Just a few more days of summer left.
We’ve had a busy one (as you can tell from our less than frequent posts), but we’re looking forward to our favorite time of year in Beaufort.
From late September into October and November the crowds thin, the prices come down a bit, the weather is often wonderful, the water warm, the fishing great…what else can we say?!
Note the clear weather and the shorts in the photo…that’s the second weekend of November, 2012!
Fall is simply one of the best times to visit Beaufort.
But…there’s always a but.
What happens if you can’t spend as much time as you’d like in Beaufort?
The Problem: you desperately need to be in Beaufort, to soak up some of that wonderful Beaufort vibe, to enjoy some of that amazing Beaufort food and drink, to paddle Taylor’s Creek, or to just stroll along the boardwalk and daydream about setting sail in one of those boats that fill the town docks.
But, it’s going to be weeks or months before you can make it to Beaufort again.
What do you do?
Many of our Bringing Home Beaufort readers and followers are fortunate enough to live in Beaufort. And while we do not, we are fortunate enough to visit often and dedicate a good bit of our time to writing about, talking about, and promoting Beaufort (in addition to traveling to other wonderful places through Southern Girl Travel).
We also know that many of our readers and followers do not live in Beaufort, but love it just the same, and would very much like to spent more time there.
They are stuck with the problem we just outlined.
What do we do when we cannot get down to Beaufort as often as we like?
How do we solve the problem?
We find ways to bring what we enjoy about Beaufort to our house.
We bring home Beaufort!
Doing this creates at least a little of that wonderful Beaufort “vibe” that we so enjoy.
Better still, it’s easy and inexpensive!
Here’s 10 of the things we do to make sure we’re Bringing Home Beaufort…in no particular order:
1. Take in a Sunset
Beaufort has some of the best sunsets along the North Carolina coast.
The sun seems to track directly over Front Street. The view from the Boardwalk can be amazing, as it can from a few other spots around town – the lower deck at the Rhum Bar and the Widow’s Walk at the Inlet Inn are two of our favorites.
It’s hard not to compare every sunset we see to a Beaufort sunset. That said, when we’re missing Beaufort, we make sure to check out the sunset wherever we are and channel a little of those wonderful Beaufort sunsets.
2. Eat Great Food
Great food has steadily become one of our favorite reasons to visit Beaufort.
The seafood at Beaufort’s beast restaurants tastes like it just came out of the water.
If you live any distance inland it can be kind of hard to find something comparable, but with a little creativity and persistence you can put together some dishes that will remind you a little of those Beaufort favorites.
One good way to bring home some tastes of Beaufort is by finding a local community-supported fishery outlet. These are organizations that connect fishermen along the coast with consumers inland.
The North Carolina regional farmers markets are also great sources for fresh seafood.
Frying up some soft shell crab at home!
We love making occasional trips to the Raleigh Farmers Market to grab some fresh seafood and to stock up on frozen soft shell crab from our favorite, Locals Seafood.
Almost like being in Beaufort!
3. Listen to the Right Music
Nearly every night from late spring to early fall, you can catch live music somewhere in Beaufort. If not live, many of the restaurants and bars will have a mix of music playing that may be very particular to that place or to Beaufort in general.
Some years ago we started paying attention to the music we were hearing in Beaufort and making some notes so we could remember.
We started working those songs into the music we listened to regularly, and ultimately, we came up with several playlists that quickly put us in a Beaufort frame of mind.
One of our favorite Beaufort songs of all time is one that we seem to hear pretty regularly at the Rhum Bar – Drop, Baby, Drop by Sean Na’auao…it contains the line “I love you like a mango”.
How could you not smile and immediately be in a good mood after hearing such a line?
Also, we utilize those favorite songs that might have nothing to do with Beaufort, but might be part of your family’s traveling music.
At some point in years past, we happened to be listening to Meat Loaf’s Paradise by the Dashboard Light when driving into Morehead City headed for Beaufort. It’s become a tradition for us to listen to it every time we drive into Morehead on 70 headed for Beaufort. While the song is a tad risque, it’s vague enough (a more innocent time, the 1970s – sounds funny now doesn’t it?) that the kids don’t have any idea exactly what Meat Loaf is talking about and we all sing it at the top of our lungs.
I can’t listen to that song without thinking about Carteret County. Just hearing it puts me in a Beaufort frame of mind.
Here’s just a few more from our Beaufort playlist:
- No Woman No Cry – Bob Marley
- I’m Yours – Jason Mraz
- Better Together – Jack Johnson
- Come Monday – Jimmy Buffet
- Take Me Home Country Roads (the Jamaican version) – Toots and the Maytals
- Pulling Mussels from the Shell – Squeeze
- Sundown – Gordon Lightfoot
- Margaritaville – Jimmy Buffet
- Gimme Shelter – Rolling Stones
Bring some Beaufort home by spinning some of those tunes that remind you of being in Beaufort!
