Friday afternoon/evening

I needed to take care of some errands, so the boys and I walked to Trenholm Plaza Friday afternoon. First stop was the post office, then we had quick stops in Anthroplogie and Home Goods before heading to Publix for frozen pizza (dinner of champions!). On our walk back home, a friend texted inviting us to join them at Steel Hands for dinner and Nashville Nights. Honestly, it sounded way better than frozen pizza and Netflix. We did a speedy change and the four of us headed over. Holy cow, what a night! The music was great, the place was packed, the food was hot, and the beer was cold. The kids played with rocks, Bakugans (IYKYK), and came up with imaginative games to play on the lawn. The grown-ups listened to some phenomenally talented singer-songwriters for the summer series, Nashville Nights. Steel Hands is hosting it every Friday through August 11 and it’s such a fun way to spend a summer evening. Highly recommend but suggest getting there a little before 6:00 to score a table…it was packed!

Saturday morning

Swim lessons for the boys to kick off the day! They’re 4, 6, and 7 and are comfortable with water but can’t actually swim (that one’s on me) so I finally signed them up. We drove out to the Y in Lake Carolina which felt like a hike, but it was worth it to see them have so much fun. We finished our 30-minute lesson and made the 30-minute drive back home. John had a birthday party so we decided to split up. Bill took John to his friend’s party and Conor and I headed to the Soda City Market. If y’all are Columbia locals and are not spending at least one Saturday a month at Soda City, I don’t know what you’re doing with your weekends. This is literally one of my favorite things to do in Columbia. I LOVE it! And you should too. The food, coffee, artisans, music, and people watching make it one of the best tickets in town, hands down. Conor got a snow cone from Boeshreen (a go-to Washington boys’ favorite) but we bypassed the lines at the Donut Guy and Arepa truck and checked out some art instead. I did get some lumpia from The Burnt Toast Café food truck which always makes my heart and belly happy. Since were with my sister-in-law (who was visiting from Charleston) and her brother we made a few detours and explored the Arcade Mall on Main Street and the Columbia Museum of Art.

Y’all, I’ve been to the art museum a lot but as we went in on Saturday at like 1:00PM, I realized I’d only been to the museum during events. At night. With DJs and cocktails and auctions. I’ve never spent an afternoon simply wandering through the museum and it was awesome! It was cool and quiet, well laid out with beautiful pieces of art, funky pieces, interesting pieces, and weird pieces. When we got our tickets, the check-in desk handed my son a scavenger hunt he could take with him as we walked through. The scavenger hunt, in addition to a few interactive options, made it entertaining and educational for Conor. He LOVED the scavenger hunt…anything that requires clues, competing, and winning, he’s all for. Before we left, we headed into the Cross Hatch, which was an entire room for building, drawing, making movies, and more. This space was kid-focused, but we all had fun coloring at the crayon table and building with the blocks. Highlights include getting to see a Monet up close and personal, the stunning religious art and icons going back 100s of years, ancient pieces of pottery, modern furniture and china, and some truly stellar chandeliers. 

Sunday

Sunday started bright and early with a promise we needed to keep for our boys. The Sunday Funday Family Day at Stone River in West Columbia was initially scheduled for the previous weekend but was postponed for weather. The boys were devastated since Spiderman was making an appearance and they were worried they’d missed the chance to meet the amazing superhero. The boys changed into the lewks they wanted to wear out (Conor was Spiderman and John was Luigi), we picked up a friend, and headed across the river. There were vendors and food trucks set up in the parking lot, a DJ, a petting zoo, a bounce house, and Spiderman. The boys had a blast! Conor met Spiderman (multiple times) and spent the rest of his time with the rabbits in the petting zoo; John got his face painted; they all got ice cream. After we’d hit all the fun kid stuff (and I got a pair of earrings!) we decided to walk along the river before lunch. My usual Riverwalk outings are on the Columbia side, off Huger Street but after this walk, I decided I’m going to start mixing that up because the Cayce side of the river is spectacular! There are more areas to get close to the river, a ton of people were out fishing, biking, running, walking, and hanging out enjoying the beautiful weather. Before we realized it, we’d walked to the end of the path. We climbed on some rocks, looked for fish and snakes and frogs (oh my!) but had to make do with ducks, dragonflies, a turtle, and a very bloated, very dead fish. All were thrilling to the 3 boys. We immediately decided to make the area a part of our summer activities list and come back with a picnic and fishing poles. I was still in my church clothes and was kicking myself for not having better clothes to climb rocks and splash in the water. The boys had a great time, collecting sticks, rocks, and fighting crime. We’d worked up quite an appetite, so we headed to Mellow Mushroom in the Vista for a Sunday afternoon pizza lunch. Except I was the only one who ordered pizza, at a pizza restaurant. It was the Funky Q and it was delicious.

Sunday afternoon consisted of naps, yard work, a movie, grocery store, and just prepping for the upcoming coming week. All in all, a great weekend playing in our very own city. 10/10. Would highly recommend!

What are your favorite weekend activities in Columbia? Share them below! I love getting new ideas and places to explore (with or without the kiddos 😉 )