Valentine Party

The Beaufort Historical Association holds an annual Valentine Party the first Sunday in February, and we have attended it in previous years.  It is a free event, although they request RSVPs in advance to be sure they have enough food and wine. There was plenty of both this Sunday!

The weather station had predicted rain for Sunday afternoon, but thankfully it did not materialize until well after dark.  The event is held at the Beaufort Historic Site on  Turner Street, two acres that include nine historic houses from the 18^th and 19^th century, as well as the Carteret County Courthouse (ca. 1778), the Old Jail (ca. 1825), and the Apothecary Shop and Doctor’s Office (ca. 1859).  It was the perfect place to sample a variety of small bites donated by local businesses, and the craft beer and wine was also flowing freely, even though it was early on a Sunday afternoon.

“It’s a little early for me,” I told a pleasant woman behind the wine table, "But it's a party after all."  She assured me that “It’s never too early for wine.”  And so I wandered around with a glass of white wine in my hand, sampling home-made delicacies, and eventually making my way over to the table where fresh steamed shrimp and oysters were being served.

A friendly man was wielding an oyster knife, and I told him that I didn’t know how to shuck an oyster because I was “off” (Downeast for “not from around here”).  “Here, let me show you,” he said, and expertly slipped the point of the knife in the narrow end of the oyster, cut it open, and scooped out the succulent morsel within.

 
“Where are these from?” a woman asked, and we found out they were North River Oysters, which is not far away, here in Carteret County.

I watched how others were consuming these little delicacies – a saltine cracker, a spoonful of home-made cocktail sauce, and on oyster – and I did the same.  It was delicious.  I could have eaten them all afternoon, if only I had brought my own oyster knife, because they kept appearing on the table, bushel after bushel.

We stayed around for awhile, and then drove down to Taylor Creek to check out the course for a 5-K race being held on March 4 on Front Street.  We had not run the Cocoa 5-K due to wind-chills in the teens, and are hoping to be able to complete this one, our first race of 2023.  Looking across Taylor Creek we spotted some of the Shackleford Ponies that inhabit that place, and which we saw at a much closer proximity last year.  There is a herd of about a hundred wild horses that live there, browsing on the sparse grass and drinking water from one or two spring-fed ponds in the middle of the island.  Like the so-called “Banker Horses” which we have seen in Corolla, the origin of these horses is unknown, although legend says they are descendants of Spanish mustangs that survived a shipwreck.  (I have read that DNA studies confirm that heritage.)  We plan to visit the island later this month and hope to see some of these remarkable creatures up close!