“S” is for South of the Border

“S” is for South of the Border. Located just south of the North Carolina border near the South Carolina town of Hamer, South of the Border has long captured the attention of travelers on U.S. Highway 301 and Interstate 95. In 1950 beer distributor Alan Shafer expanded a one-room beer depot to include a twenty-four-hour diner. The opening of the South of the Border Motel in 1954 capitalized on growing tourist business. He also created “Pedro,” a sombrero-clad cartoon spokesman whose puns advertised South of the Border on billboards stretching from Virginia to Florida. At Schafer's death in 2001, the South of the Border entertainment complex covered 350 acres and included five restaurants, fourteen stores, three hundred motel rooms, a campground, an indoor miniature golf course, two fireworks outlets, and hundreds of larger than life statues.