VISTA LIGHTS

I am in Columbia, SC visiting Daughter and her family.  I have had some great kisses from 2 of my granddaughters, Curly and Popcorn.  I love those girls. But, since I know you already know I love them to the moon and back, I will share something fun we did the other night that was fun!

The historic Congaree Vista District had their 29th annual Vista Lights street party.  It is one of the ways Columbia kicks off the holiday season.  They close off streets, offer free parking in parking garages, erect a stage for different acts to perform, light a really big tree, and all of the retailers participate in some form or fashion. It was a pretty chilly night, but that didn't seem to dampen the spirit of the crowd or the attendance.

When I got there, there was a group of kids performing on the stage from one of the ballet schools in town.  By the time I got close enough to attempt a picture, they were done.  The next group up was from one of the theaters in town.  They sang Christmas carols acapella and did a great job.

It's always hard to get a good shot when you are in such a large crowd.  But, here's the group.

They advertise this as an experience for everyone and encourage families to come out.  So, they offer things for kids. The The Peanut Man candy store offered warm pralines, cinnamon/spice nuts, and children under 12 could make an ornament free of charge. So, who in their right mind would pass up warm pralines? AND, what child would pass up making an ornament? 

Here's the end result of the ornament making.  Popcorn (left) named her reindeer Kayla and Curly (right) named her reindeer Daisy

Rita's Italian Ice teamed with St. Peter's Catholic School to offer kids crafts and a $5 Sweet Treat package that included an ice cream sundae, face painting, games and a free Ice coupon.  The Cupcake offered a hot chocolate cupcake just for this evening. Yum..... The Paul Mitchell School of Columbia was offering free mini-makeup sessions and free mini-hair styling sessions. The Blue Marlin offered a free sample of their famous shrimp and grits.  You should have seen the line to get that!  One of the restaurants was offering free marshmallows for kids to roast.  The fire they had built in the street in a barrel looked more like something that would incinerate a marshmallow, not roast one!

See? Good thing they are wearing long sleeves or the hair on their arms could be in danger!

The restaurants and bars were offering discounts on their food and drinks.  They had set up outside to sell "walkable" food items and beer and wine sales.  You could go in and receive discounts on ordering from their menus.  One of the bars had set up outside to sell glasses of wine but they were also offering free hot chocolate for kids.  Smart marketing.

This area of town is sort of an "artsy" part of town SO, there were lots of art studios.  One of the art studios, Nonnah's had a live violin performance outside.  I've always wondered why they bill it as a live performance.  I don't think there would be a "dead" violin performance?  There were several acoustic musicians performing all around the area.

The live violin player

I found the name of one of the other art studios a little puzzling.  It probably isn't puzzling to the rest of you, but my mind tends to work in weird ways sometimes. :) I wonder if they thought about this day and age of the "i"-phone, "i"-pad, "i"-pod when they named their studio.  I know, I know, I'm probably the only one that thought of this.  But am I right?

I mean, come on, you thought it too didn't you!

At a designated time, they lit the big tree.  They had asked many children standing around to guess how many lights were on the tree.  They guessed anywhere from 100 to 1 million.  I'm not sure if they ever said how many were actually on the tree.  But, here's the tree as the lights came on.

No night is complete without getting your picture made with Elsa from the movie Frozen! Especially if you are 5 and 7 years old!

 I actually left fairly early considering the crowd and everything still going on.  But, it was a school night so 2 little girls had already been up past their bedtime and needed to get home.  It was definitely fun and well worth going to if you live in the area or are here visiting during the season. Let the celebrating of the holidays, Thanksgiving included, begin!

SIL and Mr. W walking around with the girls.  Little legs get tired easily when you are walking around on a lot of crowded streets.  It also made for better viewing of what was happening on the stage.

Daughter and Popcorn