Downtown Beaufort is home to a vibrant collection of boutique shops, art galleries, top notch local restaurants, TONS of local history, funky shops, public parks, lots of spots to eat local and plenty of places to enjoy some people watching, too. While there are so many things to do, we grabbed 5 reasons to visit downtown Beaufort.
1. Downtown is Pretty as a Picture
With Beaufort being spared the torch during the Civil War, what you see is all original. Stately Antebellum homes join beautiful live oak trees dripping in Spanish moss overlooking the water and marshes lead into a downtown that is full of mixed architecture with stores, art galleries and restaurants lining the main thoroughfare. A huge bonus is no less than 5 public parks along the 3/4 mile stretch on Bay Street.
2. History on Every Downtown Corner
One of Beaufort’s most iconic landmarks, the Woods Memorial [swing] Bridge, looms at the intersection of Bay & Carteret Streets and it’s actually one of the less historic spots in downtown. Many buildings that we enjoy today were built in the early 1800s and some are even in use that were built way back in the 1700s. The entire downtown area is a National Historic District, so nearly everything you see has it’s own place in history.
3. A Well-Planned Beaufort Waterfront Park
Back in the 1970s, Beaufort Mayor Henry C. Chambers envisioned a waterfront park in downtown that had something to offer to everyone. Today, it’s one of the area’s most popular spots with a seawall the length of a few city blocks that gives everyone the chance to get close to the water. With the sound of creaky old bench swings ringing in the sea breeze, the park provides awesome views of the Beaufort River, the Woods Memorial Bridge, and even the popular Beaufort Sandbar.
4. Enjoy the Food When You Visit
Beaufort is synonymous with seafood and you’ll find some of the freshest local catch at any of the fantastic local restaurants you can visit in downtown Beaufort. Yes, they all use locally caught seafood, which is in abundance in Beaufort, thanks to our local fishermen. Enjoy shrimp & grits or Beaufort’s only seafood pizza at Panini’s on the Waterfront, try some Frogmore stew over at Plum’s, fried shrimp at Q on Bay or she crab soup down at Hemingway’s. Find more downtown seafood spots.
5. So Many Reasons to Celebrate
Beaufort loves a party. We’re a happy town that enjoys sharing a good time with our neighbors, and proof of that is the wealth of community festivals hosted each year that draw hundreds of thousands of visitors to downtown. In a little city with so much history and tradition, we celebrate everything from the water, to food and culture…that all contributes to making up the wonderful area that we call home.
