YEMASSEE, SC Day 2.  We looked at the calendar on the fridge this morning, which had counted down to Nov 15th, one week until Thanksgiving.  Tomorrow we leave for home.

How Time Flies

It was a very messy and cold overcast morning as we left to explore the areas of Yemassee and Beaufort.  Puddles of standing water and mud were everywhere in the campground. 

Cold, Overcast, Muddy Day

Our first visit was Bluff Plantation at 3547 Combahee Road in Yemassee.  We got this address off the internet but wondered whether it was trustworthy.  Getting to Combahee Road leads you down one winding road after another until you suspect there is no such road with so funny a name.  Eventually you find it, but the road quality at first is not good.  Several miles look unpromising as you pass one swamp after another.  What an ugly area it seems to be.  Then out of the swamps a white pasture fence appears on the right.  It is a golf course!  About another mile passes and the road rises, with dry open forest on either side of the road.  The trees become more attractive, and the GPS tells you that you have arrived, but it is open forest.  Driving another couple hundred yards leads to an open gate and a sign saying simply BLUFF.  It is one of many plantations in this area.  Most have locked gates and security systems, but for some reason Bluff had no signs stating that it was private property or for you to stay out.  We reluctantly drove in the driveway very slowly, then crept forward to take some photos with our phones.  We did not pull out our large cameras, not wanting to draw attention to ourselves.  We had read that this was one of several properties used in the movie, Forrest Gump.  The house used in the movie was hastily built and did not conform to building codes, so it was torn down after filming completed.  We think the driveway here was used in one of his running scenes as a young boy.  "Run, Forrest, run!"

Bluff Plantation Driveway

Beside Bluff Plantation on this road is Plum Hill Plantation, with a sign stating PLUM HILL.  Its gate was locked, so we got a very limited view of it.  It amazed us that out in the middle of nowhere, past miles of swap land, there appears these huge plantations.

The large tree shown below looks similar to the large tree that Forrest and Jennie sat in together, when they were "just like peas and carrots."  The Combahee River flows behind the property.  I have no idea whether that is the river shown in the movie.  The internet has many efforts by several people to define the locations for all the scenes.  There is a bridge nearby, the Woods Memorial Bridge, that was in one of the scenes.  I am surprised that tours have not developed to lead people to the correct sites.  In Savannah, there are such tours for the park bench, etc used in that city, even though the bench has been relocated.

Large Oak Tree on Bluff  Plantation

The church portrayed in the movie as a black Pentecostal church -- and there are many of those in this area -- is actually the Stoney Creek Independent Presbyterian Chapel of Prince William Parrish, located in McPhersonville.  It was locked, but I could take a few photos through the lower windows.  See if you recognize areas where Forrest sang up front.  This church has a long history, but is maintained today by the First Presbyterian Church of Beaufort.

Stoney Creek Independent Presbyterian Chapel

Stoney Creek Chapel View from Back

View Inside As Seen Through Window Near Front

View Inside As Seen Through Window Left Rear

How do these movie makers ever find all these places to combine into one fictitious story?!

From McPhersonville we drove 32 miles to Beaufort to explore that area.  Assessing any place in ugly weather is difficult, and that was true of Beaufort today.  It was not the small bucolic town that I had heard about, unless you drive to one of its outlying islands.  The mainland was a busy town with a large variety of businesses and fairly heavy traffic.  There is the periodic roar of jets flying low overhead  due to the local Marines air base.  We drove through the traffic until it was getting close to dark, then headed back to the KOA for supper.  We probably did not get a good impression of Beaufort given our limited time.