Antebellum Christmas Cruise
Antebellum Christmas Cruise
South Carolina to Florida
What tour operators usually mean when they say their trips are educational is that you'll witness a hackneyed historical re-enactment, the main purpose of which is steering you into a gift shop.

Smithsonian Journeys (run by the Washington-based Smithsonian Institution), on the other hand, actually delivers. Its tours are staffed by guides such as Jay Fraser, a retired history professor from Georgia Southern University who now leads a nine-day holiday cruise down the southeastern coast. You'll start out in Charleston, where you'll visit Drayton Hall, a plantation-house-turned-museum, and stroll the city's gas-lit cobblestone streets. You'll spend Christmas morning onboard en route to Beaufort, S.C. There you'll take a walking tour of the well-preserved colonial village center. A trolley ride in Savannah, a visit to the manses of Jekyll Island's Millionaire's Village and a tour of the ruins of slave quarters at Kingsley Plantation on Fort George Island round out the itinerary, which ends with a stop on Amelia Island, Fla.

The vessel that makes this journey is the four-year-old American Glory. The ship accommodates 49 passengers, who have five room classes to choose from (all have private baths and either a king or two twin beds, as well as TVs with satellite connections; some of the larger staterooms have private balconies). Local musicians perform onboard, but the typical cruise casino and disco scene has been replaced by quiet libraries and lectures.

Length of trip Dec. 22-30
Cost Starts at $3,555 per person
Web site smithsonianjourneys.org
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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.