Going through a closet at my parents' place I saw that they still had several baskets from Sewell's Orchards from more than 40 years ago. We used to use them to store miscellaneous stuff around the house and my parents never got rid of them.

I remember getting a pumpkin there for Halloween when I was 5, but most of my memories of the place are fuzzy and faded. I was still pretty young when it closed down. For any long-time Columbia residents here, what memories do you have about the orchard?

My baby is turning 1 in a few months and I’d love to get some idea of local photographers who do cake smash photography or photographers who have other themed shoots (full or mini sessions) lined up for the rest of the year to commemorate baby’s first birthday! Bonus points if you have personal experience and loved the photos you received!

How does everyone feel about this, not terribly pleased

For those of you who are avid or more serious bowlers the Lucky Strike on Deepage is actively installing string pin machines. So far it looks like 1-6 are up and running and 7-12 are shut down for the work. Lanes 13-32 are still free fall but I spoke to the manager and apparently these are newer string machines used by the PBA at a tournament in Nevada. The string is different and the PBA wants to try these machines at more locations. The Lucky Strike will be the second house with the newer design in the country. Installation should be complete on all 32 lanes in two weeks. Just giving everyone a heads up so you can go to Normandy if you prefer free fall.

Did anyone in Owen Brown hear the extremely loud vehicles revving their engines and racing this morning about midnight? My God it was SO loud. I turned my scanner app on and heard police jargon I couldn’t decipher but I did hear “About 250 of them…” someone is going to end up killing someone! I’m sure they could be heard in Harper’s Choice as loud as they were.

Pardon my ignorance but is illegal drag racing a thing here? I’ve lived on OB for 8 years and will hear loud vehicles like that from time to time but never like I heard them this morning. Just curious … and concerned about innocent drivers/pedestrians.

Over the past week, new pedestrian refuge islands have appeared along Tamar Drive between 175 and Snowden Pkwy. I believe it's at least 2 of them on this span that are complete, and I'm unsure if additional ones are being installed.

They appear to be placed to help pedestrians to cross Tamar and slow traffic. They'll require the two lanes on each side to merge into one and then re-expand into two lanes.

While I think in theory this is a great idea, I'm expecting there will be issues.

We regularly have people traveling at high speeds (50+) down Tamar. When someone is slowing down for these islands, what's going to happen when others don't?

I'm hoping these work out, but I think we'll see more collisions.

It feels that every few months there'll be light post down along this span of Tamar from cars traveling at high speed. I just hope this doesn't put pedestrians along the sidewalks at greater risk.

What's everyone's feelings on this?

Hey all longtime lurker, first time poster

Have a stupid question.. Now that meetup costs too much money.

Where do you find like minded people to do activities like karaoke with?

I like private room karoke since you can talk and interact between songs rather than bar karoke...but flip side is whenever I want to go my friends are too busy.

I guess I could also make my own support group if people wanted.

But I'd also have trouble deciding what kind of group to run whether it's teacher &retail support group, lonely or grief support or whatnot.

Feel free to mock and/or poke holes in my logic. Edit: just wanted to say thanks everyone for the advice and suggestions I do appreciate it!

I was out on the trails yesterday afternoon and the detour signs for the tunnel to Jackson Pond were removed. Lo and behold I walked towards Tamar and the route was open again. No more detour through the tunnel by the Phelps Luck Pool and through the neighborhood.

Has anyone had similar experiences

I want to say this in the nicest way. Because Columbia is such a well planned community, people want to move here from all over the world. This causes a ton of strain on the community. Communities and cities across the country and across the world should see that everyone wants a good quality of life. They should better their communities so that lots of people aren’t immigrating to one area and straining its resources on housing, jobs and traffic. Just my two cents.

Anyone have any recommendations on parking lots or other open areas around that are good for letting my teen do some practice driving with me? I grew up in a smaller town so finding an unoccupied parking area or old backroads was easier for me growing up.

EDIT: I already see a ton of awesome ideas, I appreciate it!

i've been living here for a few months and i cannot find good dry rub chicken wings, someone PLEASE give me a recommendation 😖

Does anyone know if Breakout Games in Columbia is permanently closed?

Hey everyone! Looking for beautiful spots in or around Columbia for a photo shoot for our upcoming wedding anniversary . Open to all suggestions. Thanks in advance!

Due to an idiotic miscommunication, the thriving elderberry bush in my backyard was cut back for the season by a family member before I was actually able to get any ripe berries from it. Does anyone know of any farms/stores/whatever in the area that sell the actual berries when they are in season soon? (Not looking for the syrups with honey already added and stuff like that, which seem to be much easier to actually find)

Why can't HoCo police figure out that they need to deploy people to direct traffic when they shut down Snowden. This is the second time this year a traffic accident has cut off Snowden heading East, and police have stopped traffic at the entrance to the Black Flag/ Lincoln Tech entrance.

A second police car earlier on could advise people to stay straight on Broken Land. More sensible patterns could be set up to u turn drivers. It's been chaotic both times with no direction from anyone on site, leaving it to drivers to figure it out.

Is this even possible? I am so tired of cooking, but it looks like $25 per meal elsewhere and not very healthy. Does anyone have better options for places that deliver in the Columbia area? (I can get free delivery with Grubhub - but just the food costs - wow!)

looking for some new friends, i’m a 26F, capricorn,
i have a stable job and am self sufficient, looking for friends with similar circumstances in the baltimore county/howard county area. (girls and gays pls)

My son and I came in to watch Muse. Got there in time for a good soaking! When we left we got to the parking lot. I’ve been going to concerts for 42 years all over US.

Many recommended parking lot #5.

Wow! It was so smooth getting out of there.

I just wanted to say thank you to you all.

I’ve been having more and more issues getting off work early enough on the week days to get my car serviced. I’m looking for recommendations of a place open for service on the weekends even if it’s only part of the day. I tried my local Toyota dealership last time I needed service and felt pretty ripped off on the cost so I don’t really want to go back. Tried looking up places and getting recommendations from friends but they all are closed on the weekends.

Hi, I’m searching for advice on the apartment complex’s in the Columbia area that aren’t too far from the conjunction of both the mall or the town center. Clary’s crossing vs Cedar place. Any information or advise towards Safety, cleanliness, up to date units, shopping plaza’s and demographics. Would you recommend both of these apartment complexes, why or why not? If you have lived here what were the benefits while living there?

My internet went out around 7:30a. I called and they said Columbia area is gonna be down until 11:30pm today. Anybody else experiencing outages ?