Beaufort, South Carolina
Location: Between Savannah and Charleston, slightly inland from South Carolina’s Atlantic Coast on the Intracoastal Waterway
Access: U.S. highways 21 and 278; South Carolina highway 170; Interstate 95; Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport (50 miles); Charleston International Airport (75 miles); Amtrak
Major Meeting Spaces: The Beaufort Inn, Best Western Sea Island Inn, Beaufort Holidaºy Inn and Suites, Beaufort Hilton Garden Suites
Hotel Rooms: 1,900+ hotel and inn rooms
Off-Site Venues: Port Royal Sound Foundation Maritime Center, St. Phillips Island, The Lyceum at Parris Island, Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park, Hunting Island State Park
Contact Info:
Visit Beaufort
843-525-8526
beaufortsc.org
Named “The South’s Best Small Town” multiple times by the readers of Southern Living, Beaufort, South Carolina, embraces its size with gusto.
“We don’t have the large convention space many other destinations may have,” said Rob Wells, executive director of Visit Beaufort. “But man, when we put on a show, we can do it well. Who wouldn’t want to come to the South’s best small town?”
And what a show it is. Surrounded by hundreds of miles of pristine marshes teeming with unusual flora and fauna, Beaufort lies in the South Carolina Lowcountry along the Intracoastal Waterway a few miles from the Atlantic Ocean. People of every ilk flock here, drawn by water, wildlife, sand and quality of light, while others come for fascinating history, luscious seafood, outdoor activities, an easily walkable downtown and, above all, natural beauty. Ancient live oaks draped with Spanish moss line its streets and create allées on its plantations. Days are often sunny and warm with brilliant sunsets.
“Your meetings can be outdoors almost any time of year,” said Linda Jeffries, director of sales for Visit Beaufort.
The second oldest town in the state, Beaufort began in 1711 on Port Royal Island, one of 200-plus islands making up Beaufort County. Too pretty to burn, this genteel destination was occupied by Northern troops during the Civil War, and stately mansions still abound. One of those, Tidalholme, an 1853 antebellum mansion in Beaufort’s historic residential section, was the filming location for “The Big Chill.”
With 500-plus years of history under its belt, the coastal town shows off its past on van tours, horsedrawn carriage tours, walking tours, movie tours, and Coastal Expeditions boat-based historic tours and ecological tours with dolphins frolicking beside the boats.
One of the nation’s oldest such structures, the Arsenal, originally built in 1798 and rebuilt in 1852, houses the Beaufort History Museum and Beaufort Visitors Center. Here visitors can learn the whole story of “Beautiful Beaufort by the Bay”.
“We’re very much an authentic Lowcountry destination,” Wells said. “The slower pace, the Americana feel to a downtown, all dripping with history, but without commercializing ticket sales for that experience.”
Major Meeting Hotels
Groups meeting in Beaufort can choose accommodations and conference space from a variety of historic inns or hotel chains. They can stay in multiple hotels downtown — all with free guest parking — and utilize Kelly Tours for transport to their meeting at the 97-room Beaufort Holiday Inn and Suites, which has 4,292 square feet of space, including a boardroom and hospitality suite.
With an island pink exterior, Beaufort Inn offers 48 rooms in its main building and surrounding cottages. Meeting space is in nearby Tabby Place, with 5,696 square feet indoors and a twinkle-lit 4,437-square-foot outdoor patio.
Off-Site Venues
Featuring stunning views of the Chechessee River, the Port Royal Sound Foundation Maritime Center has info on marsh critters and the Gullah Geechie culture; naturalist-led kayak tours through its 200,000 acres of salt marsh; happy-hour catamaran cruises; and a new 10,000-square-foot pavilion that seats 300.
Once a vacation home belonging to Ted Turner, St. Phillips Island is now part of Hunting Island State Park and can be rented for a small group. Coastal Expeditions can ferry attendees to its grounds.
Downtown on the Beaufort River, Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park has a rentable pavilion and lovely garden spaces for receptions and lunches.
Team-Building
Beaufort is teambuilding nirvana, with choices that include kayaking, hiking, charter fishing, stand up paddleboarding and more. Meeting attendees can bike past water and woods on the 14.1-mile rails-to-trails Spanish Moss Trail, admire marsh birds and shorebirds on a birding expedition, and beachcomb five miles of crystal sands at 5,000-acre Hunting Island State Park.
Beaufort is also a military town, home to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot. The depot features a golf course, rentable meeting space — the Lyceum — for up to 350 people, and a free, 10,000-square-foot museum full of Marine Corps history.
Teams can cap a competition with an oyster farm tour and an oyster roast.
Things To Do
The Pat Conroy Literary Center honors Beaufort’s beloved son, acclaimed author of such books as “The Prince of Tides” and “The Great Santini.” A docent-led tour highlights Conroy’s personal artifacts, such as his writing desk and the Great Santini’s flight jacket.
From there, it’s an easy stroll downtown to galleries, shops and waterfront restaurants. A Gullah storyteller — a descendant of slaves — can tell tales over a luncheon of Gullah dishes.
Pure outdoor immersion, Port Royal’s Cypress Wetlands features boardwalks, pathways, and an observation deck for up-close views of alligators and exotic birds. After a visit, groups can satiate seafood appetites at Fish Camp Restaurant.
