rocketraider Posted December 30, 2009 Share Posted December 30, 2009 South of the Border through the years :: WRAL.comY'all in North and South Carolina, or even the Southeast, may be familiar with South of the Border. It kinda defies description as to what exactly it is- restaurant, kitschy junk shop, fireworks stand, all are part and parcel of South of the Border!Enjoy the old cars in the picture show! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Braverman Posted December 30, 2009 Share Posted December 30, 2009 We stayed there a few years ago on our way home from Florida. I don't think anything has changed in 50 years, including the sheets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gary Hearn Posted December 30, 2009 Share Posted December 30, 2009 Image #9 is mistakenly titled as being in 1950. Even my mother could pick out that error... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keiser31 Posted December 30, 2009 Share Posted December 30, 2009 They must have meant 1960. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shop Rat Posted December 30, 2009 Share Posted December 30, 2009 Been there more than once. Always amazed to see South of the Border bumper stickers on vehicles as far north as Mass. :cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Skyking Posted December 31, 2009 Share Posted December 31, 2009 Been by that way many times going from RI to Florida. I think it's posted every mile or two until you reach the spot. One time when vacationing in Florida we stopped there on the way back to RI. My son bought a load of firecrackers and packed them in the trunk of our LeBaron. My wife thought the car was going to blow up.............she was a wreck all the way home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gary Hearn Posted December 31, 2009 Share Posted December 31, 2009 Back in the old days when going to Florida you would start to see the signs a couple of hundred miles out, i.e.:Pedro sezs, only 200 miles to South of the BorderCool today, hot tamaleAnd of course the billboards advertising the fireworks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Restorer32 Posted December 31, 2009 Share Posted December 31, 2009 Pedro says you never sausage a place! Stopped there on our way home from Amelia Island just for grins. Relatively clean bathrooms at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Model T Nick Posted December 31, 2009 Share Posted December 31, 2009 My South of the Border story: I was working in SC for 7 years and kept our house in NC. We passsed by SOB every weekend and didn't stop once. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomTIII Posted January 1, 2010 Share Posted January 1, 2010 Took Flat Stanley there on a special outing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shop Rat Posted January 2, 2010 Share Posted January 2, 2010 Took Flat Stanley there on a special outing.You know you are going to have to tell us about Flat Stanley, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Hinckley Posted January 2, 2010 Share Posted January 2, 2010 SOB is a fascinating mix of modern and classic road side kitch. Five years ago I wrote a book, The Big Book of Car Culture, that profiled everything automotive from the evolution of crash test dummies to the Model T, from Route 66 to the history of the ambulance. One section was dedicated to road side attractions and I added SOB. the place has very interesting history.This was my first association with the place in quite some time. I was born on the coast of North Carolina but have not been back for a number of years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCHinson Posted January 2, 2010 Share Posted January 2, 2010 I live in Southeastern NC and have passed by South of the Border many times. Many years ago we decided to stop on the way home late at night to have dinner in one of the South of the Border restaurants. We have not stopped there again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Walling Posted January 2, 2010 Share Posted January 2, 2010 I live in Southeastern NC and have passed by South of the Border many times. Many years ago we decided to stop on the way home late at night to have dinner in one of the South of the Border restaurants. We have not stopped there again.I have the same fond memory of one of the restaurants. It was most memorable as the worst meal that I have ever had on the road! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Bond Posted January 2, 2010 Share Posted January 2, 2010 It's certainly a piece of "Car Culture." Have been past many times, stopped a few times too. There is an antique shop in there someplace and I actually bought a porcelain sign there a few years ago. Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Paul Christ Posted January 2, 2010 Share Posted January 2, 2010 Years ago I stopped into SOB for a quick bite to eat. I visited the cafeteria (first building on the right as you enter on 301/501) and was happily surprised - the food was really good. I enjoyed a chilli dog, and that dog was as memorable as any hot dog from your favorite ballpark would be. On a later visit, I decided to try a "nicer" appearing sit-down restaurant and was met with horrible food. Ever since, I've stuck with the cafeteria and I've been happy (well, as happy as you can be with a chilli dog and burrito floating around in your gut). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Roth Posted January 2, 2010 Share Posted January 2, 2010 Having driven past "South of the Border many times, and stopped only once in the past 45 years, I think about how my Mom looked forward to stopping there as she and Dad drove back and forth between Linden, NJ and Plantation, just inland from Ft. Lauderdale, FL. That place was, and remains so "kitsch", it reminds me of so many places we visited while driving the historic "Route 66" with its Wigwam Motel and other oddball fond memories. Of course, memories are generally better than the reality.Everyone should experience a place like "South of the Border" at least once, as a reminder that a second visit could be harmful to their reputation.Many, many years back, as we made our regular summer trips between New Jersey and the Catskill Mountains Resort Hotels, Dad would always stop at the "RED APPLE REST" . I believe it was just outside of Tuxedo, New York -- a town made more famous in Glenn Miller's Band's theme song "Tuxedo Junction".Best to all for the New Year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Braverman Posted January 2, 2010 Share Posted January 2, 2010 Many, many years back, as we made our regular summer trips between New Jersey and the Catskill Mountains Resort Hotels, Dad would always stop at the "RED APPLE REST" . I believe it was just outside of Tuxedo, New York -- a town made more famous in Glenn Miller's Band's theme song "Tuxedo Junction".Best to all for the New Year.There was an article in Hemmings last year about the Red Apple Rest. It closed last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Roth Posted January 2, 2010 Share Posted January 2, 2010 Steve,Thanks for the reminder - yes , I recall the Hemmings article.I think that in the early post-war years out stop was to let the Willys Americar, and then the '35 Chevy, and later the '35 Packard 6-cylinder cool off from the drive. As I recall, the Packard was well-worn, and used a lot of oil, requiring a "topping-off" at the Halfway point of our 120 mile trip. It eventually got so bad that dad would buy "reclaimed oil" at 10 cents/quart, and we had a friend come by to re-bore the cylinders while the engine was still in the chassis. New pistons and rings solved the oil-burning, and a year later, the Packard was sold to buy a 1942 Chevy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Model T Nick Posted January 4, 2010 Share Posted January 4, 2010 Pedro's Mid 50's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gary Hearn Posted January 4, 2010 Share Posted January 4, 2010 Pedro's Mid 50'sJudging by the back of that Rambler wagon, it is a couple of years later than the mid '50's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msmazcol Posted January 4, 2010 Share Posted January 4, 2010 Anyone make it north of the cheese border?Nothing like seeing this outside your window in your hotel room.My Daughter still takes about the place with the plane and the haunted tunnel! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kaycee Posted January 4, 2010 Share Posted January 4, 2010 ' Stayed there at the Don Q Inn and took a tour of the plane there north of Dodgeville, Wi. when going to House On The Rock north of Dodgeville, about twenty years ago when I lived way up in Tomahawk ,Wi. 'Quite the places! kaycee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocketraider Posted January 4, 2010 Author Share Posted January 4, 2010 Lessee- 56 Plymouth, 53 and 58 Buicks, 56 Ford, and what looks like a 58-9 Rambler wagon. I'm also one who will watch old 50s and 60s TV shows just to see the cars.I kinda miss the times when motels were locally owned and had their own distinct style. Those that are left are now usually flophouse 1-room apartments or cheap digs for construction crews on the road.We used to stay in two in Gettysburg that I really enjoyed. They were locally owned, clean and reasonable, and they had atmosphere. Then Gettysburg College schemed on buying them for dorms as it was cheaper to buy them than to build their own new dorms. And another piece of roadside America was lost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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