South of the Border

Finally stopped at S.O.B. since reviews were ok. Did not set high expectations, but they did not deliver. Only good thing was the room appeared to be clean.
Check in lied and said our was not near Interstate. It was right next to, and facing it. Went back and was lied to again. Said all rooms were reserved and they could not change ours. Saw rooms unslept in with curtains open this morning on way out.
This is a tired run down motel. If you need to lay your head and nothing else, then it might work. Bed reminds me of great grandparents’ 50 year old mattress.
Greasy beef tacos. Crusty tamales. Overcooked tasteless hamburgers.
Tried to charge me $ 18 for a 6 pack of ginger ale because I mixed the 2 flavors. Normally $ 9. And sell singles for $ 3. Why not just put sign up stating NO MIXING flavors?
Hold to your wallet tight and significantly lower your expectations.

You don’t stop here because you’re looking for a fancy place to stay, or an elite restaurant, or unique shopping centers. You stop here because you’ve been bombarded by billboards for the last 60 miles (in either direction) and the kids have pestered you to see Pedro with each passing billboard, and you just want to make it stop (it won’t). SOB is unique in itself, but for every bad review on here, I have to wonder what they expected when they stopped. I’ve lived in the Carolinas for 12 years, but remember driving south on vacations as a child and pestering my parents the same way that my kids do to me (karma). You stop for the experience. You stop to say that you’ve been here, and to get a piece of shwag with the SOB logo on it, and to appease your children on that long family trip down the interstate. SOB is what you make it …

350 acres of shit to do and money to spend.
Lookout tower featuring a large sombrero, restaurants, gift shops, reptiles, motor lodge and more gift shops. The place is historic though, and I think it is important for all Americans to see. Why? Well, let me tell you a little story. When I was growing up, we often went on long road trips from Tampa to St. Louis to visit family. On one road trip, I remember my pops pulling off the interstate, driving about 15 minutes off course on US 41 or US 19 to get to some greasy spoon diner. The food was so good. It was the first time I ever had steak fries, and to this day when I eat them, it reminds me of that trip. Once back on the road, I asked why that place was so far off the road traveled by the multitude. He then proceeded to school me on how the modern day interstates shaped, and in some cases, RESHAPED America. Apparently this diner, and many others like it across America, are on what USED TO BE the main travel arteries, but when the interstates of the late 50s, 60s and 70s popped up, they blazed new paths, often times far-​removed from the old highways. Some places survived, but most went belly-​up. And in many cases, it wasn’t just businesses, it was entire towns. Needless to say, when I took MY SON to see the movie Cars some 22 years after my pops told me that story, I felt as if he wrote the script.
South of the Border might have been another fallen roadside attraction from the golden age of automobile travel in the United States. Luckily for them, the plans for I-​95 brought the newfangled interstate right to their doorstep on US 301, quite possibly saving it.
The original allureof the place, and origins of its name, go back to a time when the counties in NC just to the north of the NC-​SC state line did not sell alcohol or fireworks, making it a very popular destination.
For all these reasons, I think it is a worthy stop. Will you be amazed by any of its offerings? No, but it is a good way to look back on what road travel in the U.S. used to look and feel like.

What a dump! This place is disgusting, disappointing, and left me dissatisfied.
First, let’s take a look at the outside. Looks pretty standard. All the billboards lured us in, telling us about the fun we’re about to have. Yeah, that didn’t work out. When you get there, it’s mostly just parking spaces. The motel is sad looking, and how would want to stay here for more than one day with nothing to do?
Next, let’s wander into Pedro’s public restrooms. I stepped in, and a lot of unwanted stuff and TP was on the ground. There was an employee inside the bathroom, not bothering to wash the floor. He was just hanging around, waiting for tips. I washed my hands and left. That was gross.
Now, I am excited by the big sombrero. The sombrero has stairs leading up to it, so you can look at the view at the top of the sombrero. An employee told us that was closed. HOW CAN STAIRS BE CLOSED! I would also recommend South of the Border place their employees not in restrooms, but monitoring the main attraction.
We walk over to the little restaurant there and the lines are HUGE. The menu was all junk food. The ice cream shop next door had ice cream you find in an elementary school cafeteria. Wow.
I don’t think the souvenir shops everyone is giving lots of big stars are a waste if you don’t want to remember this trip!
We leave South of the Border dissatisfied. We traveled to nearby town Lumberton, had a delicious lunch there, and we were astonished how we fell for that crappy tourist trap. We look on Unilocal to find the restaurant gets 2 STARS. I hope nobody ever makes our mistake we made by going to South of the Border.

