For those of us who live on the East Coast, road trips up and down Interstate 95 were simply a part of growing up. Like most people I know, my family and I spent hours in the car traveling South towards Florida to visit family or North towards Maine … also to visit family.
On those trips southwards from New York, there was always one stop I looked forward to: South of the Border. Part theme park, part restaurant, part casino, and part hotel, the facility is considered the traditional halfway point between New York and Florida, where families could hop off I-95 for a quick bite, some souvenirs, and entertainment before getting back on the road.
While South of the Border isn’t as relevant to the public as it once was, it still holds a place in my heart, and I always make sure to stop there whenever I pass by. That’s why I’m sad to report that the on-site taco restaurant, Burrito Loco, burned to the ground on Sunday night.
Here’s What Happened
According to the Dillon County Fire Station, firefighters first responded to a commercial structure fire at 9:30 p.m. on Sunday. Crews worked for two hours to extinguish the blaze and left the scene once they thought the flames were subdued. They were called back later that night because the flames reignited, and they worked for another four hours to put out the fire for good. By then, the restaurant, which was not occupied at the time, was nothing more than a skeleton of itself. From Facebook:
For someone who’s personally spent time in this restaurant and all of the facilities around it, this hurts. I made memories with my family here as a kid, and then later with my friends as an adult. To see it ripped to shreds in a fire makes me incredibly sad. Piling onto the sadness is that the building was about to be occupied by a new lessee, but there was no insurance on the building at the time of the fire, according to Dillon County News & Beyond. That means if South of the Border wants to rebuild, it’ll have to do so out of its own pocket.
On the bright side, it seems the rest of the facility was unharmed. The gas station next door seems to be untouched, while photos from the scene published by the fire department show the classic sombrero tower and the colorful neon “South of the Border” sign a safe distance away. So at least there’s that.
Why South of the Border Is So Cool
South of the Border started in 1949 as a simple beer stand, founded by one Alan Schafer. The name was a play on its location, as it was located in Hamer, South Carolina, directly bordering the North Carolina state line. It was more than just a clever joke—the counties north of the border were dry counties, meaning Schafer got lots of business from folks who couldn’t buy alcohol in their local nearby towns.
Business boomed, and soon, Schafer added a 10-seat grill for diners and renamed the spot South of the Border Drive-In. By 1954, he had built 20 motel rooms. In 1962, Schafer started selling fireworks—something that was also illegal just north of the border. Solidifying its iconic status was the announcement in 1964 that I-95 would be built just feet away from the facility’s entrance, opening up business opportunities considerably.
Leaning into the Mexican-themed name, he imported trinkets from Mexico and came up with a 104-foot-tall mascot named Pedro. At its peak, South of the Border had a theme park, a mini-golf course, a barber shop, a drug store, a post office, a convention center, and an outdoor go-kart track. While it marketed itself as a stop along the way to your true destination, for many, the facility itself was the destination.
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In some ways, South of the Border is a shell of what it once was. The only attractions that remain open are the arcade, the reptile house, and the Sombrero Observation Tower. Back in December, the facility listed 30 acres of land for sale, including the defunct theme park, mini golf course, motel building, and convention center, with an asking price of $2.85 million. There are still a few restaurants and souvenir stores on-site, but the main draw is Fort Pedro Fireworks, as most fireworks are still illegal just across the border.
Despite all that, South of the Border remains near and dear to my heart. It’s one of those places that drives nostalgia into my heart when I visit, and forces my brain to consider going on yet another road trip down the East Coast, even if I don’t have a good reason to. So I hope this is the last bad news I ever hear about it.
Top graphic image:Dillon County FD
Hooo boy, this brings back all kinds of nostalgia. Equally iconic and dumpy.. it’s certainly something I hope to continue to see when travelling on I-95 (from afar, Pedro).
Of all of their zany billboards, this is the one that still makes me scratch my head. What the heck does that even mean?
I don’t know how cool it is, but it’s long-lasting and iconic. Their billboard budget must be huge. At least it’s a bunch of buildings instead of one big one that can burn down all at once. I’ve only been to the gift shop and it was ok, like a time capsule from the 1970s.
LIved in SC all my life. Have never been to this place nor ever heard anything good about it. Glad someone enjoyed it though. People are weird.
World’s greatest? Spoken like someone who has never been to Wall Drug.
Pedro Says; ¡You never sausage a fire!
Having spent my childhood in SC, I didn’t actually get to go to this very often. We had family we’d drive to in PA regularly, but since this place was only 2 hours from home it wasn’t worth the stop in my parents’ eyes. Definitely had a “huh, that place is still around?” reaction to the headline and lead image.
Worlds greatest rest stop? I did a Google Street view of the place and what I saw was a lot of “It’s best days are behind it” sadness.
The place looks like a dump.
I can think of two rest stops I’d rather stop at… This one in Grimsby Ontario:
https://static.where-e.com/Canada/Niagara-Gateway-Information-Centre_df1f693d706eb833824c1232130ad529.jpg
https://niagarainformation.ca/about/
And when I was in Italy on a bus tour, we stopped by a great rest stop that had an Autogrille… and I had some impressively good Risotto and a lot of other FANTASTIC food options… among other stuff. Here’s a link to one of them so you can see what I’m talking about
https://maps.app.goo.gl/As4LVtXk5GmRqkwS9
And that place was clean, classy, stylish and an all-around nice place to stop in for a really nice meal.
All the things South Of The Border is not.
