Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

I never got to go to Wild Water & Wheels in Surfside Beach next to the Flea Market. I would have been in my early 30s when it opened, which is a bit old to do a water park without kids in tow. I always figured maybe I would go with a family group sometime, but it never materialized. The official announcement that the place was closed came last November, but it was apparently pretty commonly assumed before that, as the land had been sold in April. According to the owner, it was a completely financial decision: He would have loved to keep it going, but it wasn't making any money with shorter summers and more competition, and he had to retire the operating debt by selling.

Currently, it appears the 17 acre site will go to housing, but that has not been completely finalized yet.

Here is The Post & Courier on the closing, here is The Sun News, WMBF and WBTW.

Here is a promo video, with plenty of shots of the park in operation:

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I guess you could say PMJ has a gimmick, but it's a pretty good one, and expertly executed. They brought their retro stylings of modern tunes to Myrtle Beach Easter Weekend, and it was a fun way to start off the holiday.

The only thing I don't like about the House Of Blues as a venue, is the lack of seats, so I sprung a bit extra to get a table stool this time around. Still not exactly comfortable, but better than being on my feet for two hours. There were times when the house sound was a bit mushy, but the band was sharp, the singers delivered the goods, and the tap-dancer was unbelievably energetic -- I recommend you catch them next time around.

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The Sandy Monkey was in Murrells Inlet (or possibly Garden City depending on what you go by) in a small plaza next to the now razed Jungle Lake Golf. At one time there were at least three businesses in this area, including a little walk-up hut-style operation which seemed to change names and cusines every few years. I seem to remember a coin laundry in the strip as well at one time.

I believe I ate in the building once when it was an Italian operation, and was not impressed enough to go back. The pictures on their Yelp page suggest that The Sandy Monkey set up here in 1990, and the reviews, Yelp & otherwise, suggest that while it had its partisans, the non-regulars were not impressed. The whole plaza has been razed now, which is a bit surprising as you would think that meant they had a plan going forward, but it's been a number of years now since this building and the golf operation were gone and the area is still vacant.

Interestingly, their Facebook is still up.

Jimmyz moved into this former KFC sometime after 2015, and seemed to do a decent business. I think COVID hit time pretty hard though, as they never reopened for dine-in service after it hit.

I can't find any definite info on the closing date, but it was open in January, and given the still fully equipped state of the place, I think the end of March is probably the logical time to guess.

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I only ate at Milardo's once, probably about two years ago. I was not enthused about the place as both the pizza sauce and the garlic knots were unexpectedly sweet. It might have been nice have a second go some evening and eat on the roof, but in the event, I never got around to that.

It looks like they are setting up for a follow-on operation: Player 1 Up.

When I was getting pictures for Books A Million I noticed that the J Peters building was vacant as well. I figured they had gone under during the great plague of 2020, but a little research established that, in fact, they have moved to a better waterfront location on the Marsh Walk in Murrells Inlet.

This building was originally an Applebee’s, and I ate there a number of times, though I was more likely to go to the adjacent T.G.I. Friday's. Applebee's have had their own trouble over the past few years and have closed a number of locations. This one apparently went under in August 2017. Here is a 2017 Sun News story about the closing of Applebee's and the opening of J Peters. I can't find a story on the move to the waterfront, but based on reviews, I would say it was about August of 2020.

In the meantime, this is one more vacancy in the Inlet Square vicinity.

I had not realized that Flo's Place in Murrells Inlet was closed until I drove by recently and saw a different sign. I never ate there myself, not being a big seafood fan, but an aunt did, and declared the place "fun". Last week I was able to google up a news article to the efect that the owners were retiring, but today I can't find that information. I do see a listing for an auction of the quirky decor, which took place in early 2019, leading me to put the closing date as late in 2018 (and there are reviews up through September 2018).

Here is a 2017 Sun News article on Flo's in operation.

The space is now American Steak & Oyster Bar.

Kangaroo was bought out by Circle K several years ago, and in the Midlands, most stores transitioned some time ago.

This one, in Murrells Inlet held on for some reason, though as you can see the gas canopy recently underwent the re-branding. As I was driving by, I noticed the boxed sign out front which would complete the switch, and I expect next time I get down to the area, Kangaroo will have hopped away.

UPDATE 20 August 2020: Add "Reflagged" to the post title to note this is basically a branding change.

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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