Exploring South of the Border: Hidden Gems, Abandoned Motels, and Nostalgic Wonders
Vložit
- čas přidán 21. 07. 2024
- In today's adventure, we're exploring the Mexican-themed truck stop/roadside attraction South of the Border just south of the border between North and South Carolina along Interstate 95. This one booming rest stop for travelers trekking along the east coast of the United States is now just a shell of it's former self. What's left of this place decades after it peaked?
00:00 Intro
03:38 Mexican Shop West
08:01 Reptile Lagoon
14:13 Abandoned Amusement Park and Motel
18:27 Mexican Shop East
23:10 Pantry Shop
25:42 Sombrero Tower and Arcade
28:53 Outro
So I've been a bit obsessed over South of the Border for years. My parents always encouraged me to look for "Pedro signs" on the drive down 95 each summer, but they never let us stop. Once I started making the trip as an adult in college, I not only stopped every time, I've stayed there numerous times dating back to 2002. I can shed a little light on some of what you saw.
1. The west side motel hasn't been used much in many years. I think technically they still kept it open for when bigger events or the height of summer holiday vacations were happening, but they mostly focus on the motor inn on the east side of the property. The part of the west side motel rooms block that is gone was torn down sometime in 2021.
2. The fountain you thought was a pool with the whale was in fact a pool at one time, but we're talking early 80's or before.
3. Most of the animals in the reptile lagoon are very sluggish and inactive in the winter time. They don't even really need to eat during the winter when they're metabolism slows down. Most of the animals there are likely rescues from people who owned them illegally as pets and are unable to be released into the wild. I agree for some of the bigger ones, a little more vegetation and soil to lay on would be great, but these aren't super active animals for much of the year.
4. While it looks kind of "run down" and in some places, it is, a surprising amount of upkeep and refreshing is constantly happening. The big animal statues and Pedro's get new paint jobs often. The east side Motor Inn has been completely renovated within the last 10 years. They've torn down a number of older buildings that had been around forever but really sold just more of the same junky kitsch in an effort to consolidate funds towards upkeep of the rest of it. There used to be an Ice Cream Shop, a Leather Shop, a hot dog stand, a Tshirt Shop, and a Saloon/antiques store, all separate buildings that have been torn down in the last 15 years. The empty building near the Reptile Lagoon was a bank.
5. The sombrero tower elevator was down for a long period between 2019 and 2023. It had been having issues for years before 2019 and they finally closed it semi-permanently until a total maintenance and parts repair/replace could be done. It re-opened in 2023 and was noticeably faster and smoother going up and down than in the years before the fix. It's an old style and very unique, so hard to keep maintained and repaired.
6. Their ginger ale is awesome, I get some every time.
7. Part of the way they stay in business is the campground for RV's does a fairly brisk business, and there is a popular Motocross track behind SOTB proper that gets a lot of use.
Who remembers all the crazy SOTB billboards up and down 95 for hundreds of miles back in the day. Very few today.
Family road trips since 1974.
To me, SOB was the concept that eventually led to Bucee's.
I remember, as a kid getting excited watching the signs countdown the miles as we got closer to SOB
Retired over the road trucker. Back in the 70's this place was really an attraction.
wow that was the place to buy fireworks when i was a kid (im 54 now) i grew up in CT and when fireworks were illegal in most places people would go down there buy them for nothing and bring them back to CT and sell them at like 10x the price; i also remember how dirty the taco place was
Remember going there as a kid on road trip I loved it
SOB stays open from the fireworks store, MX tracks behind the truck stop, and ginger ale they actually hired a professional zoologist (definitely not from the area) for the reptile lagoon and the animals are very well took care of
" Depressive nostalgia " ... Wow, what an apt term! I am old enough to remember when S.O.B. was a busy place. Funny, even back in the late 70's and early 80''s, it had that exact same vibe you just described. It was just a lot busier... I grew up in MD with grandparents in FL who would meet us halfway right there every trip, twice a year. 💯
They stayed in business so long if you go in the spring summer time they are crazy busy. When I drop to Florida from NJ my gf and I stopped and they hardly had open parking and tourist busses lined the back lot.
Still remember when I first went to Florida and would see the signs a couple of hundred miles before getting to where this is and wondering about it all the way down the coast.
Overnighted there twice - first time in 1964 when my parents moved from Maine to Florida (I was on leave after USAF Tech School) and again in 1968 when they did it again and I was on my way to Europe with the USAF. It was tacky then. Rooms were clean and comfortable, though.
One thing that I did like was that all of the parking is covered - so if the weather was crap, you didn't get wet between the car and the room.
I remember going there as a kid back in the 70s I'm thinking 1977 I was 5 years old
I remember visiting my grandparents in North Carolina when I was a kid and we stopped at SOB to use the restrooms. That’s the first place I ever saw pay toilets. I think it was a quarter to open the toilet lid. Then there was one that cost a quarter to open the restroom stall. Crazy
Around 1974 I played that golf course.
My family always spent 2 weeks in Myrtle Beach. We lived(and still do) in DC suburbs. About an 8-10 hour trip. South of the Border was a must stop. It was the first place where we could get "good" fireworks. For ten years I saved my grass cutting, snow shoveling, leaf raking, pop bottle collecting $$$$ for those m-80's, cherry bombs, and rockets. I would always have at least $200. That was a lot of goodies back in the '70's. I still traveled to Myrtle Beach a few times during the '80's and '90's but haven't been back in 30 years. I'm sure everything is changed. South of the Border was always hopping back in the day. Looks like a ghost town now. Sad.....
I lived in Fayetteville, NC in the 80s and my dad and I would make a run down there to buy fireworks for the 4th of July. Looks like hardly anything has changed.
