Looking for 2024 winter day trips? Cities you've never explored in the Carolinas and activities you won't find outside of the Carolinas?! Join us in our travels as we start in the SC Upstate, where the Bart Garrison Agricultural Museum of South Carolina enjoys an illustrious reputation for being “a different kind of museum.”
We’ll be humming a peppy tune as we make our way to the Lowcountry, where the Kazoo Museum & Factory offers an immersive experience for music lovers and eternal kids at heart.
Finally, we’ll journey to Elizabeth City at the mouth of the Pasquotank River, where the highly-rated Museum of the Albemarle curates intriguing exhibits focused on the history of the Albemarle region.
Kids and teens will be enthralled by the hands-on activities at Bart Garrison.
Our Favorite Place In The SC Upstate To Take A Winter Day Trip: Pendleton, SC
As difficult as this is for a stubborn Southerner to admit, we have been sleeping on Pendleton, South Carolina. You could spend a perfect day hopping from one delight to another in the supremely walkable half-mile downtown stretch.
Channel your inner swashbuckler with a rum tasting or stowaway bottle purchase at Swamp Fox Distilling. Peruse or pick up eye-catching, framed works of art from the Art Gallery on Pendleton Square, where expertly crafted pieces of the Pendleton Square Artists Cooperative are prominently displayed on a rotating basis. We at Carolina Traveler love a good small-town art gallery – we’ve found some of our favorite conversation-starting pieces there.
Now, the focus of your winter day trip simply must be the Bart Garrison Agricultural Museum of South Carolina. If you’re thinking of turning up your nose imagining horse trailers and recoiling at the remembered scent of a musty chicken farm, we promise you’ll want to check this place out. We’re serious when we say this may be one of our favorite underrated museums in the Carolinas. It’s like Disney World and Old McDonald’s Farm had a baby.
Crank corn in an authentic grinder, extract cotton from a boll, milk a cow, and literally get your hands dirty in this unforgettable agritourism experience, open Thursdays through Saturdays. The perfect ending to a winter day trip in Pendleton? Catch a production at the Clemson Little Theatre, one of the oldest community theaters in South Carolina. The 2023-2024 season concludes with “The Game’s Afoot: Holmes for the Holidays” in January and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” in March 2024.
The Museum of the Albemarle is a great winter day trip for kids passionate in STEM subjects!
Enjoy The Perfect Day In The Harbor Of Hospitality
Incorporated in 1793, Elizabeth City has recently been recognized as one of the best places to live on the East Coast. Our visit starts at the Museum of the Albemarle, which pays homage to pivotal figures, cultures, movements, achievements, and devastations throughout North Carolina history.
Trace the history of hog farming as a vital source of sustenance and income on this winter day trip. Observe the intricacies of shad boats and furniture crafted by 18th-century artisans. Understand how early Indigenous Americans were central in stewarding the Albemarle region and its natural resources.
Enjoy a lively discussion of your new learning over delicious bites downtown, where you’ll find impeccable cuisine representing nearly all corners of the world. Get ready for an afternoon at Arts of the Albemarle, a beloved local hub for creativity. Their weekly calendar features First Friday art walks, Wednesday open studios, and month-long exhibits dedicated to the paintings, sculptures, fabricated glass creations, and other multimedia works formed by talented North Carolina artists’ hands.
America — land of the free and home of the kazoos!
Make Your Own Kazoo In Beaufort, SC
Proximal to attractions like Hunting Island State Park, where you’ll find some of the best shelling on the coast and prime dolphin sighting waterways off of Hilton Head, Beaufort is a main artery of the Lowcountry. It’s an idyllic winter day trip for sampling southern cuisine without the table wait times and menu prices of more tourist-facing cities, and there are plenty of activities to keep couples, families, and friend groups entertained during the colder months.
Lovers of Southern literature will undoubtedly know about the Pat Conroy Literary Center, an homage to the plucky, marsh-born son of the Lowcountry and author of best-selling novels like The Prince of Tides and The Lords of Discipline. Open to the public on Thursdays through Sundays from noon to 4 PM, the Center hosts regular readings, writing workshops, and literary events.
Don’t overlook the Kazoobie Kazoo Museum and Factory while you’re in town, especially if you’re traveling with kids on a winter day trip. Offering the musical history tour you didn’t know you needed, the Factory takes guests through the kazoo-crafting process. It even lets you design a custom kazoo – kids love getting to select their desired parts and take their kazoo home for keeps!
