July 17, 2010 -- South of the Border

For those of you not familiar with it, South of the Border is a cheesy tourist trap, located at the North and South Carolina border, at the intersection of I-95 and US Highway 301. For almost the entire length of North Carolina (Southbound) and South Carolina (Northbound) you are besieged with billboards, spaced a mile apart.

We got a late start today, and decided on a short ride. SOB is only 45 miles away. Riding on the Interstate may be faster, but it's not really much fun. We opted for the Highway 301 route, and pulled out around 2. We had to travel a short way along the main Beach route (US Highway 76 and 301), but the eastbound traffic wasn't too bad. Across the median, the westbound lanes were crowded and moving slowly; must've been the vacationers leaving the beach.

Once we turned north to follow 301 we left the traffic behind. The route from Pee Dee to Dillon is mostly two-lane blacktop, and 55 MPH, so with no traffic it's an easy ride. The temperature was in the upper 90's, and the air was warm, so there were no cool breezes. Not too bad through Sellars, but it got warm as we stopped at traffic lights in Latta and Dillon. Once we left Dillon the traffic eased up and we arrived in South of the Border in no time. The giant sombrero stands out, pointing the way. You can pay (I think it's a dollar) to ride the elevator to the top.

Spanning both sides of 301, SOB is designed to extract as much cash from the tourists as it can before they continue on to their destination. They have several souvenir shops, assorted restaurants, coffee shops and an ice cream store. We parked in what appeared to be the only shaded parking spot available, and went to one of the souvenir shops to get a shot glass for our collection, before crossing the street for Coke Floats (made with Pepsi -- go figure).

Something new, the Reptile Lagoon, caught our attention, so we headed over. The building is air conditioned, and we figured it would be as cheesy as the rest of the place. We were pleasantly surprised. Most of the displays are small, with assorted smaller caimens, crocodiles and alligators from around the world. In the center of the building was a large display of American Alligators, and there were dozens of them. Since the temperature was comfortable, the lizards were active, and interesting to watch as they swam around. There were assorted snakes in glass displays: pythons, rattlesnakes, copperheads, boas and more, from around the world. There were even a few tortoises, as large as beach balls. We followed the path around and exited (of course) through the gift shop.

We headed out after that, heading south again on 301. As we came down the highway, we came past a snake in the middle of the road, about 6 foot long and black. We couldn't tell whether it was sunning itself or dead, but didn't stop to find out.

Back to Florence by about 5:30, and we headed for Stephano's for dinner. As always, the best Italian food in Florence. Then, back home again.

Not an exciting day, but the ride was good, the company better.