Hey, Cola. Kayla here. I recently tagged along with Experience Columbia SC, our city’s tourism organization, on one of their virtual, choose-your-own-adventure City Tours, hosted on @ColumbiaSC’s Instagram. Here’s what went down, and why you should #TryThis.

Experience:

@ColumbiaSC City Tour

What we tried:

Each month, Experience Columbia SC –the team behind the @ColumbiaSC Instagram – takes their ~30,000 followers on a virtual, themed City Tour of Columbia, where their followers get to choose where they should go.

It works like this:

They choose a theme for the tour (this time, the theme was selected by COLAtoday readers)
They select ~6 “this or that” choices for tour stop destinations under different categories, like “Coffee or Beer?,” “Art or History?,” and “Congaree National Park or Harbison State Forest?”
Followers vote on @ColumbiaSC’s ‘City Tours’ Instagram story
The team goes where the winning vote tells them to go – and shows you cool things when they get there.

This month’s theme was free things to do in Cola (the top suggestion from our readers). Read on to see what free things we did, based on the majority votes on Insta, and to see how you can play along on the next @ColumbiaSC City Tour.

Our ‘Free in Cola’ tour, based on your votes:

UofSC (58%) over Statehouse (42%): You voted for a stroll on the Horseshoe, where bringing a picnic lunch, enjoying the autumn colors and several events are all free.
History (54%) over Art (46%): We walked to Main St. and did the ColumbiaSC63 tour of downtown’s most important civil rights sites.
Inside (66%) over Outside (44%): Ready to get out of the cold for a bit, we headed to Richland Library Main to admire artwork in the lobby, check out some books + peek into the revamped Teen Center.
Coffee (59%) over Beer (41%): We grabbed a latte from Indah Coffee ($4) + learned how they source, roast + brew their coffee during a free facility tour. Email them to schedule yours.

@ColumbiaSC City Tour choices on Instagram Stories

What we’re still talking about:

How if we were between the ages of 12 and 18, we would be spending all👏our👏time👏in Richland Library’s teen center.

How you can experience this:

Follow @ColumbiaSC on Instagram + keep an eye on their Instagram stories for their next monthly City Tour. Make sure to get your votes in to have your say in where they visit. Then sit back, relax, and take a free virtual tour of your city to learn more about how you can best experience it.

Things to know:

Experience: @ColumbiaSC City Tours
Price: Free
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/columbiasc/ Ⓟ