Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

Then here is where your money is going:

A pair of old sewer lines are being replaced by a single, larger sewer line. It will run between Forest Drive and the Quail Lane sewage pump station, near Little Lake Katherine.

Not a closing, and not a complaint, I just wondered what was going on behind Trenholm Plaza, and that's the answer. I had thought perhaps it was the start of a greenway or something.

This old school used book store was on the upper level of the Old Mill on US-1 in Lexington. I stopped by back in May when I was having lunch at the brewpub. They had a nice selection of SF -- I even picked up some A. E. Van Vogt in French. Not that I could read them. At one time I probably had a grade-school understanding, but that's long gone. At any rate though, he always said he was more popular in France than the US because his translations were done by a French poet. They're certainly not exemplary prose in English, but that Van Vogt dream logic pulls you in..

The later pictures are from August.

There is a nice little farewell message on the shop's Facebook Page.

(Hat tip to commenter James R)

It looks like the last tenant in this Sunset Boulevard suite in Lexington was Gateway Supply, a "plumbing and HVAC supply wholesaler". According to this story from August 2016, they have moved to a newly built location at Whiteford Way and North Lake Drive with this building being purchased by Cason Development Group for redevelopment -- the signs of which you can see in these pictures.

Some googling suggessts that before Gateway, the building was divided into two suites with Southern Living Rooms & More being in Suite A, and audiologists Hearing Associates of SC in Suite B.

As reported by commener MB, Sunset Tax Services in West Columbia has closed. They were the follow-on operation in this building to My Best Cleaners. According to commenter James, Sunset opened here in late 2013.

(Hat tip to commenter MB)

Well, unsurprisingly, most of my pictures didn't turn out at all, and these are pretty poor, but it was an impressive, if brief, moment here in the capital city. As totality approached, the street lights turned on, evening birds took wing, and the one car on the road had headlights lit.

There was a very light sprinkle ahead of totality, but during that brief interval itself, the clouds actually parted, and we all got to ooh and ahh at the firey crona around the occluded disk. Somewhere in the distance, fireworks started..

As mentioned by commenter Andrew, here is another McDonald's undergoing upfit to the new style. This one is on the Charleston Highway adjacent to the recently closed Church's Chicken. The setup with two signs seems a little unusual to me, but perhaps I just haven't been paying attention.

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

UPDATE 7 February 2018 -- As mentioned in the comments, this store is open again:

According to The State, this North Main towing operation caught fire on 24 February 2017:

Columbia fire crews arrived at Sandy Run Towing at 3610 North Main just before midnight. They worked for more than two hours to put out the flames.

There were no injuries, but the building and the cars inside were a complete loss

Man! You've already had a bad day when you car gets towed. Now imagine it getting caramelized on top of that..

From the sign, it appears that they have now relocated.

UPDATE 19 January 2018 -- This building has been razed:

When I was in Triangle City a couple of weekends ago, and trying to turn around and go back for some pictures of a place I had just driven past, I noticed this empty building on C Avenue. Some googling suggests it was an interior design operation. The website is still active here. Since their picture shows the Metanoia signage, I guess that was the DBA name.

This former daycare is well back from the road around where Old Bush River splits off from Saint Andrews road.

It appears to have been part of a chain of such centers, with other locations remaining open.

There is always something especially sad about an abandoned playground.

(Hat tip to commenter IrmoJeff)