South of the Border

(Dillon, SC)  Hi 72 Lo 46 -- We’ve traveled I-95 in both directions for years and smiled at the funny billboards advertising "Pedro" and South of the Border. But we've never stopped to see what the place was all about. So today, since we're only five miles from it, we decided to finally check it out. There must be a hundred billboards along the highway coming from both directions. They’re heavy on the humor, featuring "Pedro" telling all about what you can find at South of the Border. They’ve changed a lot over the years. They used to border on being racially insensitive, but they've been "cleaned up" for the modern politically correct world. It breaks the boredom of driving, wondering what the next sign will say. (Click on photos to enlarge.)
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You see the towers from miles away.


They have a campground ("Pedro's Campground"). It’s nice, but nothing special.


We were expecting to see a lot of very tacky stores selling cheap, junky trinkets and t-shirts. Unfortunately, we weren't disappointed. :) About the only good thing was the prices were low. We walked around a few of the stores, and they were all very much alike.




Pictures we took while walking around the area.




There’s a leather shop with cute little change purses shaped like little caps.


Or you can get Indian headdresses and outside ornaments


It’s truly a tourist trap. It amazed us how empty the place was. We didn't see more than 3 or 4 people in any store, and the parking lots were so empty that it looked like nothing was open. One of the clerks said it’s very busy during the summer months. We had lunch at Pedro’s Diner. It's a modest sit down restaurant with good food at great prices.

South Carolina is known for lots of Fireworks stores, and you see them everywhere once you cross the border.


We saw a sign with directions to Dillon Motor Speedway. Being race fans, we had to check it out. It's less than a mile from the campground. We couldn’t see much of it from outside the fence, but it looks like about a half mile track. It’s closed for the winter.


Next to the track there’s a couple cotton fields. I stopped pick a cotton ball.



It's hard to believe so many of our clothes come from these plants. We went back to the campground and watched several RV’s come in.


Yesterday we showed you a picture of a wooden RV here in the park. The owner will be back to pick it up next month and take it to Florida. He leaves it here most of the summer and picks it up when he goes camping. The whole left side drops down for a deck, with railings that are hooked to the back. The right side comes out. When it’s totally open it’s like a log cabin. Everyone here says it’s the neatest thing they’ve ever seen.

This whole side is a deck


The rails for deck are on the back


This side is a slide out


Much of his equipment is stored on the front. The whole thng is home-built.


It was a wonderful day of new experiences. Tomorrow we move on.