Beaufort County is home to one of the South's Best Small Towns, Southern Living says
Crowds are drawn to Beaufort's Waterfront Park, and visitors are charmed by the city's historic inns and oak-lined streets.
Add a little bit of originality — where else can you tour a Kazoo Factory? — and you have the perfect recipe for a town worthy of being on Southern Living magazine's annual The South's Best 2018 lists.
Beaufort didn't make it onto just one of the esteemed publication's lists, either.
It's featured twice.
More than 32,000 votes were logged in The South's Best competition, Southern Living said.
Those voters ranked Beaufort as No. 6 on the list of Best Small Towns. And, among the 20 places listed as The South's Friendliest Towns, Beaufort came in 16th.
"Small towns in the South have their own beating hearts and their own unique traditions," the magazine writes. "They are tucked away from the hustle and bustle of the big cities, and they're bursting with warmth, personality, and history."
That certainly is a good way to describe Beaufort, with big annual events like the Beaufort Water Festival and the Beaufort Shrimp Festival.
Add to that the culture of events like The Original Gullah Festival, the patriotism of the MCAS Beaufort Air Show, and the town's rich literary tradition as the home of the Pat Conroy Literary Center.
Plus, you can't even walk down a street without running into places that look like they jumped out of the pages of a magazine. (Some of them have. Beaufort’s Tidalholm mansion was featured in Country Living as the most famous historic house in South Carolina.)
Perhaps all that is why Beaufort was named one of the most romantic getaways by CBS earlier this year. And U.S. News and World Report recommended South Carolina's second-oldest city as one of the 8 Small Southern Towns to Visit in 2018.
TripAdvisor also recently took notice and named the city one of the “most charming Southern vacations you need to experience.”
Last year, Beaufort sat in the top spot for Southern Living's Best Small Town and was picked by the magazine among its 10 Walkable Girlfriend Getaways.
In November, MSN said Beaufort was the most adorable small town in South Carolina.
Among the other towns on the 2018 South's Best Small Towns list are Aiken; Fairhope, Alabama; Oxford, Mississippi; Southport, North Carolina; and Williamburg, Virginia.
The winners will be featured in the April edition of Southern Living, which will be available on Friday.
This story was originally published March 20, 2018 at 3:54 PM with the headline "Beaufort County is home to one of the South's Best Small Towns, Southern Living says."