It's Time to Indulge in the Fascinating Legends of the Carolinas


 It's Time to Indulge in the Fascinating Legends of the Carolinas

You turn the lights off and huddle under a blanket tent with your kids. A single flashlight provides a shivery, pale light. Tingles are already running up and down the little one’s backs. And then the stories begin. 

 

Telling scary stories by the light of a fire or the dim light of a candle or flashlight are time-honored vacation delights of both young and old alike! And on your vacation in Sunset Beach, you don’t have to rely upon your tried and true fight-night stories. Instead, try out a delightful new legend. And discover a new fun but of history steeped myth to delight yourself. 


The Myth: The Portrait of Theodosia Burr


In 1801, the daughter of the scandal-ridden vice President Aaron Burr - Theodosia Burr - married a wealthy South Carolinian plantation owner. However, like many arranged marriages of the time, it wasn’t a happy marriage - Aaron Burr had simply offered his daughter to the wealthy plantation owner to boost his own declining family fortunes. Stricken by depression, mysterious illnesses, and then later the loss of her young son, Theodosia does not travel north to visit her father until December 1812. And that was the last that was ever seen of her. Her ship was lost at sea before she ever made it to New York to visit her father. And no one ever knew what became of it. Though there is a fascinating legend that continues the story.Theodosia Burr Portrait


There is a story that in 1869 a country doctor was called in by a fisherman to visit his elderly wife who lay ill. When the house call came to an end, the fisherman, too poor to pay the doctor, offered him the one item of value in his hut: an exceptionally fine painting of a beautiful young woman. Shocked that such a poor man owned such a fine painting, the doctor inquired where the fisherman had acquired such a piece. The fisherman said that many years before a young woman had washed ashore, clinging to the painting, obviously a survivor of a ship wreck. Since she didn’t know who she was or where she was going, nor where she was from, the people of the little fishing village took her in and took care of her. Later, she and the fisherman had married. Thinking it was a plausible enough of a story, the doctor took the painting as payment. Before he was out of the hut, though, the ill fisherman’s wife jumped up from her sick bed, snatched the painting from the doctor’s hands, calling out, "It’s mine! You shall not have it! I am on my way to visit my father in New York, and I am taking this picture of his darling Theodosia!” With that, she ran into the waves with the painting. The fisherwoman was never seen again, but the next day the painting washed back to shore. And you can see it today. If you would like to find out where, and read a longer version of this fascinating story, click here.


Is There Any Truth in It? 


The first part of the story is definitely true. There was a Theodosia Burr, and she married a wealthy plantation owner in South Carolina, thereafter leading an unhappy life before she disappeared in the winter of 1812, ostensibly lost at sea. However, the rest of the story is unproved. Could it be true? That’s up to you! After all, that is the beauty of legends. They just could be true, if you want to believe in them. As said before, you actually can see the painting of the story at the Lewis Walpole Library in Farmington, Connecticut. 


What Might You Encounter on Vacation? 


North Carolina is steeped in history, mystery, and legends. Nearly every grain of sand, and every inch of dirt, has been in contact with some fascinating part of the past. What might you encounter during your vacation on Sunset Beach? The ghosts of pirates past? Or the scent of buried treasure? Maybe, the whisper of past romance? You never know what you will discover here! Book now for an intriguing vacation on Sunset Beach - your life needs the spice of mystery and legends in it!

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