A bit of romance has come to downtown Tacoma just in time for those long summer nights ahead - horse-drawn carriage rides in the evening along Pacific Avenue.

Country Wagon Carriages, based in Graham, Wash., is providing the rides in a partnership with the Downtown Merchants Group (DMG) to be part of the DMGâ??s Live After Five  activities every Thursday night with the exception of June 28. On these nights, various retail businesses and restaurants stay open until 8 p.m. to offer a wide variety of specials, including discounts on merchandise and childrenâ??s activities, in an effort to attract more people downtown.

DMG President Patricia Lecy-Davis said bringing the horse-drawn carriage to downtown Tacoma parallels efforts by the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber and Business Improvement Area (BIA)  â??to get feet on the street, whether itâ??s horses, dogs, people, whatever, to get them outside, experiencing our downtown.â??

The carriage will be on the streets every Thursday night from 6-9 p.m. The price is $50 a carriage-load for a half-hour ride, which means that the cost can be split up among riders.

The carriage will use two pickup locations: in front of the Marriott Hotel at the corner of 15th and Commerce streets, and at the southern end of Pacific Avenue in front of the Matador restaurant. Reservations are accepted and can be made by calling Country Wagon at (253) 732-2077.

It can also be hailed from anywhere along Pacific; if itâ??s available, riders can hop on at the next available boarding place for an ambling city tour in the warm night air while waiting for their table to be ready at the restaurant, or when itâ??s time to kick back after dessert.

Thereâ??s a special offered to those thinking of popping the question to their intended: a 50 percent discount on rides for couples who buy their engagement rings from local jewelers like LeRoy Jewelers downtown.

Ten percent discount coupons are also available at local businesses like Embellish Salon, Buzzardâ??s CD and Video, and Headliners Salon and Studio.

The carriage is a white convertible vis-a-vis (French for â??face to faceâ??) with a burgundy interior that seats up to four passengers. On the inaugural night of the rides, June 7, the carriage was pulled by two 13-year-old horses, Holly and Bunny, sisters that are part quarter horse and part Percheron.

Country Wagon owner Tammy Sell drove the carriage that evening, and she said she had a great time doing it. â??I think it brings something special to downtown,â?? she commented. â??Itâ??s beautiful on Thursdays when everyone is out.â??

She described Country Wagonâ??s 38-acre ranch in Graham as â??an old dairy farmâ?? with lots of grazing and play areas so that â??the horses get to be horses when theyâ??re not working.â?? Country Wagon is a private-hire company that specializes in providing that extra touch of class with horse-drawn carriages at weddings and other occasions like anniversaries, birthdays, company parties and family reunions.

â??We love to give rides,â?? Sell remarked, and she did plenty of that last weekend at Meeker Days. On July 4, Country Wagons will show off its new white, horse-drawn funeral coach in the Anacortes Fourth of July parade. Country Wagons participates in the Puyallup Fair parade each year.

To get the carriage rides up and running in downtown Tacoma, the DMG is helping cover the startup costs for the first month. Lecy-Davis said the group is hoping other sponsors will step forward, such as hotels and restaurants, to help keep the carriage attraction going. She said such ventures take a â??leap of faithâ?? to get started, but if successful, the carriage rides would attract more customers to businesses and offer a nice amenity to tourists and business travelers.

â??Itâ??s a way to piggyback on othersâ?? ideas and efforts and to pool our resourcesâ?? to revitalize downtown Tacoma, said Lecy-Davis. â??If you get ten restaurants together paying $50 a week to help sustain it, youâ??ve got ten restaurants that can be hubs where people get on. Itâ??s all about sharing bodies, sharing excitement.â??

She said the carriage service could expand to weekends if enough interest is generated.

For more information, call (253) 732-2077 or visit www.countrywagon.com. For more information on Live After Five and other downtown events the DMG is involved in, visit www.downtowntacoma.com.