putting it all into perspective

Let's see, there's Bozeman, Montana, Driggs, Idaho, Glenwood Springs, Colorado, Morehead City, North Carolina ... and Beaufort, South Carolina.
What do all those towns have to do with each other? They're the best fishing destinations in American. At least according to Field & Stream magazine.
Now, I don't know about you, but I think about fabled rivers, such as Henry's Fork and even the trophy waters of the Adirondack's AuSable River before I think about Beaufort.
Of course, these are my home waters. Or at least they have been for the better part of the last decade.
Fishing them and knowing the intimately are two different things. Now, I suppose a few editors and writers could come down to sunny old Beaufort By The Sea, where just about every day is a chamber of commerce day and the people are among the friendliest around the South or any other part pf the country for that matter, and you might even catch a fish or two, with or without a guide. If you bring the wife and kids and book a resort house or stay at one of the five-star inns, even if the fishing stinks, you'll have yourself a good time.
Here's a little something about the city of Beaufort and the outlying areas: It's among the most beautiful places in the country. The proof is in the demographics, which rarely lie. Folks are from all over the world, but more likely from Ohio or the Northeast.
When you get here, no doubt you will check into an inn, sip cold Chardonnay from the balcony, roam the quaint shops downtown, ride the carriages through the stately historic neighborhoods and grab a burger at Luther's by day and dine at Saltus by night. In short, you'll understand why so many magazines have named Beaufort in the top 5 whatever places in the country.
It's why my wife, Robyn, and I moved here in the first place. Looking for newspaper jobs after a few sweltering years in Florida, we were among the J-curve types — folks who move from the Northeast to Florida, then halfway (or so) back to the Northeast.
The next thing you'll find is that folks who have spent a good long weekend or more here will eventually start looking at their portfolio and housing market to see if they can sell the place and move down here.
Now, Beaufort isn't terribly expensive, but it is coastal, and you'll pay dearly for that privilege. I've seen too many visitors come down here and not later end up moving here or pining about it. It's that nice.
Those who don't move here tend to talk very fondly of it. I guess I'm lucky in that regard. I got to live here. It was just out of dumb luck, though. You see, while looking for jobs, the paper here was the only one that offered both me and my wife, also a writer, jobs. Other papers wanted one or not the other, or neither, I don't know, because we took these jobs almost on spec. How? Well, the jobs were on Hilton Head Island, which everyone has heard about at some point of their lives. But the town itself wasn't really for us. It's all golf courses, manicured lawns, gated communities and strip malls. And I don't drive a Mercedes, so I'd be in the minority with my pickup. Sure there are beaches and rivers too, but most of them you needed to be behind a gated community to access them. We didn't really fit in. We're Yankees, after all. We like downtowns.
But I got on the horn with a buddy of mine who did his Marine training on Parris Island, which is a stone's throw from Beaufort, and he told us to go check out the city just to the north.
We did. It was a Sunday afternoon, sunny, breezy, beautiful. In short, it was just about every day in Beaufort. We sipped drinks on the river, ate at a trendy café, found an apartment over an antiques shop downtown and have been here ever since.
You'll hear this story from all the new residents of Beaufort: "We fell in love with the place," or "There's just something abut Beaufort..."
We can't go wrong, so it seems. So, not only will you find the best weekend getaway, the best romantic jaunt, the best historic tours, the best eco-vacations, you'll now find the best fishing here.
Next year, I imagine it will be the best seafood, the best ice cream and the best Wal-Mart.
As for the fishing: It's pretty good. It's no Outer Banks, and I'm sure it can't match Henry's Fork, but overall, it's decent. You'll catch fish. And if you're like me, from places where the fish are a whole different bag of ticks, then it might take awhile.
And when you're serious about it, you might head north to the Outer Banks to fill up the cooler.