Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

(Very fuzzy for some reason)

Well, the South Carolina State Fair has come and gone again. There was good weather this year, along with a couple of new features, lots of returning ones, and a few unwelcome omissions.

The new features that come to mind were a glassblowing exhibition in the side-court where the Steel Building used to be, a hall of counties in the building adjacent to that court and a new ticketing system.

For the first several years after tearing down the Steel Building, they didn't seem quite sure what to do with the space: One or two years it was dinosaurs, and after that I believe something else that is slipping my mind, but for the last few years it has settled into a sort of antique/frontier craft and artifact mode. The glassblower was from Augusta, I believe and made a decorative pumpkin while we watched. Glassblowing is always a bit like magic, and obviously takes a lot of skill and practice. There was also a working Tinsmith in the area, but I missed that showtime.

The Hall Of Counties I like in concept, but in execution it wasn't particularly compelling. It was nice to see a placard and pictures for every one of the South Carolina counties, but it was a bit dry. Maybe some videos would have spiced it up a bit. I was surprised at how few people some counties have (Only 8000 in Allendale!).

The midway ticketing system is now a card which the ride operators can read with a phone app, and which you can buy and refill at kiosks near the gates. Personally I don't like it, as you have to keep a mental count of how many "tickets" you have left rather than just being able to look. There seems to be a bit of ticket inflation going on as well with the new system as, for instance, the Sky Ride, which I believe in the past has been something like four tickets is now fifteen of the virtual tickets!

The returning features are all Fair staples, to include The Art Exhibition, The Cooking Contest winners, The Baby Duck Slide, Student Art, Prize Flowers, Fruits & Vegetables, and of course greasy food and rides...

The omissions include the sand sculpture and water fountains. I did not see the sculpture in any of the usual places, so I asked at the information booth, and the lady there said they did not have it this year, that everyone was asking, and everyone was sad about it. She offered the hope it would be back next year, so we'll see. I don't know what was going on with the water fountains, but almost every one in the grounds was turned off and flagged. A paranoid person might think it a plot to get us to buy overpriced bottles of water, but the ones at the bathroom in the new building at the south gate *were* active, so I don't know what was going on.

Anyway, as usual a fun experience. Hope you all were able to visit and had a good time!

The pictures are a bit of a mess as I started gathering them two different times, and am fairly sure there are a good number of duplicates, but you can just scroll right on by those...

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Well the State Fair has come and gone. No big surprises this year. The retro swing ride at the intersection of the central way and the North Midway corridor is still gone. I guess it won't be coming back. Somehow the baby duck slide survived another year, and we had some new greasy goodness with doughnut-burgers and Wisconsin fried cheese curds. Aprt from the sky ride, the Bumper Cars were the only place I spent my tickets this year, and there's (somewhat badly focused) video of that below. Those issues (really time for a new camera) are apparent in the skyway video above as well, but I think it gets the spirit of things.

As for the rest, if you've followed these posts, you know what I like, and I liked the same things this year. It's always nice to be out and about on the grounds after sundown!

Next year is coming..

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I never made it to Swamp Cabbage Brewery while it was open. I like a beer every now and again, but generally as dessert for a sit-down meal, so I usually stick to brewpubs. In point of fact it was actually hard to to locate this place, and I had to make two trips. It turns out that street numbers on Brookwood Drive are really odd, but after going home and consulting google maps, I finally got there, and found the setup still pretty much intact.

The Free Times had two stories about the closing, here and here.

(Hat tip to commenter MB)

Well, the South Carolina State Fair is once again over, and I'm sure they've already started tearing down the rides. The weather was good this year, not at all chilly, and the event seemed to me to be completely recovered from the dark days of 2020. If you have followed these posts over the the years, you know the kind of thing I like, and the Fair continued to provide that with plenty of neon, questionable foods, games where chance is not as big a factor as the players think, and happy crowds.

I did notice two specific changes this year on the Midway, where one of the swing attractions that I enjoy riding was missing. That one had kind of an antique look to the paneled artwork that provided a classy touch. I had to ride the Yo-Yo instead, which was OK, but not as good. The second change is that usually the side of the midway facing the stadium usually has some sort of log-flume or water ride, and I don't believe I saw one this year.

As was the case last year, the empty park where the Steel Building used to stand was a frontier village concept (unlike the dinosaur exhibit which has also occupied that space). They had a glass-blower, which is always interesting, but unfortunately I wandered through between shows.

The art building has been re-arranged, with the flower exhibit put in the back where the student art usually goes, along with some kind of huge Moon exhibit. Unfortunately I got to the flowers pretty late, so the blossoms were definitely not at their peak, and many had been removed though there were definitely still some nice ones. I've always wondered about the student art, as I don't recall any of our classes in elementary school being asked to enter work, and I don't believe my nieces' classes ever were either. Whereever it comes from, it's a bit daunting that the Kindergarteners are still better at it than I am.

The vendor building seemed a bit less packed than usual. In particular, I did not notice the jerky vendor who is usually there, and there didn't seem to be any vendors pushing cool new Christmas toys.

