The Sea Islands of South Carolina 1

The back roads heading south out of Charleston meander through pine forests and grassy marshes that merge with the sea. It's no wonder this indistinct shoreline is called the Low Country.

If you find yourself in this neck of the woods, be sure to stop at the Carolina Cider Company, a family operation that sells local produce from a converted gas station along Highway 17, near Beaufort. If you're looking for some traditional Southern delicacies made from family recipes, this is the place.

There are plenty of ciders, jams and relishes to sample plus old fashioned favourites like grape Nehi soda. We were besotted with their preserves. Yes, you too will realise it is entirely plausible to have a love affair with jam once you taste their peach and cherry fruit butters.

Turning off here, we headed into dust-blown Yemassee with its soulless motel along the bleak Interstate highway. Still, it was a lot cheaper than anywhere in Beaufort and a convenient halfway stop between Charleston and Savannah.

Although Yemassee itself had little to see, it was an interesting contrast with gentrified and prettified Charleston. In some ways it reminded me of growing up in southeast Kansas where we lived in a trailer parked near the highway, miles away from the grocery store but with a church next door and cross-country freight trains trundling past at all hours.

A lonely road through the forest near Yemassee took us past the ruins of the Sheldon Church. First built in the 1750s, it was burnt by the British during the American Revolution and rebuilt in the 1820s, only to be destroyed during the Civil War. Same say the church fell prey to General Sherman's 'March to the Sea' but others have suggested it was stripped for kindling and building materials by locals recovering from the war's aftermath.

Either way, it remains an impressive ruin, a brick shell surrounded by oak trees shouldering long wisps of Spanish moss. To find it, follow Old Sheldon Church Road out of Yemassee.

On to Beaufort, a port city which has been a darling of Hollywood location scouts for years (Forrest Gump, The Big Chill, Full Metal Jacket and Prince of Tides were filmed here).

Beaufort felt like Charleston in miniature but with more open spaces, more trees, fewer pavements and absolute quiet.

We sauntered about as the sun mellowed in the late afternoon sky along the peaceful streets lined with grand mansions and soaring steeples, but also abandoned plots and little chapels.

The light was perfect as we strolled its tiny downtown and sunset over the harbour was stunning.
That night it was all about living the American dream, when we were first able to enjoy what so many other roadtrippers can only experience in the USA. Things like sleeping in a Super 8 motel, shopping in K-mart and sitting down in an off-ramp diner for an all-u-can-eat buffet. We cast our eyes over the iceberg lettuce (chopped), spaghetti (made with mystery mince beef) and the blobs of mashed potatoes (instant) and thought...Americans say English food is bad??

Next time...a return to Beaufort, plus the ocean road to the sandy shores of Hunting Island.