South of the Border

Multiple souvenir shops, restaurants, fuel, lodging, a 200-foot observation tower, arcade, giant roadside figures and an indoor reptile attraction in one highway complex.

The scale and mix turn a traveler-services stop into an unmistakable roadside environment, with several active retail formats operating among monumental signs and attractions.

South of the Border has operated at the North Carolina line since 1949 and remains an active I-95 travel complex. Current retail includes Mexico Shop East and West, Pedro’s Myrtle Beach Shop and Pedro’s Pura Vida, selling souvenirs, apparel, beach goods, jewelry, gifts and changing traveler merchandise. Restaurants, fuel and lodging share the property with the 200-foot Sombrero Tower and arcade and the separately ticketed Reptile Lagoon, whose gift shop is part of that attraction. South of the Border calls Reptile Lagoon the country’s largest indoor reptile display; that claim remains attributed. Some former attractions and facilities have closed or been offered for sale, so Pedroland, the convention center, mini-golf and other inactive components are not presented as current. The destination’s faux-Mexican branding is described neutrally rather than imitated.