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I believe 2020 is the only South Carolina State Fair i have missed since starting the blog (and I had missed very few before that), so it was nice to get back this year.

There were a number of changes in this year's edition, both major and minor. The major change would have to be that the venerable grandstand, where numerous well known (if not then at their peak draw..) acts have performed over the years is gone. In its place was a circus Big Top tent where a free circus was performing several times daily. I don't know if this is a stopgap, or will be a permanent feature. Also this year, the performance tent generally set up to the left of the corridor leading to the agricultural displays was gone, and in its place was a set of bleachers in front of a space for small outdoor acts. When I was there, there was a torch-throwing duo working. (They had an amusing patter: Hey, maybe this isn't that impressive, but it's better than you coudl do!). To the right of the agricultural corridor, where there generally are bleachers and some sort of animal act like racing pigs, they have turned the orientation 90-degrees witht the bleachers backed up to the corridor and a covered stage up against the art building.. Where the Steel Building (which I still miss) once was, instead of the dinosaur park they have done the past several years, they had a collection of Frontier attractions, including a working glassblower. (Unfortunatey he was on break when I went by -- it's a fascinating thing to watch).

There were a few noticable changes on the Midway as well. Probably the biggest of these was the absence of the Log Flume from its usual spot near the southwest corner. To fill that spot, they moved one of the Bumper Car setups from its usual place on the north corridor. They also moved the junior Bumper Cars from the usual kids' midway to the central corridor. As an aside, it's something of a travesty that armband guests get expedited access to the rides over ticketed guests. When there are only 9 working Bumper Cars, and they fill 6 of them from the expedited line, it's just too much. I have the feeling that some of the fun-house/haunted-house attractions against the back wall were different this year not because I recall the names, but I think some of the carnival artwork I usually try to get pictures of was missing. Finally, the girl sitting in a big lemon selling lemonade at the west terminus of the skyway was gone this year. It's a silly thing, but I liked that lemon.

As far as I could tell, the crowd was of a typical size. I saved a bit of time pre-buying a ticket at Circle-K, but in the end I had to walk back to the car once because they did not like my camera belt carrying case. I think next year I will just stuff the case in my pocket as I go through the gate.

If you have followed these posts, you know what I like, and that hasn't changed. So there is plenty of neon and the usual yearly subjects past the break.

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I noticed the other day that this old McDonald's at the corner of Assembly & Rosewood across from the Fairgrounds is vacant. The last tenant was University Motor Company, which apparently moved in sometime around 2010, and in 2018 merged with Bluff Road Auto Sales with the combined operation at 1400 Bluff Road.

UPDATE 3 February 2023 -- Now Lyon's General Store:

I'm afraid I didn't get all the pictures I wanted at this year's State Fair. I usually get a bunch of neon shots at night back in the midway area, and a night video shot from the skyway. This year, it started to rain just as it was getting dark, and that put an end to the outdoor part of my visit.

I didn't notice any particular changes this year, other than that the dinosaur exhibit in the old Steel Building site was not back this year, and that the Rocket was done up in candy stripes for its 50th anniversary. This year was also the 150th anniversary of the fair as a whole, an occasion noted in the annual sand sculpture.

Anyway, it was fun, as usual, and I had my "fair food". Hopefully next year, I will get my normal assortment of pictures and video.

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So this year I had the theory that I would get to the Fair down Assembly Street. "It's a straight shot", I thought, "No left turns like Rosewood or Shop Road".

And three hours after leaving Forest Acres, I met my party at the Rocket.

If you've been following the blog for a while, you know the kinds of things I like, so the pictures won't be any surprise, but I still like 'em.

The handwriting computer and grey-market videos are still absent, otherwise the mix of exhibits and vendors is about the same as in recent years. I still miss the Steel Building, but the dinosaur park in its space seems popular with the kids.

Somehow, the baby duck slide made it through another year, and Fair Food still rules.

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Well, this is the 9th South Carolina State Fair post here, so you probably know the drill by now. I like what I like, and I take pictures of it. I moved some pictures around to provide an entrance sequence, but as you can tell, I actually ended up up at the fair on two different days this year. I still miss the Steel Building, which was a bit more down-market than the new commercial exhibits in the new art building annex. In particular, no grey market videos, and no handwriting computer. This year, the flowers were moved in with the art, and the agricultural exhibits moved across the way where the flowers used to be. I didn't get into the animal area, so I don't know if the baby duck slide was still running.

I think I was running the camera at ISO-800 this year, higher than previously, and I'm not entirely happy with the results as the frequent bright lights interspersed with the booths tended to drown out everything else.

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I actually went to take some pictures of this place a couple of years ago after driving past it one day and seeing absolutely no cars in the lot. In the event, it turned out to actually still be open at that time, if apparently having a very slow week. I wondered when I saw comenter badger's heads-up if that would be the case this time or not, but they are actually closed this time.

The sign on the lobby door (which you cannot actually read in the picture here) says that they are temporarily closed for renovations. The general state of the lot suggests that it is yet early in that process, and that it was indeed needed.

(Hat tip to comment badger)

UPDATE 11 October 2017 -- Now reflagged as Gallus Stadium Park Inn: