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Lance Zaal purchased a bus and launched Drink Williamsburg in 2016.
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Drink Williamsburg offers transportation, tours and tastings to select breweries, distilleries and wineries in the Greater Williamsburg area. The bus seats up to 14 passengers, and private groups can also customize their own tour. Drink Williamsburg operates daily year-round with each tour lasting roughly four hours. It is ideal for birthday parties, bachelor or bachelorette parties, corporate functions and other group gatherings.
Hollis Long of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and five high school friends used Drink Williamsburg’s services recently in honor of all the women’s 60th birthdays.
“We were looking for a place to celebrate, and we thought it would be a great idea to do a winery tour,” Long said. “We had an excellent time.”
Lance Zaal, founder and owner of Drink Williamsburg says he wanted to make it easy, safe and fun for guests to explore and enjoy all the different places. “We are not a party bus,” he said. “It’s not about getting intoxicated, but rather about the education and the background and stories of these craft beverage businesses and what makes each unique.”
The business stemmed from Zaal’s initial experiences hosting annual bar crawls in downtown Williamsburg a few years ago. He purchased a bus and launched Drink Williamsburg in 2016. Currently, three drivers rotate taking guests to their destinations. Eventually, Zaal would like to add more stops and more behind-the-scenes tours as part of Drink Williamsburg.
Zaal is also owner of King of Clubs Brewing Company, which specializes in coffee and kombucha. King of Clubs Brewing Company plans to add alcoholic kombucha to its range of products making it the first of its kind in Virginia, and another highlight for Drink Williamsburg.
“We are adding a new element of fun and giving Williamsburg that cool factor, which I think is what we need,” Zaal said.