We have just spent 2 terrific days in the 2nd oldest town in South Carolina. We were able to take a horse drawn tour wagon around historic Beaufort. Beautiful colonial homes, 300+ year old Live Oak Trees, Spanish moss hanging over the streets and sidewalks and enough history and famous old sayings and legends to entertain even the serious history buffs. Here are a few of the famous sayings that is believed to started right here in Beaufort. The Spanish moss that hangs everywhere is the very same thing you buy in the stores. Just microwave a bunch for 2 minutes or put it in a bag for and freeze it for 2 days which kills the little red bugs (chiggers) that live in it. Before anyone really knew about the bugs, it is told that people used the moss to stuff their mattresses and pillows and that's where the term "don't let the bed bugs bite" came from also Henry Ford was known to stuff the seats of the old model T's with the moss and that's where the phrase "there's a bug in every Ford" came from. Back in the pre-civil war days the slaves were required to whistle when bringing food from the cook house to the main house dining room to prove they were not eating the food as they walked. The whistling however, made the owners dogs come running and bark at them, so they carried little fried balls of corn meal in their pockets and fed them to the dogs and said "hush puppies" to quiet them. Back in the early 19th century there was an outbreak of yellow fever in the town and many slipped into comas the victims were not known if they were dead or alive, so they were buried with a string tied to their finger that was attached to a bell above ground, so if the people were to wake up, they would ring the bell and would be dug back up! Apparently that's where the sayings "dead ringer" and "graveyard shift" and "saved by the bell" came from. Several movies were partially filmed here among them were Forest Gump, Prince of Tides and Glory which meant that several Hollywood stars stayed in homes right here in Beaufort Tom Hanks, Sally Field and Barbara Streisand to name a few. One of the cute stories told is Barbara Streisand while staying here was "bothered" by the flying of local military planes and complained A General called her, apologized and said he "would see what he could do". In the middle of the night a couple of military jets buzzed over the home where she was staying which "irritated her and she complained again. The General that spoke with her said "The sound you heard was the sound of Freedom" and hung up. Beaufort County is home to the Marine Corps Air Training Station as well as the Marine Recruit depot on Parris Island where all female recruits and male recruits east of the Mississippi come for boot camp training. We attended the 6th Annual Soft Crab Festival in Port Royal a typical street festival with live music and some really good fried soft shell crabs apparently a spring delicacy here. I thought they were okay, but can't wait to try Maryland blue crabs soon. This is a very quaint little village which claims to be the 1st settlement of the "new world" dating 3 years older than St. Augustine, Fla. It also has the oldest public shrimp dock in South Carolina. Who knew! We can personally attest to the delicious shrimp that they catch as we picked some up at the Seafood market right on the water front! On Sunday the 19th we head out at 1st light to travel the ICW (Inter Coastal Waterway) on our way to Charleston (the oldest town in S.C.). We are ready with plenty of diesel in the tanks, a course plotted in the chartplotter with over 30 way points and our membership # for Boat US towing just in case we find ourselves with too much draft for the shoaling waters of "the ditch".