That’s crazy that it’s been like that for so long! I wonder when it was booming? Was it ever booming?
@@IanMartinExploration I know that the fireworks laws (at least at one time) were pretty tight in North Carolina, which was why so many people would run down there and buy fireworks.
Also, at one time, Robison County, NC (which is the county right over the border) was a dry county and people would make alcohol runs down there. But the alcohol laws have changed and we can find fireworks in Wal Mart parking lots now days...
@@AustinLCampbellNot the good ones. SC is the only place to get real fireworks that could blow your hand off lol. I'm from fayetteville as well. We still go down to SOB or Dillon to get fireworks every year. Family tradition. We still have all our fingers luckily lol
Back in my trucking days, I kept telling myself that I would stop by there one day, but never did. Everyone I knew called it a “tourist trap.” Cool tour, and great video!
That. Place. Rules. Simple and plain.
Glad I’m not the only one who feels this way!
They open both hotels during the tourist season, summer time.
Hilarious video Ian!!! You gotta do a part 2😅 although long drive from Maryland The black cashier was really digging you can’t imagine having to work there though like how polite you were to everyone total class on your end because I’m sure they deal with alot of nuckleheads
Thanks as always for the support! I’m already thinking about how to get down there to stay overnight and make a part 2! I bet you’re right too about the workers. For every decent person they get they probably get 20-30 awful ones.
I used to ride through here as a young man around 2003. It was old then and empty. Stopped by years ago while with an ex-girlfriend, a weird place. I think the only way they stay open is by selling awesome fireworks. Pedro says so.
The amusement park is only open in the summer
Not a fan of how you treated this place..South of the Border is OLD SKOOL Fun!! Always loved stopping there in the 70's for fireworks and toys that were considered risque at the time. Toys that fart or pee..If you have kids, you know they would love this place!!
Is it a "Tourist Trap?" Absolutely!! but who cares. Kids have ipads and other devices to entertain them nowadays, so they are less likely to get bored on long road trips. I-95 between Petersburg, VA and Savannah, GA was and still is a long boring haul through the Carolinas...But there was always South of the Border to look forward to, and we would count down the miles from the signs along the highway. Yes, now there are many (nicer, but barely ) places to stay on I-95 now, but back then---this was the halfway point between NY/NJ and South Florida to take a break and the kids had fun.
As a regular there, your there in January, off season! Lot more business May through September!
Stop by their least twice a week! Pokemon go haven! Lol
Wow! Talk about a hot tub time machine experience! I haven't been there since I was a kid!
It was quite the Time Machine journey for me too. I didn’t remember it being quite so… well, yeah, the way it is
You really are scared to buy a drink from there? Not one thing was out of place or dirty inside that store. In fact it was one of the cleanest I've seen. But you would stop at some random circle K and not think twice about buying 3 day old coffee.
You're the people who make places like this go away.Then you get on your high horse about how corporations are taking over.
We should support these places before they are gone forever. All that stuff and you buy a $1 magnet, and insinuate the stores are nasty and they abuse animals...
I hope he reads what you say. This was a great tour and he kept putting it down. Stores are very clean. This was one cool place to stop back in the day. And still stop there 50 yrs later.
Why do i get the strange vibe that this dude is the proud owner of a vegan pitbull ? And why does everything seem so .... strange to HIM ? LOL .. there are places that are 1000 times more strange than s.o.b
My mom and dad went to South of the border for their honeymoon, after they got married in Dillon SC
I always stop at JABS Fireworks whenever I run down to Florida. It doesn’t look like much has changed since I was a kid given that the only income for people in that part of South Carolina is from travelers and Firework sales. It’s a very very poor region of the state
I've been going by there for 45 years and have always wondered how that place stays open. There's never anybody there! Even people that live close by can't tell you how it stays open. Laundering for the cartel, maybe. Lol
Live in Va. Would go down there for fireworks 🎆 🙄
I will confidently say that NONE of those poor living creatures should be held in captivity there.
Glad I’m not the only one!
I stopped there once in the 90s. Nothing to write home about. It was dingy then. I stayed about 30 min and then kept going on my way.
Great video but if you had bought something from that first gift shop, you would have made that lady’s day. You probably would have been the first customer she has rung up in a week. That whole place looks dead
I totally should have! I actually felt bad watching through the footage seeing her and not getting anything. Thanks for watching!
Yes i would have !!
I live in MD. but i passed by there many times. Sad to see the bad times now. I do not think it will open to much longer.
I spent the first 44 years of my life in Maryland, mostly in P.G County. In the late '70s and all thru the 80's that place was packed with people, spring through autumn. They had a BIG pinball arcade you'd have to wait your turn to play, a go-cart track...I know it's mostly empty now. Many kids don't play outside anymore. Very sad...
Man that place gives me the creeps,not if that’s the angle you were trying to convey but it worked great,I’ve only been there once on our harleys on the way home from The tail of the dragon back in ‘22
I was married here, because we were to young to marry in NC
Has been more than 20 years since I was at the SOB, glad to know it has NOT changed! STILL a dump!
My wife & I stopped here last month because she remembered it from when she was a kid. This entire place was such a dump! We didn't even get out of the car. It definitely didn't have a good vibe.
And there some strang things happening there not to mention the crime rate there alone.
Roasting in comments... Go to a school that has trailers as classrooms and you will feel the same way...
I appreciate the roasting. You’re totally right too. Those portable classrooms are the worst.
Those are real and live animals. The conditions look atrocious
They used to sell Coors beer there when it wasnt legal in North Carolina. Ive been up on the top of that hat, it terrified me because the flooring was metal grating and you could see down to the ground. Also there used to be a place there (not sure today) that sold really good burritos.
I took my kids there in the '80s. A couple of years ago I took my grandkids there. It is busy still busy in the summer.