on the boardwalk looking out over the river.  Pretty.  Then cycled over to Parris Island (usmc training grounds) but was denied entry to the base/museum.  Back up to Beaufort for an NPS walk of reconstruction historic site.  Beautiful mansions (built by plantation owners, then bought by slaves when planters abandoned Beaufort during the civil war) and live oaks.  Staying at another hotel I'd never pay for myself, the Beaufort inn, and had slowboil with stories for dinner.  Love the lowcountry here.  Perfect weather, 22 miles.

Wednesday was the longest day of the trip, over to St Helena Island.  Started out with the crew, waiting to get over the drawbridge then out 21 to nice some nice backroads.  Very cool to ride under the live oaks, with the Spanish moss all over them.  There is a gravitas to these trees, some of which are 500+ years old.  Rode past the ruined Chapel of Ease (was easier to build it on the island, as getting back to Beaufort was an ordeal in the old days) out to Fort Fremont.  The island was filled with plantations in the 1800s and when the planters left during the civil war, the slaves landed up staying - they are the Gullah people and still have some of their African customs and language. Had lunch at the circa 1795 "big house" of the Seaside/Fripp plantation- nice, but still a little creepy, then explored the Penn Center - one of the schools setup as part of the reconstruction.  Tacked on some extra miles out to Hunting island, then back to Beaufort for another walking tour of parts I hadn't seen before.  Got me psyched to see some of the films made here in town - Forrest Gump,Prince of Tides, Big Chill, Great Santini.  53 miles with 300 feet of vertical.        

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