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.

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.

The Bent Rod replaced (after a hiatus) the more celebrated Crab Pot Restaruant which closed around 2010. The reviews are mixed, but seem to converge on the positive with a bit of "for in the middle of nowhere" vibe to them. The latest of those reviews say "8 months ago", so I am guessing the place folded sometime early in 2026.

I'm not quite sure what to make of the sign, which if I do my Roman Numerals right is: I Thank You 1945.

I drove through Georgetown on my way to Charleston back on 8 August, and I noticed that demolition had actually started on the downtown steel plant, most recently Liberty Steel. I was running behind, so I didn't stop and try to get closer as I probably should have (on the other hand, it's not clear there was much acces anyway), but given that it may all be gone soon, I thought I would post the pictures anyway. This has always been an interesting feature of downtown Georgetown: Colonial houses, a normal business section (now more quaint than back in the 60s - 00s) and then wham, industry. The town has taken a number of blows recently, the port closing, a big fire, this plant closing, & the paper mill closing. Hopefully the redevelopment can recoup some of the job losses.

The Department of Environmental Services has an interesting writeup on the site, which includes a good bit of history I did not know:

The Liberty Steel (Former Georgetown Steel) Property (“the Property”) is located at 1227 Front Street, Georgetown, South Carolina. The Property includes approximately 66 acres and is located in a generally commercial and industrial area near the downtown section of the City of Georgetown. The Property is currently developed as a steelmaking plant that manufactured wire rod in coils. The steelmaking plant has been closed since 2024.

Review of historical records indicates that the Property was part of the Serenity Rice Plantation, which dates to 1710 and operated until after the Civil War when industrial development and further residential development occurred along the west side of Georgetown.

In 1903, the Atlantic Coast Lumber (ACL) Company opened a large lumber mill along the north bend of Georgetown Harbor on the Sampit River, generally covering the present location of the Property. ln the 1930s, ACL was impacted by market conditions associated with the Great Depression and a downturn in demand for lumber. The plant ceased operation in 1932.

From 1932 until approximately 1969, the former ACL site remained partially or completely vacant. Prior to development of the steel mill, other site operators include Georgetown Chemical Works, a portion of American Cyanamid, Standard Oil Company, Riverside Oil Company. Georgetown Veneer, and Georgetown Plywood.

In 1970, the site was developed by the German-owned Georgetown Steel Company into its current configuration as a steelmaking plant. Steel production on the Property continued until 2024, despite a number of idles and stoppages due to economic conditions and ownership changes in the 2000s and 2010s.

Here is another article on the demolition from the recycling industry trade press and here is a Post & Courier story.

Getting down to Melbourne this summer, I found a number of places gone, but the Barnes & Noble surprised me. I had been to this store numerous times over the years, and it always reminded me strongly of the old Harbison store in its feel and layout. As it turns out, not to worry, much. Googling once I got home establishes that the store has moved up the road a little ways to take over an old Party City. Reaction from locals on Reddit is a little mixed with some dislike for the new, shared, parking lot compared to this store's dedicated lot, and a layout which makes the cafe less central.

The new store opened on 11 March 2026 as you can read here and in a press release here.

As is mandatory for such cases, the old building is becoming a Spirit Halloween.

Read the rest of this entry »

Well, my trend is apparently to get to the Heroes Convention later each year, especially when forgetting to factor in the stupidity that is I-77 in the Queen City.

My impression is that there was a bit less along the vintage paperback, pulp magazine and old humor collections this year, and I came away with rather less swag than usual, though I did make the mistake of making eye contact with several good pitchmen. There also seemed to be a bit less cosplay than during the peak Marvel movie years, though that take may be due in part to my starting on the opposite side of the (huge) floor from the costume contest area. I did come away with a few gifts for my nieces, and some new "weird western" graphic novels from Mike Baron. (No new Nexus projects were ready, but he is doing a kickstarter for the next one).

On the way home, I decided to detour a bit on the inner loop towards Huntersville, and man I thought there was something wrong with my car: The tire noise on the segment near the airport is awful!

