Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

Well, it's time for a 2010 retrospective, as seen through the posts here on Columbia Closings!

I've looked over every post I made in 2010 and have picked out 20 as the best. Of course best is a very subjective judgement. In many cases, these are the posts which got the most comments over the course of the year, marking them as your favorites. In some other cases, they may not have gotten a single comment, but I really like them for one reason or another.

Let's hope I make it to the end this time! The first time I started this post, I found that no, my laptop cord wasn't actually plugged in, and that in fact, computers work better with electricity..

1) (Meet Me At) Tapps (posted 18 Jan 2010)

2) Chick-Fil-A, Dutch Square (posted 21 Jan 2010)

3) Hi Hatt Drive In aka The Hi Hatt Club (posted 14 Feb 2010)

4) The Factory Outlets (posted 16 March 2010)

5) Campus Club South / Swensen's (posted 16 April 2010)

6) The Whale's Tail (posted 16 May 2010)

7) McKenzie Beach Motel (posted 6 June 2010)

8) Brickyard Shopping Center (posted 21 June 2010)

9) Roper Pond / Lily Pond (posted 10 July 2010)

10) Correct Alignment (posted 12 July 2010)

12) The Heart of Columbia Motel (posted 28 July 2010)

13) Tumbleweeds (posted 30 July 2010)

14) Oliver's Lodge, Murrells Inlet (posted 24 August 2010)

15) Richland Mall, The Map (posted 4 September 2010)

16) Something's Happening Here (Intersection Center) (posted 7 Sep 2010)

17) State Fair 2010 (posted 25 October 2010)

18) Sesame Inn (posted 30 October 2010)

19) Maudy's Bosom (posted 23 November 2010)

20) Boardwalk Plaza (posted 1 December 2010)

Here's the top 100 keyword searches that brought visitors to Columbia Closings in 2010. Some make sense, some are a little surprising, for instance, all the interest in Stewart Sandwiches. I think I have generally sanitized the names of non-public-figures.

Nope, still on vacation with no new closings, but I thought I would note that three years ago today, 29 December 2007, I made the first posting on Columbia Closings.

It was a "Mission Statement" that codified the somewhat nebulous ideas I had for what I wanted to do here.

The first actual "closing" I posted was for Al-Amir on Devine Street, a space that as fate would have it is again vacant as I write this.

Before those first postings, there were several months of a vague feeling that I wanted to be doing something on the internet, culminating in a bit of an inspiration flash, when the domain-name came to me. When it proved to be available, there was figuring out hosting with GoDaddy, installing WordPress, figuring out how that worked, working out the html for doing pictures the way I wanted to and finally figuring out something to say.

Today, according to WordPress statistics, I've made 904 posts, and I plan to keep on for the foreseeable future. It hasn't brought vast wealth or world domination, but I've had fun, and I want to thank all of you who read and comment on these posts, and often as not set me straight!

I think that's it for this year, folks. I may get a year-in-review post up around New Years, otherwise, Merry Christmas and enjoy the holidays!

This little storefront next to Mr. B's has been a number of things over the years.

In 1999, it was apparently a pool hall called Rookie Billiards, which applied for a beer and wine permit, unsuccessfully.

Most recently, it was Gardenia's Restaurant, and appears in this year's phonebook. I don't know when exactly it closed, but there are still chairs and tables inside.

I don't know what was wrong with the old ones -- I used them just a month or so ago, and they seemed fine, but the Kangaroo Express in front of Trenholm Park (and across from Keith's K&A Automotive) spent several days taking out the old ones and putting in these. Maybe they needed something that goes above $9.99 per gallon..

UPDATE 10 May 2016 -- Well, I'm not going to post about every Kangaroo becoming a Circle K, but since I already had this post, I thought I would note the transition:

Wonder what happened to all the people who paid for the "'Roo Mugs" promotion?