Kele Storhm Photography

South of the Border is a roadside attraction on I-95, directly South of the border between North and South Carolina. In its creation, South of the Border was nothing more than a stall to sell alcohol to citizens from the dry county across the border in North Carolina. Eventually, more was added and a functional town was built, including a post office, gas station, drug store, and barber shop. The products sold by South of the Border also expanded to include a variety of Mexican-themed souvenirs, food, and fireworks (which were also illegal in North Carolina).

When I visited in 2022, it was a shell of its former self. While they still sold fireworks and souvenir garbage ranging from mildly culturally insensitive to downright racist, little of the original South of the Border remained, bar their extremely racist mascot, Pedro. The story of Pedro is just as insane as the rest of this place. When the original owner added a motel, he brought two men from Mexico to come work for him. Neither of them were named Pedro, but that's what people called them both anyway. To honor this racist bullshit, South of the Border filled I-95 in both directions with signs saying something like "FORT PEDRO FIREWORKS CAPITAL OF THE U.S.A. SOUTH OF THE BORDER" with a mile-marker at the bottom. Despite helpfully marking how many miles away these signs are, very few are accurate. Thankfully though, the most racist of these signs (where Pedro spoke in broken English) are now gone.

The Reptile Lagoon is one of few remaining attractions at South of the Border. Despite boasting about its impressive variety of animals, the "lagoon" is more of a smelly, damp, backroom with some fencing and heat lamps. All of the animals look sick or malnourished and the air reeks of death.

Despite its best attempts to horrify and offend anyone who interacts with it, South of the Border has a special place in my heart. For anyone driving in the area it can be a useful landmark and it acts as a midpoint between New York City and Miami along I-95. South of the Border typically marked the end of my drives so I was always happy to see it, knowing that very soon I could leave the horrors of I-95 behind me. The main reason I still think about South of the Border though, is due to the damage my car sustained while taking these photos. When I left my car to check in to the Motor Inn, a truck with a trailer backed into it, completely destroying one of my headlights. So, whenever someone sees my car's headlight flickering, they know who to thank.