The End of Summer

We left summer behind when we drove away from our vacation spot, Emerald Isle, NC, and now it is autumn! But I wanted to share with you our last taste of summer living. We had the most perfect weather imaginable and spent every single day on the beach except for one, when we visited Beaufort, NC, which was a few towns away. This year my mom joined us and we had a great time. Unfortunately, Sophia was a little under the weather and reacted badly to her medication, but despite that, it was still a wonderful getaway from the normal grind.

This was our daily “commute” to the beach:

These next three images I love. The rippling water, the moon, and the reflected sky in the surf.

I especially loved some early morning time by myself on the beach.

One day was spent in Beaufort visiting the historic sites, of which there are many. The town is picturesque and quaint. First, we enjoyed Beaufort’s Maritime Museum. The kids did a scavenger hunt provided by museum staff and we enjoyed looking at the artifacts from the wreckage of Blackbeard’s Queen Anne’s Revenge.

The highlight of Beaufort was the “Old Burying Ground.” The site takes up almost a whole block and is flanked on four corners by four different churches. It holds much history and some crazy stories. Take the story of Nancy Mannery French (1821-1886), taken from the pamphlet we got from the visitor’s center:

“Nancy  loved Charles French, her tutor. Her father opposed the romance. Charles went away to seek his fortune and vowed to return for Nancy. He went to the territory of Arizona and became a chief justice. The postmaster of Beaufort, a friend of Nancy’s father, intercepted the correspondence between the two. His conscience drove him, before his death, to confess to Nancy what he had done. As an old man, Charles still not able to forget Nancy, returned to Beaufort and found her, whose love had never faltered, dying of “consumption”. The couple married and a few weeks later Nancy died.”

Below left is the resting place of a little girl who died at sea. Her father couldn’t bear to leave her body behind, but brought her home to her mother in a barrel of rum, in which she is buried.

Below right had no details in the pamphlet, but upon reading the headstones, it broke my heart to see the five children of Caroline Jones buried beside each other in a neat row. All had died four years old and under. It seems perhaps they had no children that lived past the age of four, unless they are buried else where.

We drove by the “Hammock House” which is a private home, so it cannot be toured. However, it’s the oldest known house in Beaufort and supposedly Blackbeard may have spent some time there.

Josh and I also got a date night out, thanks to my mom! We went to Beaufort and checked out the shops and enjoyed looking at the boats and water. We ate an amazingly delicious meal at Old Salt. They took simple ingredients and made them scrumptious! We started off with clams in broth, bacon, and beer. Oh yum! Then we had simple salad with house blue cheese dressing that was delish. I had pulled-pork BBQ tacos topped with cole slaw, fries, and their house “Old Salt sauce.” I wish I could have bought some of that sauce home with me! I don’t often wax eloquent on fries either, but their brined fries dipped in that sauce was to die for! We finished off the meal with pound cake drizzled with a raspberry sauce, whipped cream, and topped with more fruit. If you’re ever in Beaufort, you must eat there!

Next week I’ll be sharing our family pictures we took one evening on the beach!