Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

When I was getting pictures for Books A Million I noticed that the J Peters building was vacant as well. I figured they had gone under during the great plague of 2020, but a little research established that, in fact, they have moved to a better waterfront location on the Marsh Walk in Murrells Inlet.

This building was originally an Applebee’s, and I ate there a number of times, though I was more likely to go to the adjacent T.G.I. Friday's. Applebee's have had their own trouble over the past few years and have closed a number of locations. This one apparently went under in August 2017. Here is a 2017 Sun News story about the closing of Applebee's and the opening of J Peters. I can't find a story on the move to the waterfront, but based on reviews, I would say it was about August of 2020.

In the meantime, this is one more vacancy in the Inlet Square vicinity.

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I had not realized that Flo's Place in Murrells Inlet was closed until I drove by recently and saw a different sign. I never ate there myself, not being a big seafood fan, but an aunt did, and declared the place "fun". Last week I was able to google up a news article to the efect that the owners were retiring, but today I can't find that information. I do see a listing for an auction of the quirky decor, which took place in early 2019, leading me to put the closing date as late in 2018 (and there are reviews up through September 2018).

Here is a 2017 Sun News article on Flo's in operation.

The space is now American Steak & Oyster Bar.

Kangaroo was bought out by Circle K several years ago, and in the Midlands, most stores transitioned some time ago.

This one, in Murrells Inlet held on for some reason, though as you can see the gas canopy recently underwent the re-branding. As I was driving by, I noticed the boxed sign out front which would complete the switch, and I expect next time I get down to the area, Kangaroo will have hopped away.

UPDATE 20 August 2020: Add "Reflagged" to the post title to note this is basically a branding change.

Due to scheduling issues of one sort and another, I did not get to Brookgreen Gardens Nights of 1000 Candles in 2019, so I was looking forward to seeing the Bruce Munro Southern Light installation this Spring. Well, then there was, of course, COVID-19, and that was put on hold for a while.

Now however, the display is up and running, and I found a chance to take it in on 6 June 2020. It was one of those unseasonably cool nights we have had this Spring, so the bugs were down, but it was still very comfortable, and there was also a beautiful full moon to go with the lights. My favorite part was towards the last of this set of pictures, a profusion of small color-changing bulbs on stalks planted across one of the more open and less sculpture-studded sections of the gardens. I felt as though I could probably have sat out there for some hours, but as the display closes at 11pm, I had to move on out before I was quite ready.

The exhibition runs from 8pm-11pm through September, so if you are in the area, it's well worth checking out.

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I enjoy goofy tourist attractions (one reason I like Florida so much) and had been marginally aware of Snake River over the years but it was too far North to be a mini-golf destination for us, and I had never stopped by. Last time I was in the area, I noticed it had shut down, and got these pictures.

Judging by the Google reviews, this place was already on its last legs when it closed sometime around last August and the course as decribed doesn't actually sound much different from the state I found it in! Interestingly, none of the reviews I saw mentioned anything about the gem & fossil mining side of the attraction.

There is more to the course, but while I was walking around, I noticed a car parked in the main building area, and decided to not go over there.

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I don't know much about the Freebird Lounge other than it occupied a very distinctive building on the east side of US-17 south of the Sampit river bridge in Georgetown. I would often note it as I drove to Charleston. In the years when the signage was still up, there always seemed to be a table lamp visible through an upstairs window at night.

The lounge has been closed for some years -- I'm going to say since sometime in the 90s, and I noticed last year that the building itself was for sale. I haven't driven that way in a while, so I can't say what the current status is.

Well, this is an unpleasant surprise!

I had been going to Pastaria 811 since they opened in the Litchfield Exchange (replacing some sort of deli) back in the 90s. Actually I would have guessed it was longer ago than that, but their sign claims 25 years so..

They had the second best pizza in South Carolina, great bread, and good general Italian dishes. They moved to this, more visible, location several years ago after Austin's closed up shop, and always seemed to be doing a good business as far as I could tell. I think I was last there in early August, and had the usual good experience.

We tried to go by last week, and found it closed, but thought Well, the holidays.. as there was no indication of a permanent closure, but looking it up online found the website gone, and reports on Yelp that the place was no more.

As you can see, there are still no visible indications. The celebratory 25 years banner is still up, there is no sign on the door, and the rockers are still on the porch. The windows are so heavily tinted that I could not see inside, so I'm not sure what the status of the interior is.

Daggone it.

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Back in March, I found myself driving to the beach on the North route, and much earlier than usual so that it was still daylight when I hit Florence. Just East of Aynor the road conditions sign was declaring heavy traffic ahead on US-501. I doubted that was really the case so early in the year, but decided to take the way-North route of SC-22 and finally get a chance to hit Rossi's Italian for dinner, something I had been meaning to do for many years, but, generally being on the South Strand, had never gotten around to.

Well, it seems I should have gotten around to it earlier as I found the place gone.

A media search found two stories on the closing, one from WFMB and one from The Sun News.

Apparently Rossi's closed in November of 2017 due to issues with the management of the Galleria plaza, where the restaurant had been located since its opening in 1983. The plan was to reopen at 7753 N. Kings Highway in April of 2018, but for some reason that never happened. I did find one Facebook reference to them pledging to "Try again", but nothing seems to have yet come to pass.

I guess if I have learned anything writing this blog, it's that when you think I ought to get around to that someday, you're asking for trouble if you don't.

Update 22 June 2023: Adding map icon and updating tags.