Vintage Postcard – South of the Border

Interstate 95 S Carolina
South Carolina at the N.C. – S.C. Border
U.S. Highways 301   501

“pedro’s famous restaurant … 11 million delighted guests since 1951…open 24 hours EVERY day…Motel, Mexico Shop, Package Store, Servicenter and EVERYTHING!”

This lovely card was postmarked South of the Border SC, March 13 1967 and sent using a grey Lincoln 4 cent stamp. It was mailed to Mr & Mrs. WB Orr, Pheasant Drive, Pittsburgh 38 PA

5pm Sat. Here at SOB – Miss you – spending night in Florence S.C. Love B.

If you’re up for a road trip (and you are willing to bite back any feelings of discomfort over cultural stereotypes), you’re in luck…South of the Border is still in business! The tall man holding the sign in the postcard above is Pedro. From the SotB website: “The 97-foot Pedro, which stands adjacent to the Mexico Shop East and the Sombrero Restaurant, has 4 miles of wiring and weighs 77 tons. He stands 18 feet deep in solid clay. You can drive your car through the legs of the “Big Man”, as some may call it.”

People are excited about South of the Border. Here are some of my favorite comments from Yelp!

Kat L, from Seaside, Florida, notes “You know that movie house of wax?  Imagine if that movie took place in a mexican themed ocean town.
Welcome to South of The Border.”

Sergio S, from Houston, Texas writes “The billboards hype the place up well, but fail to mention how shoddy the facilities are at South of the Border. The bathrooms are what roadside nightmares are made of; they are what a dysentary clinic would smell like times ten. My need was great, however, so I held my breath, said a prayer and ran into a stall. The graffiti in the stalls is fascinating.”

Jason W from Boston, Mass breaks it out into a simple pro/con list:

Pros:
Serious hat selection!
Lots of leather whips for your s/m pleasure
FIREWORKS!
crazy-eyed 7ft bunny statue (a con if you’re on acid)
better than your average boring rest-stop

Cons:
Bathrooms that might infect you (if you have to shit, HOLD IT!)
Half the place is shut-down
Mini-golf water features likely contain toxic waste
Some of the stores smell only slightly better than the bathrooms
Slightly racially insensitive

There are a few additional comments that are absolutely hilarious, but offensive enough so I don’t want to post them here (go ahead, check ’em out for yourself!).

By the way, it was 32 degrees on the drive in to work today. In a car with no heat. It was awesome.