So far as tourist traps go, this is the best of the best. Useless hats for sale ranging in design from massive sombreros to replica English custodian helmets. The restrooms are not nearly as grotesque and horrifying as you might expect. The grounds are adorned with larger than life statues such as giant cocks, mini hippos, and massive Pedros (the mascot of this pseudo-​Mexican wonderland). The food is surprisingly tasty (though I would recommend the Empanada Guy food truck for something slightly more authentic). If you have kids, take them on the rides and mini-​golf so that they may learn the key role that roadside attractions featuring Ferris wheels and carousels serve in keeping the Mexican-​American culture alive in the American imagination.
Perhaps the only letdown is the Reptile Lagoon. For $ 8, you can observe scores of crocodiles, alligators, and snakes passed out beneath sunlamps. The price is fair, but there’s very little movement among the wildlife. Sadly, you’ll begin to feel guilty over their captivity about ten feet into the exhibit when you see the first alligator baking under a sunlamp accompanied only by dirt and a small pond.

Nice little completely random ass roadside attraction on this highway of nothing South Carolina. Corn dogs, gas stop, mini golf, fireworks galore, and an adult arcade! Lots of tourist trap stuff here, I bought a shot glass, place is unique and fun!

Pedro’s domain, as well as the Chuck E. Cheese version for adults. This is one of those locations that haven’t changed since I first came here as a child more than 30 years.
South of the Border is a unique roadside attraction that welcomes the weary traveler to buy the many quirky tee-​shirts and novelties in the same way many large souvenir-​based establishment by a major interstate would (if in Texas, think of Buc-​ees, yet much larger). Seeing the many signs on I-​95 for 50 – 60 miles advertising South of the Border can be fun when you make it a game to count how many are out there, yet getting to South of the Border can be sort of a letdown. Take a look around the parking lot during the morning and mid-​day, and you’ll see why (quite desolate).
The upside to South of the Border is that there aren’t too many places like this in the United States. Its a roadside attraction, not Disney World (doesn’t have to be). Also, while its good place to gas up & fill your belly with high cholesterol junk that you’ll certainly pay for later, it is a good place to stop & rest for a while before proceeding down or up the road. And plus, it seems as if its a good place for kids and adults alike to partake in the sheer ridiculousness of it all, be it in getting selfies with the Pedro caricature or otherwise.
While the many venues within South of the Border seem run down, you’d be surprise to find that its surprisingly clean within. Yeah, the place looks old, yet it does seem to get a fresh coat of paint every now & then. Nonetheless, South of the Border is far from boring, yet not terribly exciting either.

Whoa, how does this place manage three out of five stars? It’s so run down and depressing. The first place I stopped was the truck stop, since my husband drives truck and that’s the only place he could stop. There is nothing in this place but some cheap souvenirs and warm drinks sitting on shelves (yes, that’s right folks, no coolers at the truck stop). Since there was absolutely no food, not even chips, we decided to walk down the road a little.
The motel looked depressing and scary, half of those rooms didn’t even have windows?! Yeah, that’s not a murder scene waiting to happen or anything.
We first stopped at Pedro’s Mexican Shop, expecting them to have tamales or boiled peanuts for sale, but nope. Just a huge store full of kiddie souvenirs and novelty clothing. With it being one of the oh so rare hot days in South Carolina, I wasn’t in the mood to sit down and eat a full meal.
We then walked further down to the gas station to try our luck, but again, no grab and go food, just junk food. Not to mention it’s a $ 10 minimum to use your credit/​debit card.
On the other side of the road was a little deli-​style ordering place, like you’d find at a theme park. Nothing advertised really struck my fancy. The most «south of the border» food I saw was tacos and nachos. No tamales, no quesadillas, no enchiladas or burritos.
Since it’s off season, I can’t say much about the theme park, if you wanna call it that. Looks more like a carnival to me. Okay, so I have some small amusement parks back home, but this place takes the cake. It’s tiny and creepy looking. Like, creepier looking than Pacific Playland from Zombieland.
So yeah, I’m not sure if this place is past its heyday, or if it ever had one. When you look up «tourist trap» in the dictionary, you’ll see a picture of this place. All those 150 miles of billboards advertising it for nothing. Poor Pedro must be rolling over in his grave right now.

