First on the agenda was a card that read, "Chow Down," and boy did we! She gave us a gift certificate to a local restaurant called Motor Supply Company Bistro. Being foodies and all, we of course went to check this place out within the first few weeks of moving here, and it has easily become one of our favorite restaurants in town! How did Kathy know of such an outstanding, local place when she lives in Tampa?!? The menu at the restaurant is handwritten daily. Only the freshest, local ingredients will do. While I don't have a picture of our meals, I can assure you it is delicious and a must to try in Columbia. In fact, we have taken almost every person who has come to visit us to this restaurant! It never disappoints!
Next in the package, "Float Down." Float down the Congaree river of course! Columbia has 3 rivers that meet just west of downtown Columbia. There are great parks and sidewalks all along the river, but the best thing to do in warmer months is to float them! You can go by kayak or inner tube. We received a gift certificate to one of the local outdoor adventure guide companies called Get Your Gear On.
One of Brian's co-residents, Jessica, and her husband tagged along for the kayaking adventure.
It was such a beautiful day to be on the water. Brian and I may have tipped our boat over on the first very, very tiny "rapid" and lost our shoes. But we found them halfway down the river and clearly we survived! :)
Kayaking on the Congaree!
Next in the package was "Drink It Down." This involved an event held at the local zoo in the fall called Brew at the Zoo. It's a smaller scale beer festival that's held inside the zoo! While we didn't get the chance to work our schedules out for this specific event, we did get to tour the zoo.
The Riverbanks Zoo is fantastic! They have lots and lots of elephants, and my favorite....koala bears!!
Hello there Mr. Lion! I can't believe what a good close up shot we got of him.
Another great close up of the grizzly bear! Just hanging out watching the crowd.....
A playful little meerkat!
And finally, the grand finale........ "Pedal Down!"
There is a BMW manufacturing plant about 1.5 hours from Columbia. Brian owns a BMW and quite honestly, what guy doesn't like cars that go fast!? Brian received a one day pass to attend the BMW Driving Experience at their performance driving school. It's like a short version of what all BMW has to offer as far as performance driving classes. We also got to tour the plant and watch a BMW get put together from start to finish!
That's Brian teetering over the top of that hill on the off road course in the X3. They purposefully want you to balance on two wheels to show you that you won't tip over and show the excellent handling ability of the vehicle. I think his back wheel was at least 2 feet off the ground! Notice I am taking the pictures and not taking part in any "fast driving" or "off road" experience!
After the off road course, they got to take a few "hot laps" in and M5 and test drive several other models. Wanna see a hot lap? Click here. Brian looks so happy to be surrounded by so many fast cars!
If he decides to ever go back for more performance driving courses, he can take the cars through the track below with the standing water and fishtail all around that track! I wish I had the car sliding in motion, but you get the idea. :)
So that topped off our adventures of exploring our own town, Columbia. Sweet Kathy gave us such a thoughtful present and I can't thank her enough! We've had so much fun finding new places around the city, and she made our adventures so much easier and so much more fun!!! Thank you Kathy!
