All Aboard the Children's Christmas Express!  

Spice up your holiday family traditions with a festive evening on the Columbia Star Dinner Train's Children's Christmas Express. For a second year in a row, David Tenny of the Columbia Star Dinner Train invites children of all ages to believe in the wonder and magic of Christmas the first three weeks in December. Families will enjoy a chorus of Christmas carols lead by Mrs. Claus herself, fruit, cookies, pound cake and hot chocolate as they make their way to Hallsville to pick up old Saint Nick on a vintage 1950s locomotive. Every child will receive a gift bag filled with holiday goodies and get to sit on Santa's lap to personally deliver their Christmas "wish list." The Children's Christmas Express will be winding through the Missouri countryside for two-hour holiday excursions Mondays through Thursdays, from 5:30-7:30 p.m., beginning December 3 and concluding December 20. Tickets for the Express are $28 for kids and $52 for adults. The Christmas Express will sell out fast, so make your reservations today. For a complete Christmas Express schedule, and to reserve your family's spot for what could become a new Christmas tradition, visit www.DinnerTrain.com or call 573-474-2223.

For holiday events in The District (Columbia's historic downtown), including the Living Windows Festival on Friday, Dec. 7 and First NIght Columbia on New Year's Eve, visit DiscoverTheDistrict.com.  

Columbia features a mix of small town charm and friendliness with the amenities and cultural offerings of a big city. There is always something exciting to see and do in Columbia, so for more information on these events and other ways to have fun in Columbia, please contact Megan McConachie, Communications Manager, at the Columbia Convention and Visitors Bureau at 800-652-0987 or at VisitColumbiaMO.com.  

Attention Media: Let us play host and show you around Columbia. To schedule a press trip, please contact Marjorie Beenders, Jo Duncan, or Kyle Stewart. For more information, media assistance or high-resolution photos, please call The Beenders-Walker Group toll-free at 800-544-8474 or email Marjorie, Kyle or Jo.