Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

Commenter Joelc points out that The Cockpit on Berryhill road has shut down, or has been shut down.

This club was the follow-on operation to The Village Tavern, which closed in 2010. When Joelc mentioned a murder at the club as a factor in shutting it down, I did a google search, and was rather astonished to find that in fact there were *two* murders at the club, one in the parking lot, and one inside. The first happened in February 2014 and the alleged perpetrator has been arrested. The second happened in June 2014, was inside the bar, and (at the time the article was written) nobody was arrested.

(Hat tip to commenter Joelc)

Celtic band Cu Dubh.

So, I thought at first I had made a big mistake heading up to the Carolina Renaissance Festival last weekend. It was a cold and rainy Halloween when I hit the road, and I awoke Saturday to find out that Snowpocalypse had hit the Midlands while I was gone and that it was cold, rainy, wet and miserable in Huntersville.

Fortunately, although I had to use the wipers driving out to the festival grounds, but the time I got there, it had stopped raining and was just cold and miserable. Obviously the crowds were thin, but the performers gave it a good go and the sun finally did peek out during the late afternoon giving them (and me) some relief. Sunday, however was gorgeous, and all these pictures date from then.

It seemed to me that a good portion of the performers were back from last year, but there were some new faces as well. As before, everybody had a very polished and entertaining line of patter and were quick to improv as circumstances demanded. There are plenty of kid centric and family friendly shows as well as more ribald "loose cannon" performances for those of us a bit longer in the tooth.

The festival continues on weekends through 23 November and it's a great way to spend a (hopefully sunny!) Fall afternoon.

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I noticed on my latest trip to Very's that the hydroponic gardening store in the same Two Notch plaza, All Good Hydroponics was gone and a thrift store was in its spot. The phonebook suggests that this happened sometime last year as they don't list in the 2014 edition.

For me, the term hydroponics has always reeked of science fiction as it was a common element in many books about life on space ships and space stations. Usually it was described as a thankless task that got assigned to hapless crew memebers as KP was assigned in books about army life. Visually, I would always think about those trays the Robinsons would grow food in on Lost In Space during those long planet-bound blocks of episodes where the budget didn't allow any actual spaceflight effects...

I thought I had a picture of this place in operation, but find I can't put my hands on it now.

This Richland Mall storefront is the old Eckerd's location, and I believe that up until the time Posh Pets grooming moved in, it had been vacant since the closing of that store. I am also pretty sure that for some reason, while it was Posh Pets the location had no interior signage or mall access.

I believe that Posh was only here for a year or two and has sinced moved out to Fort Jackson Boulevard and Sparkleberry.

UPDATE 11 November 2014 -- Here are those pictures I was looking for with the place in operation:

The Carolina's restaurant building at the Gervais Street Clarion is being razed as part of the upfitting of the property to become a dual branded Hilton Garden Inn / Home 2 Suites.

I never went there though over the years I heard it advertised many times, especially with New Years Eve packages at the hotel. I'm not sure exactly where the fancy spiral staircase fit in, but it doesn't seem like the sort of thing you would usually find in a hotel restaurant.

The State notes that the hotel was Sherman's Columbia headquarters and is a historic site. I confess I'm a bit confused about exactly what part of the property dates back that far. Surely the actual hotel building on Gervais is not that old.

(Hat tip to commenter badger)

UPDATE 4 November 2014 -- I had originaly titled this post Carolina's Restaurant, but according to the comments, that restaurant is still in service as part of the hotel proper:

The restaurant itself is still open. It closed temporarily during the construction, and then re-opened. The images that you've posted above were not the actual Carolina's Restaurant. That's actually inside the Clarion Hotel. That building was for banquet halls, conventions, and that sort of thing.

UPDATE 13 November 2018 -- Four years later and work is still ongoing, though things are shaping up:

I noticed when I was taking pictures of Cycle Center that this adjacent Sammi's Deli had also closed, presumably due to the same fire.

It appears to me that some work has gone on, or is going on to rehabilitate the space. There are no signs indicating one way or the other, but perhaps this place will be back eventually.

Checking my phonebooks, I see that Advance On Checks goes back at least to 2005, which really surprised me as I had not noticed in all that time that Hursey's Trading Post was gone. I never stopped in there, but I remember the signs that cheerfully promised loans on any item "except guns".

The real estate listing says this little building at the southwest corner of Two Notch & Beltline dates back to 1960, and looking at it, I can believe that. I also believe it must have been some sort of restaurnat at one time, but I have absolutely no memory of what it might have been.

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As reported by commenter John R, this former Carolina Wings & Rib House is now, once again, ... a Carolina Wings & Rib House.

The rebranding as Daddy Mac's lasted somewhat less than a year.

(Hat tip to commenter John R)

Monterrey Knox Abbott are now closed and are working on their new location in the old Zeus Pizza location in Parkland Plaza (not Parklane Plaza). I believe this location started as a Denny's, though according to Monterrey's closing sign, they were here for 26 years, which is no small run for a restaurant.

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