Hi Spencer, we are so looking forward to seeing The Lion King again. Like reading a great book, I discover more things I hadn’t noticed and understand it more deeply each time we see it. We would like to come  to the show on Friday, April 1st. I’ll text you on that soon so we can also text our cc#.

It’s just as easy to create this webpage as an email (while the Tech v Texas basketball game is on), so thought I’d post some possibilities for your time here in Columbia. (This is a private page only accessible by the link I texted you.) I was checking around this morning and seeing that some dates for reservations were already getting booked, so thought I’d pitch these ideas before the dates we might prefer disappeared.

Introductory Tour

If you’d like, perhaps the first weekend of your visit, we could give you a quick introductory tour of Columbia, especially to sights downtown or within a short distance of downtown. Our car seats six so we could take some of your friends too. Could include lunch or just refreshments.

Day off

If you’d like to join us on your day off, looks like from your North American Tour calendar that would be Monday, March 28th. We’ve always wanted to go to the BMW plant between Greenville and Spartanburg, about 90 minutes from us.  They offer one and two hour tours of their plant–from the robots actually assembling the painted body to the roll out. Jack visited a Mercedes plant like that in Germany and thought it was fascinating. They also have a museum there. Here’s a link: https://www.bmwgroup-werke.com/spartanburg/en/plant-tours-zentrum-museum.html/

I checked and while all the Mondays in Feb are already booked, they still have a 1 pm opening on Mon, Mar 28th. The plant is near Greenville, SC which is a fun restaurant destination with a lovely park on the river.

They also have a Driving Experience I mentioned in an earlier text, but it’s $299 per and Jack is not quite that interested.

Or , maybe you’d like to visit the Biltmore Estate in Asheville. It is further–2 hrs 10 minutes from us. It’s like touring the Downton Abby set at Highclare Castle. And there is a lot more to see than just the main house. They have a wine tasting experience. A mini-museum. Gardens. Cost: $66. You can check it out here: https://www.biltmore.com/

If the whether is nice, our friends who live on the lake with a boat have offered to take us all for a boat ride on Lake Murray over to a marina restaurant for dinner. This could be combined with the visit to the BMW plant. John and Carolyn came to see your show with us in Charleston in Dec ’19.

Civil War Stuff

For a visit to a Columbia museum that features the Civil War, we have 2, both in downtown Columbia, not far from the Koger Center.

The South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum: smaller, focused on military history. However, it’s closed on Mondays. We’d be glad to take you another day.  https://www.crr.sc.gov/about

 

The South Carolina State Museum: Much larger with a large exhibit dedicated to the Civil War. Also has a planetareum, 3D theater etc. You could probably spend a whole day there. http://scmuseum.org/

 

P.S. When you are in Richmond, VA you might want to check out the Civil War Museum there at the Tredegar Ironworks. Being the capitol of the Confederacy, they have the best Civil War Museum I’ve seen. Big and beautiful and exhibits that brilliantly narrate the war as a story without getting too PC. They also have made a Civil War museum of Jefferson Davis’s residence, The White House (confederate version). If I remember correctly, Grace (Zach’s wife who is from Richmond) enjoyed that more than the big one. But when we stopped there last fall, the docent there told us that, because of Covid, they had moved much of their display to the Tredegar Ironworks.

Grace also recommended having high tea at the Jefferson Hotel there. Hard to describe what a treat it was. Closest thing to a European Old World hotel that I’ve experienced this side of the pond. You might want to get a group together and go while you’re there. Weekend afternoons only. A chocolate lover’s tea twice a month.  https://www.jeffersonhotel.com/dine/afternoon-tea

Other fun stuff in Columbia

A great day-off or any day idea, The Riverbanks Zoo–kind of a small version of The San Diego Zoo, the top tourist attraction in the state. https://www.riverbanks.org/

Univ of South Carolina Men’s Baseball v Vanderbilt Sat Mar 26, 2p, Founder’s Park, the only home afternoon game scheduled when you are here https://gamecocksonline.com/sports/baseball/schedule/2022

A movie at the Nick (Nickelodeon movie theater on Main St.) A theater with a really eclectic mix of literary, oscar-nominated, classic, and independent films) https://www.nickelodeon.org/

Also on Main Street, Mast General Store. Very vintage. Very fun. All the old candies in barrels.

Cantina 76 is good, fresh Mexican food on Main Street.

Tako Sushi-Yep, great Mexican and Oriental food. To the right across the street from the State House on Assembly. Love their Asperagus tempura.

Soda City Street Market Saturdays from 9-1 Main Street https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g54184-d17549318-Reviews-Soda_City_Market-Columbia_South_Carolina.html

Drinks on the rooftop of the downtown Sheraton Hotel on Main St. You can see for miles and miles.

South Carolina State House (at the end of Main St.)

Five Points: 5 min from Downtown, popular w USC students,  eating, arcades. We love to eat lunch or breakfast on the sidewalk at The Gourmet Shop. Bang Back Pinball Lounge features games like Star Trek Vault and a great food menu at their Funky Fresh Food Truck (yes, it’s indoors too). https://www.bangbackpinball.com/about/

Columbia Canal and Riverfront Park Great river-front walking trail. There are also places either here or downtown where you can rent tubes and kayaks. Water will still be nippy  https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g54184-d2623386-Reviews-Columbia_Canal_and_Riverfront_Park-Columbia_South_Carolina.html

See more fun things here: https://travel.usnews.com/features/top-things-to-do-in-columbia-south-carolina

Church?

Spencer, I have no idea what it’s like to work nights and try to go to church. Especially when you are doing 2 shows on Sunday. But if you miss it and would like to go with us, we attend Fellowship Bible Church here, the one Jack pastored before he retired. Service runs 10-11:30ish. We would be glad to pick you up and get you back to your room or the Koger Center by noon. Or leave a little early.

A lot here, including much you can do on your own. We’re glad to host you as much or as little as you like. Can’t hurt our feelings. If you’d like us to host you doing any of this, simply text.