SOtB? Well, Son Of a Bitch! Ha ha
In the late 80s and early 90s, my family would do annual summer trips from VA to either Myrtle Beach or Charleston, SC. Counting the number of South of the Border billboards was a good way to pass the time on I-95. One year we all made bets on who could guess the closest number of billboards from the start of our trip to South of the border. Welp, I think it was 95 or so. I can’t remember exactly. Simpler times.
The whole pedro thing was pretty racist to be honest. Standard southern cultural appropriation schtick at the time.
It was always a disappointment compared to the 100+ billboards that built up a high level of anticipation. In the ’90s it was awesome as a kid, not so much when we stopped a few years ago. Most of the signs are gone on 95. Our small town in upstate NY had more South of the Border bumper stickers than any other bumper sticker. Myrtle Beach was a major destination for people in the area and everyone drove so South of the Border was a commonly known thing even though it was 800 miles away.
Actually stayed here overnight as a small child, on the way to see Nana and Pop Pop in Florida, early’70’s. Don’t remember much about it. Stopped in with my own children 30 years later – I remember being overcome with an intense urge to get back in the car and leave ASAP. Sketchy, bordering on scary.
In the early 2000s I went to a job interview in
LesserSouth Carolina. I didn’t want to make the trip myself, and all my friends were tied up with end-of-semester stuff, so Mom went with me. On the trip back, the Jeep needed gas and she needed a restroom. I remembered seeing the garish billboards for South of the Border on our many family vacations, so I thought we might as well stop.Mom took one look at the place and refused to leave the Jeep. I did buy gas, but we ended up getting back on the interstate until Mom found a truck stop that looked respectable.
(I didn’t get the job, which was for the best; the town was a dump, and the vibe of the company was weird. I was supposed to be interviewing for an introductory maintenance engineer role, but they wanted some kind of engineering supervisor.)
I stopped there in 2004. It looked and felt abandoned then.
I live relatively close to there but across the state border in the superior Carolina. I always tell people South of the Border is the appetizer to Myrtle Beach. I don’t mean it as a compliment.
Was this by any chance the inspiration for the Mexican-themed restaurant (complete with cliff diving) that Eric Cartman loves so much in an episode of South Park?
Also, is no one going to mention that the guy who runs Rivian got paid $400-some-odd million dollars last year, which is more than ten times more than what Farley and Barra got paid at Ford and GM?
No. The South Park episode was inspired by Casa Bonita in Colorado.
https://www.casabonitadenver.com/
No, thats a real place
As a Denverite – no, this is a real place in Lakewood, CO. Trey Parker and Matt Stone – who are from CO – even bought the restaurant and restored Casa Bonita to its former glory about two years ago. It’s been around since the 1970s.
Thank you all for the clarification! 🙂
We stopped a couple times in the 70’s and 80’s. Sometime in the late 90’s I stopped with a friend and it was sad and clearly in decline. I can imagine it must be quite run down by now. The schtick and endless billboards were funny then, but like many things, they’re cringey today. Times change, people change, tastes change.
I just took a virtual drive through there on Google Maps. If I had to sum it up in one word, I’d be torn between disappointing and depressing. It honestly looks as though it would be the least interesting part of an I-95 road trip in this day and age.
I’m not surprised to hear that a Buc-ee’s is eating their lunch.
I don’t get the Buc-ee’s phenomena. But I googled the nearest Buc-ee’s locations, thinking this would be an ideal site to scrape and redevelop, but it looks like that ship has sailed since there’s one not far away.
I’m guessing it’s the novelty of the experience, coupled with the fact (real or imagined) that there’s something there for everyone in the car. No need to argue over which fast food joint you’re hitting up after you fill the tank.
In a way, not too dissimilar from what SOTB offered back in its alleged heyday, except it’s all under one roof.
It’ll be interesting to see if Buc-ee’s model is sustainable when they’ve built one for every 300 miles or so of Interstate and the novelty has worn off.
300 miles? They are about to open a new Buc-ees in San Marcos, TX just 15 miles from the one in New Braunfels, TX, both on IH35. And the New Braunfels location was the biggest one at the time it was built (150+ pumps), so it’s not like the new one is intended to replace an older, smaller one. The NB location is just always packed.
Overall, I think Buc-ees will survive as long as they continue to offer clean restrooms and good food. Especially as EVs become more prevalent, the Buc-ees model makes a good place to charge as it is fairly easy to spend an hour or so inside. The NB location currently has 20+ superchargers, and it should be easy for them to add more as demand increases.
300 miles on average – they’re still rare as hen’s teeth up north. I agree though – the abundant EV charging is a winning strategy for them.
If SOTB had invested half of what they spent on billboards back into their infrastructure, they’d probably be in a much better position today.
Honestly the best part about Buc-ee’s is that the bathrooms are guaranteed to be clean. Busy, but clean. Plus there’s some decent variety in food, as Y2Keith mentioned.
I don’t get the obsession though, I’m with you there.
I didn’t get the sense that they were any cleaner than other rest stops. The one I visited was clean I guess, but was soaking wet from them moping. Maybe I just got lucky but the rest stops I used on 95 were pretty clean.
Yeah rest stops can be good, I was thinking of other gas stations I’ve stopped at. I’m usually stopping for fuel and/or food at the same time so that’s what I tend to go for.
I visit SE Arizona and SW New Mexico with some regularity, and drove past “The Thing” on I-10 more than a few times. I always wonder what it’s about. The miles and miles of advertising is making me anxious.
Maybe I’d make some time to visit, just to scratch the itch.
No spoilers, but for the five bucks and change it costs to walk thru the attraction, it’s completely worth the time.
Once