4. Drink the Right Drinks
Excellent drinks, wines, beers, spirits, are part of a good life and one of the many things we love about Beaufort.
It’s an eclectic mix of libations that remind us of Beaufort, and they tend to be connected with specific places throughout town. Here’s a list of a few:
- Bloody Mary’s at the Boardwalk Cafe with the breakfast bar on Saturday mornings
- Gin and tonics at Queen Anne’s Revenge
- Splits of Kenwood sparkling wine at Blue Moon Bistro
- Cans of Bud Light aboard the Lookout
- Ice cold bottles of Rolling Rock at the Dockhouse
- Pabst Blue Ribbon at Backstreet and the Royal James
That’s quite a collection, but when we really want to Bring Beaufort Home, we fall back on our favorites from the Rhum Bar….the Stillwater Storm and the Painkiller. They both taste wonderful, we generally have them only in Beaufort, and they’re easy to make.
The Stillwater Storm is a variation on the national cocktail of Bermuda, the Dark and Stormy. It’s a mix of Mount Gay Rum from Barbados and Saranac Ginger Beer. The Painkiller is a mix of any decent rum, pineapple juice, and cream of coconut mixed with ice – I believe they use Pressler’s Rum at the Rhum Bar.
A Stillwater Storm in our kitchen!
We can make one of each and head into the back yard to catch a sunset…play a little Drop Baby Drop, close our eyes, and we’re in Beaufort.
5. Go Fishing!
Beaufort is nothing if not connected to the sea and to fishing. Remember the old name for the area, Fish Towne?
Whether we’re fishing Cape Lookout, the dock at Grayden Paul Park, or the deserted beaches of Shackleford Banks, wetting a hook puts us in a Beaufort frame of mind.
There’s a lake very near our house that is perfect for fishing. We try to take the family often. It always channels a little Beaufort for us!
Take a kid fishing!
6. Go Paddling!
Paddling Taylor’s Creek in a kayak or on a standup paddleboard is always a great way to spend a Beaufort afternoon – actually, I prefer a paddleboard in the early mornings! Beaufort Inlet Watersports on the east end of the docks is easy to work with and inexpensive. Paddling the creek is great and paddling anywhere reminds us of Beaufort.
We like to Bring Home some Beaufort by kayaking at the same lake, close to home, where we fish. It always puts us in a Carteret County frame of mind.
7. Dress a little Preppy/Nautical!
If you are a regular Bringing Home Beaufort follower, you may have checked out our Bringing Home Beaufort Tumblr site.
Now, tumblr is fun, and it is young.
Fashion goes hand in hand with travel on Tumblr and many of our Bringing Home Beaufort Tumblr followers have preppy fashion sites. A stroll along the store fronts of Front Street will give you a glimpse into that world of preppy and nautical fashion.
If you are looking to get into a relaxed Beaufort mood, try on a pair of Nantucket Reds, a polo, some Lilly, Jack Rodgers, James Keil Patrick, grab a Stillwater Storm, put on some Drop, Baby Drop and have a nice at-home Beaufort evening.
I’m particularly fond of the venerable fish belt. There are a number of brands and various price points.
8. Take Tons of Photos
When you are in Beaufort, take lots and lots of photos that you can enjoy when you’re not in town. Beaufort is a fertile ground for great pictures. Simply standing along Taylor’s Creek can afford some great shots, especially if you can catch some of the wild horses of the Rachel Carson Reserve foraging along Carrot Island or Town Marsh.
9. Enjoy the Beaufort online world
We have a number of great Beaufort websites now days of the stand alone variety like Bringing Home Beaufort, blogger free sites, and a number of great social media outlets – the greatest number being on Facebook.
Subscribe, like, or follow them all and your inboxes and feeds will keep you on top of everything Beaufort. In fact, with our modern connectivity, you can be as well informed on happenings in Beaufort as any citizen and resident of the town. That’s a particularly cheap way to Bring Home Beaufort.
10. Books on Beaufort
There are a number of good books on Beaufort and eastern North Carolina available. Keeping a few available around your house is a great way to connect with Beaufort. Mary Warshaw’s Porchscapes is on our coffee table right now. It’s a great exploration of the built environment and history of Beaufort focusing on the wonderful front porches of the historic homes around town. It’s a great choice for bringing home a little Beaufort, and I always learn something new about Beaufort’s history when I spend time with the book.
Another beautiful fall day from November 2012!
Over the fall and winter this year, we’re going to be featuring a little more detail on how to bring home Beaufort!
More to come…
And never forget to:
Leave a Reply