A daytrip to Pat Conroy’s Lowcountry

November 6, 2013
Hilton Head Island, S.C.
Hilton Head Island Motorcoach Resort



I first learned about Beaufort, South Carolina through reading one of our favorite authors. Pat Conroy.  An area called the Lowcountry, a geographic and cultural region located along South Carolina's coast, is the setting for most of his works: The Great Santini, Prince of Tides, and Lords of Discipline (based on his experience attending The Citadel, a well-known South Carolina military college in Charleston).  When we were in Charleston for the first time two years ago, I was reading one of his more recent novels, South of Broad, which takes place in Charleston. His writing made me feel an affinity for this part of the country long before ever seeing it.




Conroy now lives in Beaufort and is partially responsible for making it such a popular place to visit these days that apparently many tourists return to retire here.(it has made several “most livable small town” lists.) The town was founded in 1711, making it the second oldest settlement in South Carolina, after Charleston. Beaufort has a diverse history with the slave trade, rice, indigo, and sea cotton plantations, shipbuilding, a devastating hurricane, and a boom and bust textile industry as a result of the boll weevil. Another big influence in the area is the close proximity of three military bases at nearby Parris Island: the  Marine Corps recruit training Depot, Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS), and a Naval Hospital.



The South Carolina slave trade (with Charleston at the center) played a large role in the original settlement of the area. Many of these slaves came from West Africa where there was a similar rice-growing industry. The descendants of these slaves are known as Gullah, African Americans who live in the Lowcountry region of South Carolina and Georgia. The name Gullah is believed to come from a mispronunciation of Angola, one of the predominant countries of their origin. The Gullah heritage is an important part of the Lowcountry culture in terms of storytelling, cuisine, music, folk beliefs, crafts, farming and fishing. My favorites are the Gullah creole-based recipes and their sweetgrass baskets.




Beaufort is about an hour and a half drive from Hilton Head. We first drove through the historic part of town and then decided to head further out to Hunting Island another 16 miles to the seacoast. On the way there, I was reading a Southern Living article about Conroy which said his favorite place to take guests for local seafood was The Shrimp Shack, a little place out in the country which is famous for its chowders and shrimp burgers.



There were several cars parked out behind the shack just as the article described, so we thought we had a winner. We were wrong.  The food was absolutely terrible and the place was dirty. We both ordered shrimp burgers and a tomato-based chowder which was almost inedible. I had the feeling we might even get sick after eating there, but thankfully that did not happen. Either Conroy has terrible taste in food or the management has changed. Do not go there!  Beaufort is full of good restaurants and even the little town of St. Helena Island just down the road has at least two restaurants that are supposed to be good: Gullah Grub and Sweetgrass Cafe.



On to Hunting Island. We originally had reservations to stay here, but heard that our site may have been a problem in terms of low clearance and tree branch issues. The park is pretty remote which is part of the draw, to be camping at a natural and more untamed seashore. It is a beautiful place in a haunting sort of way with fallen trees in the water creating a rugged-looking beachfront.



Even the sites have a more natural feel as they are not all lined up in a row; instead, they are tucked into what appears to be a random pattern going in different directions. We saw mostly tents and small trailers, but there were a few motorhomes wedged into various sites. 




The best sites were definitely the ones near the beach front (numbers 1-86). Our site would have been #197 which is way back in the forest. In driving to this loop of the campground, we came upon a motorhome trying to get into a site in the same area with his toad still attached. (Not a good idea at all). While trying to maneuver into the site, he came within inches of two trees smashing his awning up against one of them. Aside from the trees on his right, he would not have been able to clear the overhanging branches either.



Here is a close-up of the awning pressed up against the tree. Ouch.



His wife had been guiding him in and this outcome made her pretty upset. Vic offered to help guide him out of this predicament.  First he unhitched his car, then Vic had him back out every so slowly to avoid doing more damage. The driver said he just felt sick to his stomach. I would too. We have had our closest calls in state parks and have also run into trouble with our reserved sites being unfit for our MH due to low branches or unlevel grounds. We have also had some fabulous sites at state parks. Ideally, it pays to do some firsthand research.  Watching this incident, however, confirmed our decision to not stay at this park unless we had one of these more open beachfront sites.



We did like the beach and especially the freedom the dogs would have there. This kind of a stay just requires more of a camping state of mind by bringing plenty of food, firewood, and bug spray. We tend to be drawn to less remote camping with urban conveniences nearby and the luxury of full hook-ups—although a good campfire can trump all those amenities for me.





Our main plan for the afternoon was to spend time in Beaufort walking around the waterfront and the historic downtown area. The park along the water was quite lovely complete with swings, rocking chairs, and a beautifully landscaped picnic area with an outdoor stage.





We also enjoyed checking out the marina with its variety of pleasure boats, sailboats, fishing charters, and shrimp boats. It looks like Beaufort has a thriving waterfront industry. 





Somewhat to our surprise, the shops downtown were pretty high-end, especially the art galleries, jewelry stores, and clothing shops. There must be a fair amount of money (coming from Charleston?) in these parts. It seemed like the split was between the wealthy and the poor, with not much in-between.  Perhaps an over-generalization on my part. . . .





Appreciating the Lowcountry takes a different kind of sensibility. Conroy says many people who visit him think the area behind his home is ugly at low tide, but he describes it this way: “It's when small animals come out to eat. Low tide is for the little creatures. But they have to be quick. High tide comes in with a rush, roaring up the creek. It's simply amazing to watch nature in action. The drama of how it all unfolds is the history of life and the sea.”



Dusk was coming on as we took a second walk along the waterfront. Our little daytrip gave us an appreciation for the lifestyle of this area with the wildness of the seashore to explore at the state park, the abundance of seafood to enjoy in local eateries (just NOT the Shrimp Shack!), and the allure of living life at a slower pace.