Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

Tonight it's time for one of my "out of area" posts, which is the category into which I throw everything that's not Columbia or The Grand Strand. I was trying to get some pictures I took back in February into shape to upload, and came across these of Topsy Smith's Topsy's Downtown Gulf on Centre Street in Fernandina Beach.

This was where we always got our gas when we were visiting Fernandina, and where we got our car worked on when we needed it. (In those bygone days, driving US-301 all the way to Florida could take a lot out of a car). The station was around the corner from my Aunt's house and I'm sure I walked past it most every day I was there, either going to the Atlantic Avenue park, or just generally wandering around town (as kids could do in those times). this appreciation of Topsy Smith says that his was one of the only two stations in town at the time, and I can believe it, at least for the town proper -- I'm sure there was something way out on 8th street as well. It had the drive-over air hoses that would 'ding' as you pulled in (a sound you don't hear anymore) and which would alert the service staff to come out, pump your gas, wash your windows, check the radiator and battery levels and inspect your tires.

The linked article says that Smith retired in 1997, though I suspect it may be off a little as this link says that an operation called Richard's BP took out an SBA loan in 1996.

After the follow-on BP station went under, the building didn't really settle on anything solid. I believe it was a bike-rental operation at one time, and then the last business in there, the remnants of which were still visible, was a beachwear/casual-wear store called apparently Island Breeze Shop. I don't believe that lasted any longer than one season, and the building is currently still empty.

I see that Topsy Smith is remembered yearly at the Shrimp Festival with The Topsy Smith Memorial Beard Contest

UPDATE 21 July 2010 -- Apparently it's going to be a Philly cheese-steak operation next:

UPDATE 3 January 2012 -- Well, the Philly Cheese-steak thing didn't last long at all, and it was in a state of tear-down last time I went through (Aug 2011). There were also scooters there, though I saw no sign of anyone actively offering them for rental:

UPDATE 4 March 2012 -- It's now a burger joint called Tasty's. Note how the logo looks like an oldtime Gulf sign:

Well, that was fun!

Normal posting should resume today barring any work emergencies piled up in the last 3 weeks.
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Stage 3 of my summer vacation starts today -- posting will be light to non-existent for the next three weeks, so chat amongst yourselves!

Mimi's Cafe was a very nice little restaurant on the edge of James Island. The building itself wasn't much and parking was impossible, but the setting was extraordinary with the porch and deck looking out over a beautiful salt-marsh. It was a great place to have a meal (with an excellent creme brule for desert!) and then just sit for a while and soak in the atmosphere.

I had seen a report somewhere that Mimi's was closing and that a new restaurant was going into the building, but I figured that if the food were even half decent, there was no way to ruin the location and I planned to go by for lunch on my recent trip to the Holy City.

As it turns out, there is a way to ruin that location -- a kitchen fire. (One of that story's comments suggests the headline: Boathouse Parking Problem Solved...).

Obviously I ended up eating lunch elsewhere!

I hope they can rebuild though the city notice suggests a rocky start.

Well, I'm on the road, so posting may be erratic the next few days, but I thought this one was interesting. I think I've been off of most of the I-26 exits between Columbia and Charleston at one time or another, but I don't think I'd ever taken exit 165/Bowman until today. Actually that's probably because there isn't really anything there, at least going west, except one rather lower-tier gas station / convenience store -- and a honking big open lot across the street that was obviously a Shell / Blimpie / truck stop at one time in the recent past.

I didn't really expect to be able to find out anything about it, but Google is a strange and wonderful bird, and searching "I-26" "exit 165" Blimpie immediately pulled up the going-out-of-business auction info for the place:

Going Out of Business Auction
10:00 AM May 17, 2008
Rain or Shine

Bowman Shell - Food Mart
GOING OUT OF BUSINESS AUCTION
Selling contents of business. Property has been sold.
This sale will be a combination of restaurant equipment plus (Blimpie Sub Shop Equipment), and gas pumps, diesel pumps, walk-in coolers, canopies, signs, a pickup, and many other items.
Inspection-May 16, 2008 12:00 PM - 6:00 PM and on the Day of Sale from 8 a.m. until Sale Time

Interesting that Property has been sold, but almost a year on, there's still nothing happening with it.

