BEAUFORT — Every morning at 8 a.m., a bell inside Blackstone Café is rung. Customers and staff stand to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

It doesn’t happen at 7:57. It doesn’t happen at 8:02. The bell rings at 8 a.m. sharp, without exception.

The morning of Aug. 19 was no different despite a crush of customers, the appearance of a well-known Fox News co-host, the television production staff and a constantly shifting agenda. The clang of the bell came at exactly 8 a.m., and the entire chorus launched into the pledge. Loud applause and chants of “U.S.A., U.S.A” spontaneously followed.

If Steve Doocy, Fox & Friends co-host, was looking for Main Street America when he came to Beaufort, he found it in the crowded downtown eatery on Scott Street.

Jake Higgins, owner of Blackstone’s Café,

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