Friday, January 21, 2011

South of the Boarder gets a Facelift


If you have ever traveled on I95 heading towards the North Carolina-South Carolina boarder, you have probably noticed some of the most ridiculous billboards advertising a mysterious place, South of the Boarder. The first time you notice these signs you may ask yourself, what is this place and what do they do/sale/make at this crazy location? There are billboards visible from both the north and south bound lanes throughout most of North and South Carolina. These billboards pop-up approximately every 3 to 5 miles; they are unavoidable.

For many folks living on the east coast, these billboards are a bit of a novelty. They are witty and sometimes even a little risqué. The billboards are also very retro. I always believed that those billboards had been reigning over I95 since at least the 60's. I did a little research and South of the Boarder has actually been around since the 1950's, but I can't find any information about when the signs starting popping up.

During our whirl-wind holiday road trip we ended up on I95 (heading north, back home from Charleston), and to my surprise Pedro (South of the Boarder's No.1 mascot) has some new and improved billboards! The retro boards were still present, but there were definitely some new-shiny-modern boards up as well. At this point in our trip I was pretty much over being in the truck, so I decided to document the boards for my blogging friend to entertain my time. I didn't get a shot of them all, but I think I was able to get a good sample for your entertainment as well…

 This one is animated!
 Yes, that is a real car on the board.
 Kid's Love South of the Boarder too!

So what is South of the Boarder you ask? I've actually never stopped, but use your imagination from the snapshots below. I can tell you it is one-of-a-kind for sure!
Kelly Anne

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You have never stopped! You must at least once in your life just to see the tackiest of gift shops with high prices, over the top sterotyping, and bad Mexican food! It's a layover instead of a stop. :-) Aunt Martha