#COLAguides: More than just Lake Murray.

My life in 15 seconds: Grew up in Cola (er, Blythewood) ➡️ UofSC ➡️ Charlotte ➡️ married ➡️ back to Cola (er, my husband’s house in Lexington – where I was not thrilled to be, at first).

Don’t get me wrong, I love Columbia, but Lexington took some time to grow on me… basically because of my misconception of it as “the ‘burbs” + I had no idea how much it had to offer.

With a ton of new development happening, a current population of ~260K + a projected population of half a million by 2050 (21K of that estimated to come by 2021), Lexington is quickly becoming one of the fastest growing cities in the Midlands. In the next five years, Lexington is expected to account for nearly half of the population in the entire Midlands area.

So: Don’t sleep on Lexington. In fact, go spend the weekend there. I’ve been doing some L-town soul searching over the last 7 months + put together a list of my fav local hotspots that you have to try when you’re ready to broaden your horizons + venture outside of Soda City. ⬇️

🗓 Friday

7 p.m. (you missed any type of happy hour specials because you sat in traffic on 378 for 45 mins 🤦‍) // Drink | Keg Cowboy: “no crap on tap” + laid-back. 🍻 Sit at the bar and order a draft pint + ‘pimp cheese’ (housemade pimento cheese + ‘pickled stuff’) while you plan your next move. // Bonus points if you can find the COLAtoday sticker on the wall.

8 p.m. // Dish | The Root Cellar: modern food, Southern twist. Someone in that kitchen is a genius. Everything is made-from-scratch with fresh ingredients from local growers. Pro tip: Order the deviled eggs as your app + the pick-4 veggie plate as your entree. The veggie sides are so good it’s impossible to pick just one with a normal meat entree.

Alt // Show | Ice House Amphitheatre: A new 900-seat venue right off Main St. that hosts community events, live concerts + free movies on a big screen. Hit it up when possible. (Check their events. A couple of weeks ago, Edwin McCain performed there.)

🗓 Saturday

8:30 a.m. // Drink | ☕️ The Haven House is an adorable coffee shop on Main St. Pop-in to grab something iced (my pick: hazelnut latte) + one of their mini bagel sandwiches. Then walk over to the Farmer’s Market. ⬇️

9 a.m. // MustDo | Town of Lexington Farmers Market is the every-Saturday-morning-ritual for locals (equivalent to Soda City). 🍅 The ~20 vendors range from fresh produce to handmade cornhole bags. // 👨‍👩‍👧 Pro tip: If you have kids + their energy is kicking in – Virginia Hylton Park (behind City Hall + across the street from the market), has a huge swing set, trails, etc. for them to run around in before the temperature turns blazing.

Facebook photo via Town of Lexington, SC Farmers Market

10:30 a.m. // TheBuy | Pick up a gift for your next housewarming party/kids birthday/S.O.’s mom’s retirement bash at Blush Boutique, Rustic Chic Interiors, Craig Reagin Clothiers, or James & Eloise – all local + exclusive to L-town.

1 p.m. // Dish | Stop in for lunch at 🐟 Poke Bros. – the Midlands’ second location of ‘sushi in a bowl.’ Clean Eatz is another great spot if you’re on that healthy eating lifestyle. 🍆 Meh.

2-6 p.m. // Play | Lake Murray | If you don’t have a boat, become best friends with someone who has a boat. 🚤 Miss Murray is literally in your backyard. The only place I want to be in this heat is chillin’ on a giant inflatable turtle in the cool water.

7:30 p.m. // Dish | Three words: Alodia’s Cucina Italiana. 🍝 Y’all, this place is worth the drive from Cola. They were recently mentioned in an article as one of ‘9 Wildly Famous Restaurants In South Carolina That Are Totally Worth The Hullabaloo.’ Order everything (like me my first time there): mussels, fried mozzarella, bruschetta + calamari. Pro tip: The tuna carpaccio is the best tuna I’ve ever had. (Also, they serve brunch. 💯)

🗓 Sunday

10:30 a.m. // Brunch | Arkos (recent winner of the best margarita in the Midlands competition) has hands-down one of the best brunches around. I don’t usually eat meat, but I went ham on their fried chicken + waffles (with rosemary gravy + bourbon-pecan maple syrup).

12 p.m. // MustDo | Grocery shopping for the week’s meal prep at Lowes Foods. This place isn’t like a regular grocery store, it’s a cool grocery store. A.k.a. you can shop with a (fresh-squeezed OJ) mimosa in-hand. 🍊 #SundayFunday for adults, amiright?

8 p.m. // Active | Walk the Lake Murray dam. Despite the cars zooming by, it’s peaceful + the sunset over the water is beautiful. 🌅 If you look in the opposite direction, you can still see the Cola skyline in the distance.

There’s way too much to do in Lexington to spend only one weekend there. When you go back for more, I’ve got a bunch of other things for you to try out: 🍻 Old Mill Brew Pub, 🍴Momma Rabbits Nibbles and Sips, 🍺 Casual Pint, ⚾️ Lexington Blowfish game (they do Dog Day Tuesdays), 🥕14 Carrot Whole Foods, 🍷 Winery at Mercer House (they’re having a sweet TSE event, The Grape Eclipse).

What are your favorite spots in Lexington? Let us know so we can add them to our to-do list.

–Sam