This Litchfield building was put up as a Sam's Corner, which was doing a lot of expansion back in the teens. I don't know if they were franchaising the concept or what, but I believe they are now back down to the original Garden City location. Be that as it may this spot went through a number of other concepts fairly quickly over the years with Andomiro being the latest. The concept was interesting, an Asian/Jamacian fusion menu, but probably not for me, and I never did stop in.

The end seems to have come rather suddenly, not long before I took these pictures on 25 May, with the fully equipped site up for sale.

I will mention the the adjacent ice-cream shop is very good.

I believe I ate at Uncle Mikey's once several years ago, possibly after Pastaria 811 closed and I was looking for a new second go-to at the beach. In the event, I thought it was just OK, perhaps because there was live entertainment that night which I hadn't expected, and the place was a bit noisy. After the owner retired and sold the place, it was set to drop the "Uncle" and just become Mikey's Pizzeria, something I am unsure ever actually happened: I see some "coming soon" posts, but no actual reviews. At any rate, if it did happen, it didn't last too long and the building is now for sale.

In the meantime, it appears there is a possibility that the original owner will come out of retirement and open a spot by Smuggler's Deli on the bypass.

WBTW had the closing story:

I had wanted to see The Beach Boys at the Alabama Theater earlier this year, but could not get it together. In the event, I believe the date may have been rescheduled for later this year. Had it taken place, it would likely have been my last time to see two Beach Boys together, as long-time member Bruce Johnston announced his retirement from touring last month. With Bruce spending his nights in his own bed, Mike Love & Al Jardine are the only two official Beach Boys still active, though they don't get along well enough to tour together.

Anyway, when I mentioned I was going to the Beach, my sister pointed me to a news article mentioning that Mike's Beach Boys would be at the OneFlight Myrtle Beach Classic golf tournament at the Grand Dunes resort, so I picked up a ticket (a really odd and frustrating process, ending up with something you can't just print out), and headed out Friday afternoon.

It turned out that the shuttle parking lot was the old Myrtle Square Mall site (which is still completely vacant after all these years), so i parked and got on a bus which took us a mile or so north. I had never been back in Grand Dunes, which is gated, but it is quite nice with golf, houses and a country club all right on the ocean. The concert site was backed up against the shore, and you could see boats passing by behind the stage. It was quite a chilly evening for May, and I had my sweater buttoned up.

The opening act was an Italian singer I had not heard of, Benedetta Caretta. She sang to backing tracks, without a band (aside from one song where she brought out a guitarist). From where I was standing, I could barely hear her, but she seemed to have quite a nice voice.

After she finished her set, which was probably about five songs, the roadies starting setting up for the main show, and Mike & co opened with a 1968 top-20 hit, "Do It Again", moving directly after that into the more well-known "Surfin' Safari".

John Stamos mentioned Mike's recent 85th birthday, and yes, I have to admit, Mike was not having a great voice night. He was certainly game, and the audience was appreciative, but the numbers which were originally sung by another Beach Boy back in the day came off better as the band was quite good, both vocally and instrumentally. I'm not quite sure why Stamos was there, whether it was a one-off, or if he is on the tour, but he has been associated with the band since the 1980s so it's never a real surprise to see him turn up. I thought he did a very nice version of Dennis Wilson's classic song, "Forever".

I didn't capture any of the first songs on video because from where I was standing, the sound was trash. I thought it was down to the wind and the sound system, but when I walked just a few feet closer a bit later on, I was suddenly in the focus zone, and the sound was excellent, and I did record several numbers (fumbling the start a few times) and the traditional closing duo: "Barbara Ann" & "Fun, Fun, Fun".

The setlist was something like this, though I won't vouch for the order except for the first two & last two numbers:

Do It Again
Surfin Safari
Catch A Wave
Surfin' USA
Surfer Girl
409
Little Deuce Coupe
Shutdown
Don't Worry Baby
I Get Around
Darlin'
Help Me Rhonda
Be True To Your School
Sloop John B
God Only Knows
Wouldn't It Be Nice
Good Vibrations
Forever
California Girls
California Dreaming
Rockaway Beach
Kokomo
Barbara Ann
Fun, Fun, Fun

Given the venue and time limit, there weren't a lot of deep cuts, but probably "Rockaway Beach" surprised some folks.