Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

I was a bit worried last year that the Mythical & Medieval Fest might not have a home this year as the Rat Hole bar closed, and the event ground RH Acres was associated with them. However in the event the space carries on, and the fest went on as usual this year. I did have the impression that it was slightly less busy this year, and there was one vendor tent in particular where I bought some things last year that I did not see this year, but it was a nice fall afternoon & evening and nice to be out and about. I still want to get back to the big Huntersville faire sometime, but this fest is quite enjoyable as well, so if you are in the area this weekend (14 & 15 November 2026), you might want to check it out.

To the best of my knowledge, I had never in my life been to Ridgeway before driving up to get these pictures. That's a shame because it's a picturesque little town, and really not that far away. I believe I would like to eat at the Old Town Hall sometime.

Anyway, Ruff was an old-school hardware store which had been there for close to 200 years, according to WIS. I went up on Sunday 25 October, so the following week would have been the store's last. It's always a shame when one of these "community" hardware stores closes, but hopefully something new will come in -- unlike a lot of small town main streets, Ridgeway seems to be keeping something in most of the storefronts.

(And now a melange of downtown pictures just because I liked the place)

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I have never eaten at this Eggs Up, but I have kept my eye on it over the years as it was the original store for the chain, though it did move a half mile or so from the space that is now Tacos Michoacan it originally shared with Latte Litchfield.

Anyway, it is now closed for remodeling, which is a bit odd as I think of it as fairly new, but then I thought the same for the Devine location when it did the same thing. Don't know when it will be back, but they are actively working it now.

This location is now a Poke Bros, but back in 2016, it was a "New, Vintage & Recycled" fashion boutique Double Takes. I was doing a vista walk-through on 17 April 2016, and for some reason only took one picture of the place, but you can see that they had started their closing sale at the time. Their website is gone, but you can still check out their Facebook.

As I mentioned last year, 2025 broke a long string of State Fair attendance for me, so I was glad to get back this year. For various reasons Saturday the 17th worked out best and I drove down about 6pm. There was quite a crowd and I found that every time I got up to a Fairgrounds parking lot entrance, the attendants would put out the traffic cones and close it down. I ended up circling the grounds clockwise entirely, coming in on Assembly, and finally ending up in the ROTC lot on Olympia. I had a Circle K ticket, so I got in fairly quickly at the Rocket gate.

The theme in the first building this year was Revolutionary South Carolina and they had a decent set of displays for that, with the rustic arts & crafts on the old Steel Building site meshing with it pretty well.

In general the layout was the same as in prior years, though I did notice a few familiar food stalls had moved. For instance, the purple-ish stand with the ice cream cone lights used to be to the south of the skyway, and now it is to the north. I didn't notice any big changes in the Midway. I still miss the smaller swing-ride, but that's been gone a number of years now. Aside from the skyway, the only rides I partook were the Bumper Cars, which is essential. I had to check out the baby ducks as well, of course. Despite the number of hours I had allocated, I still was running out of time for the art building, so I kind of had to zip through that and the produce building. I did notice that I couldn't find the corn displays I usually like to look at. Potatoes just aren't quite the same. I'm sure it was there somewhere.

One odd thing I noticed, which I also saw in 2024 is that almost all of the water fountains were turned off and in many cases locked down so no enterprising visitor could turn them on. The only working ones were in the commercial exhibit building on the South edge. I don't understand this, as given the prices of drinks there I would much rather visit a fountain. In the event I did get some tea at the Cinnamon Roll booth, along with some Fiske fries and Aunt Martha's Italian Sausage.

I was having camera issues all evening, even before the battery started to go, having to fuss with the lens deployment, and it's pretty clear I am not going to get another year out of this camera. Sic transit gloria mundi. We'll see.

Anyway, as usual I enjoyed myself, and look forward to 2027. Hope you all had the opportunity to visit as well.

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Math tutoring service Mathnasium has left the Publix plaza in Lexington and moved a few blocks to the Food Lion plaza.

I guess it just added up.

(Hat tip to commenter JamesR)

I'm trying to remember if I was ever in Immaculate Consumption, and I really can't. I kind of doubt it, because if I were in the area, I would probably have ended up at Cool Beans, but who knows? Sometime in the last 25 years? Perhaps.

At any rate, that 25 year run is coming to an end this year due to the building being bought by the usual suspects. I still think the higher-ed crash is coming: Why send chat-gpt to school teach the classes and write the student papers..., but in the meantime the USC Development Foundation has another building.

You can read about it in The State or The Post & Courier.

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

This spot, in the Publix plaza on Broad River Road used to be The Fuji Cafe, and probably a number of other things I can't recall. Que! Bueno (sometimes spelled without the exclamation point) had been there at least since 2022 as the Irmo outpost of a local Mexican chain.

My sister was to meet a friend here last Saturday, and they arrived to find the place closed. Judging by Google reviews, apparently this happened within the last week or so, and all the furnishings are still inside. I never ate here myself, but am told it was pretty good. As far as I know, the other locations are still open.

(Hat tip to my sister)

This building on the corner of Rosewood & Kilbourne was for many years an independent pharmacy. I just noticed the other day that it is now a CDL training facility and it appears that Medicine Mart closed around 2025.

Still going through old pictures...

I stopped here the night of 13 January 2014 to get some pictures of the neon window signs for Carolina Jewelry & Pawn, but never came back for any daytime shots because at the time, it hadn't closed. It did that sometime in 2015, with Tri City Pawn being the follow-on operation which itself closed around 2021 and the slot is now Notre Luxury Skin.