Viva South Carolina! 11/19/97
For those of you who think advertising doesn't work. You're just plain wrong! Kendall and I (both of whom are in the aforementioned line of work) are living proof. We are spending the evening in a hotel/town called "South of the Border". It seems just as you cross the North Carolina border into South Carolina on I-95, you don't actually get to South Carolina at all. No siree. You get to a Mexico right here in the South. And it has been here for almost 50 years. Well about 2 hours before we got here, we started seeing billboards. Lots of billboards. We laughed. At the first few. Then started anticipating the next ones. When we saw a banner that read: "You never sausage a place," with a picture of a Hot Dog. We started getting rather giddy by this point. As we drove toward the off-ramp on I-90, it was like we were pulled, against our will, off the highway. We had intended on driving another 2 hours.
When we pulled up, the radio was playing AC/DC's "Highway to Hell", then Golden Earring's "Twilight Zone." According to the bartendress at the "Cancun Saloon," it's South Carolina's biggest tourist attraction. And apparently, get this, Pedro's "NOT REALLY A MEXICAN. He's an 83-year old Jewish guy" whose son owns the Miller distribution center of S.C. Guess what was the only beer available at the bar? Yup. Miller. And NO sign of people. We're actually a little on edge. It's too much like "Dusk Till Dawn." No Mexican-themed ghost town in South Carolina would be complete without golf.
The Day.
Our day consisted of waking up and going to Washington D.C. for the Star Wars exhibit at the Air and Space Museum. Seeing all those drawings and models and costumes up close made Kendall realize how much he wants to be involved in that business.
"I can do that stuff, and I'd be good at it," said Kendall. He had a small tear welling up in his eye. There were a lot of geeks there. This is said with the utmost with sincerity. Kendall knows a lot about these movies, but he doesn't start screaming with glee when he sees an Ewok. There were couples there who must have met over the internet at some AOL Star Wars chat line. Max found Ross Perot Jr.'s around-the-globe helicopter trip of particular interest.
We then had a late lunch at the Heart & Soul Cafe in Capitol Hill. A big hearty Southern meal. We are preparing our bellies for our descent back into the South. Several hours later we had a late dinner at Burger King.
They told us we were 8 hours from Savannah. Turns out it was more like two.Max had a kiddy meal and received a free toy.
Now we are at Pedro's. As I said, I feel like I'm in Mexico. And I feel like my chances of getting arrested for no reason are just as good. Did you ever see the movie, "Bigg's Town"?
Tomorrow, Savannah!
Write Max on this lonely road. Write Kendall on this lonely road. |
