Archive for the ‘Rockland Road’ tag
Flaming Pit Restaurant, I-26 & US-378: 1970s 13 comments
This ad from the 1974 Southern Bell Yellow Pages is similar to other ads for the Flaming Pit that I have seen in that it never gives a real street address for the place. That, and a complete lapse of mind that let me confuse I-20 with I-26 led me to originally post some pictures of what was certainly the wrong building for the place!
We never went to the Flaming Pit, though I seem to remember radio commercials that made it sound like a very exotic place. (I didn't do "exotic"..). I'm not exactly sure what "Open Hearth Charcoal Cookery" is, but combing that with the name of the place, I envision a large central grill in the middle of the dining area (hopefully very well ventilated with charcoal involved..) where your orders were cooked as you watched.
I'm a little surprised that the bar was The Wells Fargo Lounge given that Wells Fargo is, in addition to its evocative history, still around and presumably trademarked..
UPDATE 15 June 2010: Removed incorrect pictures, and corrected the text in which I was completely wrong about the location!
Aquarium & Pet Shop, Inc, 1701 Rockland Road: 2000s 7 comments
Well, this wasn't what I was expecting to find when I took a look at the old Aquarium & Pet Shop, Incorporated site. This place is on a little side street of Bush River Road, just past Fuddruckers by the Radison and the Bush River Road, I-20 Southbound interchange. I would see it out of the corner of my eye for years as I would get on the highway there, but since I don't have any pets, I didn't really pay any attention.
I did notice when the sign came down though. I would say that was probably around 2005 or so, and I kind of wondered what would go into that spot.
When I was eating at Fuddruckers last Saturday, I decided to walk up and look at the place, expecting to find an empty building. Instead, the place appears to be jam-packed with stuff, and is plainly still under at least semi-regular care by people running the pet store. In fact, given all the paraphernalia I could see from the parking lot, I wondered for a minute if I were wrong about the place being closed, but walking up to the door cleared that up. I'm not sure what the story here is, though I hope it is not a sad one.
UPDATE 5 October 2026 -- The place had deteriorated considerably from the time the pictures above were taken, and it was probably a mercy that it has now been razed:
Also adding map icon & updating tags.
