By Cherimie Crane Weatherford
Being in the new community arena of real estate, I often get the ‘why Beaufort’ question. Obviously, my instinctual reaction is one of disdain and contempt as if everyone with a freckle or a pulse should know the countless reasons to live by the sea. Withholding my unrequited flare for the sarcastic, I do my very best to answer without prejudice. Keeping it as simple and poignant as possible, I share some of the most basic of why’s. Having lived in the biggest of cities to the smallest of towns, I speak confidently in comparative terms.
First, there is the water. A calming ebb and flow no matter the day, no matter the situation and no matter the company, the water delicately dances to and fro with no discrimination. It flows just as gently for the monetarily challenged as it does for the more economically comfortable. It cares not your political disposition, your background or your address. It nourishes our town, rinses clean the sediment and welcomes solitary debate. Never underestimate a population that draws strength from a natural ebb and flow.
Mention is often made of our seemingly limited egress. It is true many of our roads have two lanes. While the rest of the world highways and freeways, we find ways to slow down. Traffic jam consists of glimpses of sailboats, tug boats, shrimp boats and your neighbor’s boat doing that which we all secretly crave. Political conversations at length, won’t change the simple scenario that possibly our roads suit the lay of our land quite well. Part of our marsh side mystique is the ability to travel without four wheels. When surrounded by Mother Nature’s intricate interstate, travel is both subjective and liberating.
I have found that home seekers from all over search Beaufort for that certain something. Often I watch them scale down their mental checklist deciding if our small town measures up. Shopping, entertainment, health and the menu of modern “must haves” is as predictable as sand gnats in the summer. Their cars, purses and pockets are filled with printed accolades touting our area as one of America’s greatest small towns. Will they be happy? Can they see themselves living in beautiful Beaufort by the Sea? Travel magazines, retirement pamphlets and tourism treasures, although polished and precise, won’t come close. Unless they choose to call our quirky little town home, they may never know that we are connected by more than just a few bridges.
Countless clichés arise depicting the life of our small town. Yes, everyone knows everyone even if by accident. We live in a fishbowl, a glass house. Not much can be done, said or thought without traveling faster and with more power than the common cold. Cheering for the wrong football team can cause long term rifts just as cheering for the right football team can cause long term hangovers. Friendships span the test of time, the test of proximity and the test of Water Festival. When one of our own, has their world shaken more knees are bent and prayers raised than any month of Sundays combined. The ties that bind, bind strongly and without fail.
Over the next few months my office will house many conversations, comparisons and collective compromises. Our town will greet travelers, visitors and future residents with our infamous southern charm and grace. Many will dine in our waterside restaurants, tour our historic streets and shop in our small businesses; however, a few will hear the unspoken, feel the unpublished and love the untainted just enough to call Beaufort home. Just as many of us have already done. Happy Springtime beautiful Beaufort by the Sea.
Cherimie Crane Weatherford, owner of SugarBelle boutique, Celadon Real Estate Broker and observer of all things momentous and mundane lives on Lady’s Island with her golfing husband, dancing toddler and lounging dogs.
