Responding to sporadic tipster alerts that South of the Border, (Dillon, South Carolina), was in bad shape in the years since the death of founder Alan Schafer, Roadsideamerica.com dispatched an undercover assessment team.
The team consisted of the Archibalds, a "typical family" traveling from the Northeast to the Southeast along I-95. Melanie and Bryce, field researchers-in-training, observed billboard frequency and content, surveyed gift shop and attraction activity, and gauged the relative health of this incorrigible tourist trap. Their parents agreed to linger at SOB for at least a half-hour.
On I-95 southbound, the team reported "lots of billboards," which still feature the politically-correct, de-ethnicized humor that SOB moved to in the 1990s. Billboard frequency appeared to be normal, with the highest concentration in the last few miles to the SOB exit.
Roadsideamerica.com provided a 2-figure souvenir budget to Melanie and Bryce, with instructions to purchase only SOB-branded "pedro" items. Pictured above is some of the booty that they found in SOB's gift shops, including a backscratcher, a hot plate, a serving tray, a salt and pepper shaker set, a wearable pedro statue, a bumper sticker, and an Amigo Pedro button.
Almost all of these items were manufactured in China
.Despite the taming of SOB's billboards, there appears to be no slackening in the quantity or variety of "pedro" souvenirs, nor of the public's interest in purchasing them.
On the ground at SOB, our typical family noticed that some of the signs and photo op statues needed maintenance. Melanie, in particular, noted that a large plastic duck was missing a "googly eye."
The team reported the Sombrero observation tower was open, but that the amusement park section would be closed until autumn. The Golf of Mexico was open. Our family wasn't able to visit the haunted motel room, and couldn't recall if the steakhouse shaped like a Mexican hat was still in operation.
The overall assessment: South of the Border is still in business, and seems unchanged from visits over the last few years.
