Beaufort, NC - Fourth of July weekend

Before I write about Beaufort, North Carolina, I want to post two photos that I found on my phone from our early morning departure from Little River, South Carolina.

Reflections at the marina

Sun peeking through the clouds as we made our way to the ocean on the ICW (fishing boats blasted past us)

Something we learned on our way south this past winter.....Beaufort, NC, is pronounced BO-fert.......Beaufort, SC, is pronounced BYEW-fert.  Heaven forbid you confuse the two.  You will be politely corrected.  But I have to say, Beaufort and Beaufort have been two of our most favorite towns.  They're quaint, very walkable, and graced with some pretty terrific restaurants.  So, we are hanging out in Beaufort (NC) for the holiday weekend and are really enjoying the surrounding area.

The port of Morehead City is busy, but not like Charleston or Savannah.  We spotted this NOAA boat on our way to Beaufort.  We spend A LOT of time analyzing weather and referencing the NOAA website.  We also subscribe to Chris Parker's weather forecasting and buoyweather.com.  Of all the experts we consult, Chris is usually right on target.

When we pulled into our slip at Beaufort Docks, David spotted a wild pony on the shore across the channel.  Carrot Island is part of the Rachel Carson Reserve where 30+ wild horses live.  We took a dinghy ride today and spotted a few.

Carrot Island is pretty sparse

Spotted a couple!

This one was knee deep in marsh muck

When I was going gaga over the horses, David's jaw dropped when he spotted Steve Dashew's Wind Horse in the channel.  He'd read about these boats and couldn't believe one was docked a mile away!

Wind Horse

The town has a small boardwalk, cute shops, and a lot of restaurants.  We're dividing our meals between cooking aboard and exploring different eateries (based on Yelp reviews).

Flowers and flags along the boardwalk...the town is ready for the Fourth

The flags along the arc, from top to bottom, spell B-E-A-U-F-O-R-T

Bikes for rent

Lots of historic homes...Beaufort is the third oldest town in North Carolina.

Zoomed in on a horse as seen from our slip at the marina

Nothing says summer like a gin and tonic :)  We haven't had gin on board for a long, LONG time.  Hello, summer!