I had never heard of South of the Border before, but when I was driving south I stumbled upon it along the trip.



It's hard to miss really. I saw some giant signs and sculptures from the road so I knew I had to make a stop. It certainly is a tourist trap and has questionable characterization of folks. But I wanted to see what the hubbub was all about.  

South of the Border has been a landmark of the southeast for nearly 70 years, and we see no end in sight! Our trademark has always been a value-oriented service ~ we provide a clean, safe & fun environment for travelers of all types to visit on their way to or from the southeast. Our attitude is our philosophy – take it easy on the road of life! In 1949, Mr. Alan Schafer built a simple 18 x 36 foot beer stand known as South of the Border Beer Depot. As it adjoined the North Carolina counties, which were dry of alcoholic beverages, business boomed. A few years later a 10-seat grill was added and the business was re-named South of the Border Drive-In.

In 1954, Mr. Schafer added 20 motel rooms. Materials for the addition were shipped to “Schafer Project South of the (North Carolina) Border”. Mr. Schafer shortened the name of his business to South of the Border.

Business was steadily expanded with Mexican trinkets and numerous kitsch items imported from Mexico. The site itself also began to expand to include a cocktail lounge, gas station and souvenir shop. In 1962, South of the Border expanded into fireworks sales, potentially capitalizing on the fact fireworks were illegal in North Carolina. In 1964 it was announced that the route for I-95 would pass right by South of the Border, and the facility would be next to two exits and within view of the highway. By the mid-1960s, South of the Border had expanded to include a barber shop, drug store, a variety store, a post office an outdoor go-kart track complete with other outdoor recreational facilities and the 104 feet (32 m) tall image of the mascot, Pedro.One may ask, “How did Pedro come about?” Well, Mr. Schafer went to Mexico to establish import connections and met two young men. He helped them get admitted to the United States, and they went to work at the motel office as bellboys for several years. People started calling them Pedro and Pancho, and eventually just Pedro.

What about those signs? They are all designed by Mr. Schafer himself. Around 175 billboards are north and south from the Virginia/North Carolina state lines to the South Carolina/Georgia state lines. (At one time there were more than 250 different billboards from Philadelphia, PA to Daytona Beach, FL.) Many of these billboards are on I-95. They are also north and south on Highway 301/501, east and west on Highways 9 & 17. There are a few billboards on I-20.



South of the Border has a few different restaurants -  one of them being Pedro's Hot Tamale. They serve breakfast, Tex-Mex food, and even beer. I went with an odd combination of both a cheeseburger and a pork tamale just to try the range of food they had available.



Both of these I actually thought were fine. The cheeseburger had plenty of cheese, which is always my favorite part of the sandwich and the tamale - while I don't know enough to know whether it was traditional or not - it was tasty. So it was a quick easy stop that filled my belly and a check mark off the list.



Grade: B