If you ever find yourself in the middle of nowhere between NC and SC and are bored, or, alternatively, if you have recently ingested large quantities of Peyote, you should probably pay a visit to South of the Border. This place is just, well, friggin bizarre! To borrow a line from one of my favorite authors, Hunter S. Thompson, South of the Border is what the whole world would be doing on a Saturday night if the Nazis had won the war.
The décor of this place is sort of a blend of the most grotesque used car dealership in the world, combined with an almost MJ/​Neverland Ranch type of theme. The result is a level of tastelessness that boggles the mind, even by 1970’s standards, which is apparently when this place was in it’s hey day. That being said, there are plenty of movies out there that are so awful that they are appealing, and this place has that same sort of dynamic going on. You can’t look away from a car wreck after all. When you are approaching this place on the highway you will see lots of long abandoned buildings in the surrounding area that are covered in graffiti. Apparently the draw of places like this has been on the decline in an era when epic family road trips are mostly a relic of the past.
The place has many components to it, and it’s more like a compound than a roadside attraction. Just a few of the oddities they have here include:
–A gift shop filled to the brim with strange curiosities of all sorts
–A t-​shirt shop filled with dumb and dated tourist wear (full disclosure, I did buy a plain white T with black lettering saying «I’m Rick James Bitch»)
–A reptile lagoon with crocodiles and such
–A huge stairway leading up the the top of Pedro’s sombrero. Once at the top you get a nice view of… absolutely nothing.
–A dive motel that sort of looks like the set of a horror movie.
–A restaurant that serves terrible food and every waitress (hell, every employee of the place period) refers to themselves as «pedro».
–Random concrete «sculptures» of pink elephants, purple gorillas, and other haphazardly placed lunacy.
I could go on, but I think you get the gist of it by now. So should you stop in here and check it out? I am glad I did just so I could say that I have done it, but I think hanging out too long in this type of environment would eventually prompt a reaction not unlike Jack Nicholson in «The Shining». Yeah, it’s that f’ed up, but also sort of endearing in a brink of madness kind of way.

South of the Border is one of those movies that spent more money in advertising the movie than the producers did making the movie.
Anyone who has done the long miserable haul down I-​95 in the last 60 years or so has seen the «Pedro sez» billboards for at least 50+ miles on either side of the North-​South Carolina border, on both sides. Advertising with cheesy puns and slogans to get you to stop at what is really no more than a gigantic truck stop overrun by Christmas lights.
The real reason I’m even writing this as a review is because BF had never done the East Coast slog (and I never hope to again). I had mentioned the funny ads/​billboards and once he saw them he was itchy to stop and see what all the fuss was about. I warned him that it wasn’t much once you got there-​but we needed to stop and use the facilities anyway, so we decided to let the pup stretch his legs as well.
We got there as the sun was setting and tried to get a few selfies with the giant sombrero in the background but that didn’t work out too well. There is an area that is labeled «pet toilet» which was kind of funny but it was essentially a grass covered area with a little doghouse and a big communal bowl and hose for bathing or drinking. Blech-​who knows how long that has been sitting there.
We wanted coffee for the road so one of the little shops in there had some, but it’s no Starbucks. I want to say it was mainly an ice cream shop? Either way the girl making our «cappuccinos» had no idea what that actually entailed, spilled one of them and forgot the foam in one. Not very tasty. Oh well, it had caffeine and did the job for road coffee.
SOTB is a big truck stop that is a legend-it’s like Wallyworld from Vacation-​a big buildup and a pretty good let down. Not much to see once you get there. Worth it? Eh, maybe once-​and during the day so that you can maybe play an arcade game and win a stuffed weiner dog.

