I'm so glad South of the Border was featured in this movie!!
when I was a kid me and my family would drive all the way from NH to Florida and stop here almost each time. I remembered it being wicked fun and awesome when i was a kid but I hear its not so great now.
:/
yeah it sucks now. I'm from Dillon, SC where South of the Border is and I used to work there. I live in Iowa now, but my whole family is still in Dillon, so whenever I go home to visit, I usually go by SOB just to see how it is. I went there in June and it was lousy. The place was almost empty, hardly anyone was stopping there anymore. My guess is because the owner died back in 2001. I actually knew one of his sons really well, him and my stepdad were best friends for a few years, and he always talked about how his older brother who was gonna be running the place whenever their father died didn't really care about improving the place any, he just wanted to do as little as possible to run the place. And it definitely looks like that's what they are doing.
It's a shame. I used to go there all the time when I was a kid, my dad would take me almost every weekend so we could play miniature golf and get ice cream. Of course, it lost its appeal to me when I started working there. The employee turnover rate is high, they pay lousy and work you long lousy hours. I worked in the ice cream shop for 5 years....the only other person that was there as long was the manager. We went through so many people every year.
I remember when this movie came. I had actually just left from working out there finally(LOL!!), but I meant to go out there and try and be in the movie just so I could meet Sandra Bullock. There was one day when they were gonna let locals come down and give them a chance to be in the movie. But I was working a 3rd shift job and overslept. My chance with Sandra never happened :(
**Greg Maddux is the greatest pitcher of this generation.**
A few years ago I drove from NJ all the way to Dillon JUST to go to SOB. I loved it! It was pretty empty but I thought it was just great. I hope it never closes. I bought so many souvenirs.
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"Love means never having to say you're ugly." - the Abominable Dr. Phibes
where in NJ? we used to make that drive all the time. we lived in NJ for a few years, but since my whole family was back in Dillon, we'd go back and forth to visit all of the time.
yeah, i guess you can find some cool things at SOB. like i said, i thought it was a really cool place when i was a kid, but i worked out there for about 8 years all together, so it lost its appeal to me.
**Greg Maddux is the greatest pitcher of this generation.**
I live in Columbia, SC and have been going to SOB since I was a kid (I'm 27 now). It has definitely declined over the years, but it's still interesting to see just as a piece of nostalgia and/or history. I've introduced a lot of friends from the Columbia area to SOB, making a lot of late night drives out to Dillon to show them the place, take pictures with the kitschy animal statues, visit the 24-hour diner, etc. The last time I visited was probably about a year and a half ago, and it was sad to see the state it's in. Since I was a teenager and first had a car, my friends and I have made South of the Border a place to go late at night when there's nothing else to do. There used to be shops open, everything lit up, people visiting, food, and everything - even in the middle of the night. The last time I went, even the convenience store and "24-hour" diner were closed. It's a ghost town these days.
I stayed in the motel a few years back, just because I'd never stayed there and always wanted to see what the rooms were like. Honestly, for a motel right off the interstate, the rooms aren't that bad - but if you're going to stay there, spend the extra cash and get the nicer room. The one real oddity when I stayed - there was no cable TV. In my entire life, I don't believe I've ever stayed in another hotel/motel that didn't have cable (and I've stayed in some less than stellar places before, believe you me). I was told by one of the staff at the time that since the original owner had died, SOB was more or less involved in a legal battle between his children, one of which who wanted to restore it and the other who wanted to sell it off. So things were more or less at a standstill, and with no money being spent to maintain or repair things, it was declining sharply. I hope that someone will take the reins and repair the place before it's a complete loss, because I hate to see it the way that it is.
Also, if you've never been there, check out the Peddler Steakhouse. It has much better food than you'd expect for a place in the middle of a run-down tourist trap. :)
It's 2022 and they are renovating. Can't wait to see how it is. Many people thought it was closing altogether but the [new] owner said it is not.
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