With Spring Break beginning next week, but with rain forecasted for the first half, many may be wondering how to still enjoy their time off without being able to do typical Spring Break activities, such as going to the beach or spending time downtown. Here is a list of activities which will help you enjoy your time off without getting caught in the rain. 

Movie Marathon

Nothing says “rainy day activity” like staying in and watching movies all day. Invite your friends over, load up on your favorite snacks and drinks, and cozy up on the couch while watching your favorite movies. HBO always has a great selection of romcoms, period dramas, and favorite movie series, like The Matrix, Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter. If you want to catch up before the new movie, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, comes out, The Hunger Games series is available on Peacock. If you’re looking for nostalgia, Disney+ is always the way to go for the moves of our childhood, like Cars, Pirates of the Caribbean, and The Princess Diaries. 

Shopping

Getting necessary (or fun) shopping out of the way is great to do when it’s a gross day. With prom coming up, try finishing up your list of final purchases, like shoes, makeup, and other accessories. If you still haven’t gotten your dress or suit, going into stores on a rainy day might mean there will be less people around. If you don’t want to leave your couch, no worries! Many sites will still be able to deliver your dream dress within time for prom. Just don’t wait too long, the 29th will be here before you know it. 

Seniors! A great way to spend part of your Spring Break is getting ready for college. Try and hit stores like Target and T.J. Maxx now to get dorm and other college items before the big summer rush. Check and see if your school provides a suggested packing list and also remember to ask college age friends or family members what they recommend bringing for your first year. I would also advise getting a graduation outfit sooner than later. Once late May hits, every white dress in Charleston county will probably be sold out.

Try a New Restaurant

If you’ve been bored with your normal food choices, try exploring new places to eat. There’s lots of great spots in Charleston that are often overlooked by locals. A great way to discover new places is to look up “[your favorite cuisine] food near me.” If you scroll a bit past the well known results, there are often great options that you might have never heard of. There are also lots of local food blogs that showcase less popular, but still delicious food places. If you want to go downtown, try looking at restaurants that are not located in popular areas, like King Street and Broad Street. The Upper Peninsula has lots of amazing restaurants, and they often have less tourists in the vicinity. If you want to get super local, try a new restaurant in your area. If feel like there are always new places to try in any part of Charleston. 

Try a New Recipe

While on the subject of food, spending the day cooking or baking is a great option to broaden your palate while staying in. Check out Pinterest for an endless source of ideas to try. If you prefer paper, browse a cookbook. No matter how old or traditional one can be, there are some hidden gems in any cookbook. My family’s copy of the Good Housekeeping cookbook from the eighties still leaves me surprised when I flip through the pages looking for something new. 

If you don’t want to get too experimental, try a different version of one of your favorite recipes. If you really love chicken Alfredo, try a Cajun version of the recipe (after trying it, I’ve never gone back to plain Alfredo). If you prefer to bake, try a more advanced version of a recipe, like brown butter chocolate chip cookies or lemon meringue donuts. 

Get a Workout In

If you’re feeling antsy by being cooped up inside, try hitting the gym or working out at home. If you prefer the comfort of your bedroom or living room, YouTube has practically an infinite amount of workout videos to choose from that are beginner friendly or equipment free. There are great HIIT, yoga, pilates, and strength training options from a variety of channels. 

If you want to break a sweat but don’t like working out in the traditional sense, try a dance workout or even revisit some of your favorite Just Dance levels. These are fun ways to get your cardio in without suffering too much pain. 

Organize Your Room

I know that we all say that we’re going to spend the week cleaning and organizing every inch of our room over the week, but then never get around to it. The best way to combat this is to make yourself a schedule. Pick a part of your room, and designate a day to work only on that area. For example, “on Monday, I will organize my desk.” You don’t need to spent the whole day working on just that area, but breaking it into chunks makes it much more manageable than saying “on Monday I will organize my entire room.” You may find that it will go much faster if you focus on one area at a time. 

If you, like many people, get easily distracted when doing less than fun tasks, try listening to a podcast. It has been found that listening to people talk can increase your concentration, rather than watching a movie or listening to music. If you don’t typically listen to podcasts, try listening to ones about your favorite topics or by your favorite people. Many popular YouTubers from when we were in middle school now host their own podcasts. There are also tons that discuss your favorite shows and movies. Recently, I’ve been listening to a podcast that has hour-long episodes that discuss and analyze Game of Thrones episode by episode and Emergency Intercom with Drew Phillips and Enya Umanzor.

Although almost everyone is disappointed that part of our long awaited break will be spent waiting for the rain to leave, there are still many ways to make your time off from school enjoyable. Have a great Spring Break Raptors!