When the weather is warm, there's no chance of snow and you just want a reason to have some hot chocolate and get in the Christmas spirit, sometimes you need to take a little trip to make it happen. Augusta is so conveniently located just 2-3 hours from so many major cities, coastal towns and luckily a small little Christmas Town called McAdenville, NC. It's what I imagine walking through the set of a Hallmark Movie must feel like!
McAdenville is known for its Christmas appeal, welcoming thousands of visitors every day. I'd suggest parking your car and taking a stroll through this little town so you don't miss any of it! The town has lined the streets with festive Christmas lights, fancied up Town Hall, and put no limit on home decor!
When you move to McAdenville, you move to Christmas Town with the expectation that you'll need to decorate your house, it's not easy to go run an errand after dusk(Amazon to the rescue), your neighbors may have a spontaneous block party and hundreds of thousands of people will be walking by your house. And we are so thankful for that!!
There is only one way in and one way out as the night begins with all traffic being directed to that spot. If you choose to drive through it, plan to be in you car for a good hour as you wait in line and then crawl through the town. Or you can park your car(Food Lion), cross the street and take in everything along with the crisp cool air. Local shops to grab a hot cocoa, photo ops on front porches and side streets of lights you can't get to with cars. You can even snag a Christmas Town shirt if they aren't sold out!
McAdenville is a suburb of Charlotte and just off I-85. If you want to make a full day trip of it, Charlotte has endless possibilities to fill your day, outlet mall shopping, high-end retail shops, and not to mention the awesome US National Whitewater Center if you want to take in more outdoor Christmas fun. You can walk/hike the trails, take a picnic, buy some hot cocoa and coffee, take in a trail of artistic Christmas lights and try your hand at iceskating at their awesome rink complete with an Airstream in the center serving hot chocolate! It's $6 to park and there is additional cost for iceskating but you can check out the lights and roam around free of charge!
Do you have any favorite Christmas spots within driving distance from Augusta?! Let us know!