Having passed South of the Border countless times on my way down I-​95, we finally decided to make a stop in for a night. If you’re thinking about stopping (and I’m certainly not saying it’s not worth it), you should know what you’re getting into.
The place is pure kitsch – it looks exactly like it was lifted from an early 70’s road trip movie. It’s worth the time to get out and walk around, buy some of the random junk or fire works at the bizarrely expansive set of stores, and maybe take a few pictures, but definitely nothing apart from that.
We stayed at the motel for a night (an old fashioned motor lodge), and while the room seemed clean enough, it was about as bare bones a stay as you can get.
If you’re thinking about eating here: DON’T. We ate at the steak house, and then at Pedro’s just to get the experience… the food was about as bad, at an awful price point, as I’ve ever had in my life without getting sick. There is also no bar, aside from a line of 5 chairs in Pedro’s Diner that were awkwardly empty and closed at 9:00. I was particularly disappointed about this… the place was screaming for a bar where you could sit and do a little people watching, but no such luck
If you’re on a long trip, and need a place to stretch your legs, it’s worth the trip. If you’re looking to do anything apart from that, keep on driving.

The first time I stopped here was in 1991 overnight on the way to a band trip to Philadelphia.
All we really got to do is use the bathrooms but it looked like a fun place and I thought someday I would come back.
Fast forward over 20 years and I finally stopped there. It was late at night and all I did was use the bathrooms (be prepared to tip). South of the Border looks like it has been perfectly preserved from 1991. There seems to be many little tchotchke shops and reptile petting places that kids would enjoy. They just aren’t my cup of tea. Plus the Supertramp record on repeat just creeped me out in a zombie town sort of way. I mean like Supertramp but try mix something in from this decade.
Maybe it is a whole different experience in day time. We will have to wait and see if I ever make it by during the day.

This is a family tradition for us. Yes we are well aware its the proverbial «tourist trap» but no more so than the pandering businesses of Gatlinburg, Ruby Falls, Dollywood, Disney, and a hose of other places. Bottom line, its a traveler friendly place to stretch the legs and let the kids do selfies climbing on a big yellow gorilla.
There is a nostalgic air about this place akin to stops along Route 66 in the pre-​interstate highway days, Like then, SOB has a motor lodge and campground but from the looks of it, they never approach capacity just like their sister roadside inns that used to pepper the country with its Americana styling.
So, I’m guessing in the years to come, this place may substantially reduce its footprint if not dry up all together in favor of the cookie cutter businesses along any other interstate exit.
For me the highlight is buing a case of the locally produced ginger ale… sadly the wife squelched dad’s fun on this trip and forbade my buy… boo hoo for me!

Hokey and cheesy as all hell… but a east coast institution…
Where else can you find a shot glass shaped like a puffer fish or a display of lethargic cotton mouths and disinterested alligators… not to mention… cheap fireworks.
Visit before the land is sold to yet another WAWA or Cracker Barrel developer.

I can see how this might appeal to some people, but to me, I dislike everything about this place. For almost an entire hour driving down 95s, all you see is billboards for this place. If you see it at night, it’s a huge eyesore. Talk about some major light pollution. And then, the place is exactly what I expected, an overpriced tourist trap with tons of little gimmick shops, all aimed at getting your money. None of the food I’ve tried was any good, and none of the souvenirs are good quality OR worth the price they charge for them. Also, the bathrooms, kinda filthy.
The only plus side for me, you can get gas at a decent price from here, but then again, I think that statement applies to almost the entire state of SC (in comparison to it’s neighboring states).

