Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

I noticed on my recent trip to the beach that this golf store in Litchfield Beach had closed. I'm not a golfer, so I never went inside, but they always had a note on their sign to the effect of "Come see the train", so I was tempted to stop every now and then just to see what it was.

This article from the Sun News says that the owner passed a few years ago and that his wife was continuing to run the store with a daughter, so perhaps she has now retired.

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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.

I noticed on my last trip to Fernandina, that this old-school Dairy Queen on historic Florida Route A1A, just off of I-95 in Yulee Florida was closed. (You can see it, poorly, in operation in the first shot).

If I had to guess a cause, it would be the interminable road construction on this stretch of A1A, which has made this parking lot almost inaccessible, especially if west bound. Of course the walk-up design has its drawbacks as well: One review advises eating in your car to avoid the no-see-ums.

For now the nearby produce & souvenir stand is holding on despite the acess problems. I would be sad to see that go, as it has been there forever, and always has good citrus & candies.

UPDATE 12 June 2024: Update tags.

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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.

Today's closing comes courtesy of commenter James R who writes (in a note I lost track of for quite a while...):

An out of the area closing, but I thought you might like the
pictures anyway. Facebook says it closed in 2011.

He links to his Google Photo set of pictures of the place, from which the top picture comes. The pictures put me in the mind a bit of Main Beach Arcade in Fernandina Beach.

There is also a Facebook page devoted to the park, with many more photos, including some of it in operation.

Here's what I've been able to find out online (mainly here and here): The park is on Hatteras Island in the Outer Banks, was built in the 1980s, and operated until 2010. At that time, one of the owners passed away, and the place was closed. It was intended to be temporary as the family dealt with the situation, but in the meantime, Hurricane Irene hit in 2011 doing enough damage that the park could not simply re-open. Since that time it has sat vacant with the family putting in just enough money to fence it off and handle the worst safety issues. A local civic association has tried to buy the park property several times, but as of early this year, that had not happened.

(Hat tip to commenter James R)