Welcome Facebook users 11 July 2017: I see a lot of hits on this old page from Facebook today. Welcome to Columbia Closings. Normally this site focuses on Columbia South Carolina, but there are some other Fernandina pages you may be interested in:

A1A Gas Mart, 816 South 8th Street (Fernandina Beach FL)

Amelia Con 2014, Fernandina Beach Florida

Amelia Con 2016, Fernandina Beach Florida

Island Cinema 7, 1132 14th Street (Fernandina Beach FL)

Kmart, 1525 Sadler Road (Fernandina Beach)

O'Kane's Irish Pub And Eatery, 318 Centre Street (Fernandina Beach)

Sonny's Real Pit Bar-B-Q 2742 South 8th Street, Fernandina Beach FL

Topsy's Downtown Gulf, 710 Centre Street (Fernandina Beach)

A1A Gas Mart, 816 South 8th Street (Fernandina Beach FL)

Indian River Fruit Stand, A1A (Yulee Florida)

And check the Alphabetical Closings page for other Florida references.

And now back to the original post:

Well, I'm on the road, and didn't get all the pictures I wanted to take done beforehand, so I'm going to throw in a few ringers this week.

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Brookgreen Gardens is the famous sculpture garden established by Ann Hyatt Huntington just below Murrells Inlet in the 1930s. It has changed a lot the early days. For one thing the old style zoo with animals in concrete, steel-barred cages is long since reformed, for another it is no longer in the boonies, accessible from the South only by ferry, but is in the heart of a bustling tourist mecca.

I think that on the whole, the park organization has managed the change well while staying true to the Gardens' heritage. One of their most recent innovations is the holiday Nights of 1000 Candles which frames the Gardens' statuary and pools with light (candle and otherwise) and provides entertainment and dining among the magic settings.

These pictures were taken on the middle weekend of this year's Nights, Friday 12 December. The night was cold, though not as cold as two years ago and the skies were clear with a full moon. In the past, I have tried shooting ISO 800 film at the event with mixed results. Since I was happy with the way a lot of the 2008 State Fair closing-cam night shots turned out, I decided to try that this year. Some shots were interesting, but on the whole the results were fairly unimpressive: Neon is a lot better light than candles and pinlights. I've got a Panasonic DMC-LX3S to put under my tree this Christmas -- perhaps I'll try that next year.

Photos follow the jump.

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Well, that was nice!

Normal posting should resume today..

Well, Phase II of summer vacation starts today, and I'll be out of town for a good little while. I'll try to check things often enough to keep comment-spam to a minimum, and I've got some pictures for updates to various posts I may get around to uploading. I may possibly make a post or two, but realistically -- probably not! Feel free to chat amongst yourselves.

First-time visitors may want to check the alphabetical list of closings or the archives and categories on the right side of your screen.

(7 Jan 2011):

11 April 2011:

This Krispy Kreme on US Highway 17 in Garden City had been there since forever (although it was obviously converted from a gas station at some time in the past). We used to badger our parents into stopping there from time to time growing up. It had the interesting distinction of being the only Krispy Kreme store I know of which didn't make its own doughnuts. Honestly, what is the Krispy Kreme concept without the Hot Doughnuts Now! sign? Not that they were stale, there are at least three stores up the road in Myrtle Beach that make hot ones and could supply this store on a same-day basis.

From the note, it appears that the whole "dead plaza" area around this store is to be re-developed, which w accounts for the Krispy Kreme and the auto-parts store both losing their leases. I suppose you could say re-development started a few years ago with the new Walgreens in the same block.

I was a bit surprised to see that the new Krispy Kreme location (a few blocks North, still on US-17) still doesn't make its own doughnuts.

UPDATE 3 September 2012: Added pix from 7 January 2011.

UPDATE 26 Jan 2013: Add pix from 11 April 2011.

UPDATE 4 April 2012 -- The place is now open, completely remodeled, as a Verizon store:

Also, the first new Krispy Kreme location mentioned above (north of here on the west side of the road) has now moved across the street to the east side of US-17 and *does* now make its own doughnuts, with the requisite Hot Doughnuts Now sign.

UPDATE 13 March 2025: Updating tags, putting real street address in post title and adding map icon.