Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

I took in Brookgreen Gardens Nights Of A Thousand Candles on Wednesday 3 December this year. For a midweek showing, they had a pretty good crowd, though it being a school night, there were not a lot of kids.

At last year's event, the Garden Of The Muses was closed due to the start of construction on the Judith Wall Courtyard, which is nearly done this year. The part that was opened looked like it will be a nice addition with a restaurant patio overlooking the Muses. My impression is that the event this year was slightly smaller in scope than previously, with only one entertainment tent on the Christmas Tree side of the gardens, and with the food trucks being deployed near that rather than down the walkway to Pegasus. In addition there were no fire-pits for s'mores, which I had been looking forward to. The weather was pretty good: Crisp, but not so cold that my hands froze taking pictures, and there was a spectacular full moon.

There are still a good number of nights you can catch the festival during the rest of the year. You can (and must) get tickets at

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Cafe Strudel opened in this Lexington restaurant space in May of 2018, replacing (after a hiatus) Kovachi's.

The Cafe Strudel brand, which included this store and the original State Street location in West Columbia, was recently purchased from its founders by the Foundry Hospitality Group which will be retaining the original flagship and bringing a yet to be specified new concept to this spot.

Considering the the original location has been up since 1997, you might think I could have managed to stop by sometime in the last nigh unto 30 years, but in the event not yet.

You can read about the closing on ColaDaily or in The State.

(Hat tip to commenter James R)

Hope yours goes better than theirs!

Crafty Crab was one of Columbia's influx of crab-themed restaurants over the past several years, and replaced Tin Lizzy's Cantina in this Vista storefont. The recent Google reviews are interesting and share several themes, possibly pointing to the ultimate fate of the place, though I don't see any media articles on the closing.

The strip itself is quite busy: There was too much traffic to park and get a good shot of the place.

(Hat tip to commenter Larry)

I was unfamiliar with the Robbie D. Wood company, but it appears they are truckers who specialize in "hazardous waste transportation and chemical product transportation", and they are still in business.

It's not entirely clear when they left this Pineview Road location, but I have one indication that the site sold in April 2025. However it appears to be back on the market now, with a real estate sign which appears to correspond to this listing. The property is pretty deep, definitely much larger than it appears from the front.

(Hat tip to commenter Gypsie)

UPDATE 25 November 2025: Commenter Gypsie points out that it was actually commenter Badger who called out this closing. I blame it on my fingers: Bad fingers!

Pink Sorbet, , a Lilly Pulitzer Signature Store closed on 4 November, and you can read their farewell on Instagram or Facebook. I am not in the demographic, but the comments on Facebook show a well liked spot that will be missed.

(Hat tip to commenter Gypsie)

Or at least one my my pictures has been "borrowed" for an Internet meme:

I'm sure you can figure out which one it is...

For various reasons, I have been unable to get back to the Carolina Renaissance Festival in Huntersville for the past five years or so. Perhaps next year. In the meantime, I have been able to go to the Mythical & Medieval Fest in Socastee last year and this year.

It's definitely a smaller event, but still a nice way to spend an afternoon. In the event, Saturday was the last warm day in November, apparently, and I did not even need a sweater to be out and about on the grounds -- a far cry from this week!

I took in the saucy songs, juggling acts, broad comedy and fire dancers as well as checking out all the vendors. I would say that there seemed to be less local food this year. I had found some good local salsa last year, but did not see that farm booth Saturday.

The Sun News reports that the biker bar "The Rat Hole" has closed, and I infer that the event space for the festival, "RH Acres", was connected with that, so I am not sure if the festival will have a spot to unfold next year. We will have to see. At any rate the show is on for next weekend as well, so if you happen to be in the area, it's worth a look!

I noticed last weekend that the Shell convenience store in Five Points is closed. According to StreetView, it was open as recently as September of 2025, so I'm guessing it probably closed at the end of October. It hasn't been long anyway.

Never pay full price!

Put this one down to the changing craft beer landscape and South Carolina's new bar regulations. As I understand it, the saturation of the craft niche made operating a retail outlet iffy in the first place, while the difficulty of putting a kitchen in this building made transforming into a full restaurant problematic as well. Of at least that's my takeaway from the numerous articles about the closing.

I was not really aware of this place, despite it having been open for eight years, and admit I probably would not have visited knowing it was not a full restaurant.

Columbia Craft Brewing continues to operate as a brewery, and we will have to see what's next for this space.

You can read about in in The Post & Courier here & here, in The State, or on WIS or WLTX.

(Hat tip to commenter Gypsie)