If you’re gonna opt for Kitsch then you might as well go whole Kitschy. If you don’t enjoy wacky, retro, themed craziness with plenty of brightly colored flair then keep moving. Haven’t had the time to explore every establishment but the kids and I enjoyed the break.
I wouldn’t call this a destination spot but it did lift our spirits and break up the monotony of this long a$$ road trip.

I have heard of south of the border for I don’t know how many years. On a recent road trip we saw the billboards for miles and miles and miles and miles and finally we got up to south of the border.
I believe south of the border is its own little town or it wants to be. It’s a large location of various stores that go into making up a town. Restaurants, stores, gas stations, in various small shops. Of course it has the Mexican themed and a big sombrero on top of various buildings.
The highest structures of course the water tank and there’s name Norma sombrero on top of that that you can see for miles away. On the day we stopped there it was like a ghost town there was nobody in the store no cars around and frankly it was quite eerie.
While looking around in the grocery store I found a childhood favorite of my families and but several to bring home to relatives. They were quite happy to have these, they started with my grandmother and were used as medicinal purposes only had sore throats but they’ve become increasingly hard to find and I have no idea where to find them in Tampa. So if for no other reason it was worth stopping and south of the border to find these little gems.
I’ve heard that this is normally IHOP in spot but maybe times have changed or people have decided to pass it by. Overall it’s a quaint little area and deserves to be recognized.
What’s a girl to do? When south of the border stop in and see what there is to see. You never know what you might find.

It’s a fiesta on the Carolina state line! I used to stop here as a kid growing up in North Carolina all the time when my family would take road trips to Florida and South Carolina. I am clueless as to why it has taken me decades to finally write down a Unilocal review but better late than never!
I recently had to pleasure of stopping at South of the Border last month for the first time in years. As soon as I saw the hazy sombrero shaped water tower in the distance, a blizzard of nostalgic feelings swept over me. I remember paying 50 cents to ride up to the top when I was younger. It was the best! The water tower still looks pretty good and the entire area has been surprisingly well maintained. All of the concrete animal statues looked recently painted and the storefronts looked recently renovated. Taking photos with all of the animals is sort of a family tradition so I found the pink gorilla and went up to give him a big hug while my mom snapped another photo for the family album. EVERYBODY has their favorite concrete animal, and the pink gorilla has always been mine.
I was super happy to find the stores still stock all the same cheap souvenir crap from my childhood. Of course I dropped about $ 20 on a bunch of junk: a t-​shirt, some stickers and everybody’s favorite: Mexican jumping beans! If you love fireworks, you’ll find a store for that. There’s even a shop with rock band t-​shirts.
I was never a fan of any of the fast food restaurants so I didn’t partake this time (I also have not-​so-​fond memories of a bout of explosive diarrhea about 20 miles down the road after I ate a chicken taco when I was 12 years old).
The good news is that all of this is FREE. Gone are the days where it cost a quarter to use the public restrooms (hooray)! It looks like the small amusement park /​carnival area is still running sometimes, but it was closed when I was passing through.
When you see the funny billboards along the interstate (man, back in the day there were some racist billboards with Pedro; thankfully those are mostly gone now), get ready. Kids: start screaming to stop. Parents: pull the car over! It’s worth it!

Who didn’t stop at this famous rest stop as a kid and beg your parents for something at South of the Border?
When driving through, after all these years its a stop for me to gas up and pee.
As I kid, I was so jealous that some kids were able to buy firecrackers. Firecrackers!!!
Dang.

I was that girl this week on our drive down 95 to Charleston from VA and made everyone stop here. In hindsight, I actually kind of feel bad about it now, even though I did get a couple of cute pics.
My car full of 5 girls begrudgingly indulged my request to pose with a giant dinosaur in a sombrero here, and a big old chicken there.
But I have to say, if I were to stop again, I wouldn’t even bother going into the stores. It is not what I remembered from being little and stopping on my way down to my grandmother’s. Now it smells like mildew and offers little more than some shot glasses, off brand shirts and fake poop.
Shame on you Pedro. After luring me in for 100 miles with your colorful signs and promise of adventuring I expected a little bit more.