Get in Eagles, We're Going Day Tripping!
By|| Austin Hayes
November 9, 2017
It’s 2 o’clock on a Saturday afternoon in good ole Statesboro. There’s no home game, you finished your homework early, you already finished season 2 of Stranger Things, and you and your friends are bored looking for something to do.
Being that most colleges are located in small country towns rather than big cities, sometimes finding interesting activities on days where you feel like you’ll die of boredom, is seemingly impossible. When planning an activity like a day trip, you probably automatically think of driving to Savannah or Atlanta. But what if there’s adventure lurking right around the corner of Gentilly Road. Day tripping in Statesboro is as easy as walking down the street.
If you ever find your self walking down South Main Street, in its corners and crevasses lies
Heirloom, an antique shop that is filling the downtown Statesboro area with nostalgia.
Inside this shop are unique and one of a kind antique shop filled with vintage furniture, household items, and of course jewelry. The shop, of course, is also filled to the brim of unique vintage knick-knacks that you probably never knew you needed.
Shop owner, Mitchell O’Barr, hand picks these items, some still in good condition, but others might need a little extra work and refurbishing.
“These items pick you,” O’Barr said. “You kind of get this good feeling when you know you’ve found something unique”.
And unique doesn’t even begin to describe the potential items you can find there. The items in Heirloom clearly have history and character written all over them, which makes this antique shop a great day time activity for a different shopping experience.
After visiting this awesome antique shop, the calm, yet busy sounds of downtown Statesboro might tend to lure you in to be curious of what else this town may have to offer. If you follow the sounds of music, they might lead you to the one and only Averitt Center of the Arts, which is just within walking distance from heirloom.
The Averitt Center is right in the heart of downtown, attracting both local community members as well as Georgia Southern students with their extensive list of music and art programs.
William Sack, an employee of the arts center for 6 years, says that the classes the Averitt Center offers are what bring in the community together.
“We welcome community members as well as Georgia Southern students who may have music and arts backgrounds, or even if they just want take up lessons and a new hobby”.
Thought you could only culture yourself at an art gallery in the big city? Think again. The Averitt center is not just for performing arts students. Local artist often submit artwork and photographs to be displayed and sometimes even sold for money. They even have a children’s art gallery located on their third floor with paintings from the Brooklet Elementary school’s art class.
The Averitt center is so vast with its members and the number of class they offer, that they just couldn’t limit themselves to one building. They also have the Remley Center for fine arts and the center for performing arts are also located right along West and East Main Street.
If you’re looking for inspiration, rich tradition, and always, culture, the Averitt Center is the perfect destination for a “close-to-home” relaxing adventure.
Close to home may not be everyone’s forte and art galleries and antique may not be most people’s idea of fun day trips. But Statesboro has building up its repertoire of fun activities for students over the past four years. Recently, Statesboro has opened up “Statesboro Unlocked”, a real life escape room that challenges your mind and puts group work to its true test.
This day trip adventure definitely involves some teamwork along with elements of the unique rooms that require problem solving, puzzles, and finding clues to escape from the room
Hope and Harrison Pitts opened up this family run business, after visiting an escape room themselves in Charlotte, NC. The Pitts loved the idea so much that they decided this past January to bring one right down to Statesboro. The different rooms have different themes and the themes change monthly, so no experience there is ever the same.
The escape room is looking to expand their marketing very soon to bring in more students, but you heard it first, this day trip destination will definitely turn a drab and dreary Saturday into one filled with mystery and adventure. And with it being right next to Splash in the Boro, the escape room is definitely a great day trip idea that won’t require a full tank of gas.
For the day trip lovers who look forward to some peace and quiet on your day time, sight seeing and scenic views are day trips for all to enjoy. With Statesboro being in the south, there is plenty of beautiful nature parks and trails for one to bask in the Boro sunlight. One particular is the Gentily Trail, or known as the S & S Greenway, stretching at about 2.5 miles long. This running, walking, and biking trail is great get away for students who enjoy the scenic view when working on cardio.
John Edwards, a Grad Student at Georgia Southern, says that coming to Gentilly for about 3 or 4 hours is a trip within itself.
“It’s quiet here, but that’s the beauty of the trail. You get to be alone in your thoughts, enjoying the weather and fresh air,” Edwards said. “For a moment, you forget you’re in Statesboro. You’re just running, enjoying the scenery and then, boom, 2 hours gone by with ease.”
The Gentilly trail is currently in the process of becoming and 8 mile trail, begging in Downtown Statesboro and stretching all the way to Brooklet. Nature trails may not be the ideal adventure but you can most certainly make the experience adventurous. After all, life’s about the journey, not the destination.
Statesboro may not seem like it has anything to offer outside of Georgia Southern itself. But underneath the surface, there is a booming and bustling town just waiting for college kids to discover its beauty. So for now, when you’re planning a day trip activity for you and your friends, leave the Tanger Outlets in Pooler alone. Trust, your wallet will thank you. Because all the Boro may not seem like a day trip destination, all you need is an open mind, fun friends, and only half of you gas tank to make a daytime adventure a lifetime memory.