Spent the night at “South of the Border” in Dillon, South Carolina. Place has fallen on really hard times. First visit was back in 1964 driving to Miami from Orleans, Cape Cod. No Interstate then, just US1. Very shabby and tacky now. One lonely waitress in the restaurant serving mediocre, overpriced food.Many letters on various neon signs over the “attractions” not working giving the place an even more forlorn look. Checked with a Security dude and he said there wasn’t any problem staying overnight. There were quite a few of us doing that. At least a half dozen others that I could tell. The one thing I’ll give them is that the toilets in the stand alone building were very clean despite being very old. There was am older, black man who was the attendant overseeing the operation. Good thing I can sleep under adverse conditions because big rigs blasted by on I-95, a hundred yards away all night.
Cleared out about 7 am. Stopped at a McDooDoo’s down the road. An all black crew and the best soul music was playing in the restaurant. They all laughed and hooted when I told them the music was making it hard for me to leave.
South Carolina roads are pretty rough. You notice it the moment you cross over the state line from North Carolina. But the back roads, except when passing through a couple of small towns, had speed limits of from 45 to 60 mph which is relaxing where Interstate driving, for me, anyway, is white knuckle time. Most of the time in the five hours I drove today I saw very few cars either coming at me or behind me. A couple of times I drove through tunnels created by the boughs of live oaks meeting over the road. South Carolina, at least when driving down the back roads, seems to be a state filled with single and double-wide mobile homes.
I’m spending the night at a place called Houlihan’s Boat Ramp by the Savannah River. Look to the right and you can see the cranes in the Savannah container port. Overall the place is well tended with a couple of picnic tables and a bench seat for contemplation. Off to the side there are three Port-A-Potties. Roamed around the whole place and there are no signs prohibiting overnight parking. It’s going to be noisy here, though. There’s a draw bridge over the river with 18 wheelers humming over the grated section of the bridge. Probably quiet down later tonight, though.
Not sure where I’m going to go tomorrow. Will scope that out later.
This is what the place looks like…
One More Good Adventure 