nonamedufus

On the weekend I posted about South of the Border and the billboards on the highway we encountered driving back to Canada from Florida. Located in Dillon, South Carolina, South of the Border started out almost 60 years ago as a beer stand. Over the years it steadily grew to become, you might say, the Kingdom of Kitsch. I didn't take pictures of all the billboards through South Carolina on I-95. But I have found some others, from over the years, on Google Pics. Enjoy! Other billboards included the following themes: * Pedro's Weather Forecast: Chili today, hot tamale. * Keep America Green! Bring Money! * Keep yelling, kids! (They'll stop.) * Sommtheeng Deeferent * Honeymoon Suites: Heir Conditioned * Fort Pedro, Fireworks Capital of the US * Etymologically Correck! * Howdy, Pardner! * Top Banana! * Pedro's fireworks! Does yours?

My buddy and I lit out from Fort Lauderdale at around 1am this morning. 16 hours later, after sharing driving duties, we checked in to the Quality Inn in Petersburg Virginia. It was a fairly unevenful ride, in fact a tad boring save when each of us started to nod off during our stretch at the wheel. One remarkable thing was the billboards in the sky. These things are mounted on huge metal poles up so high in the air I think they're used to attract low-flying objects as well as cars. The other interesting thing to watch for are the billboards - all lower to the ground - for " South of the Border " a touristy kitschy mecca in South Carolina just over the border from North Carolina. You can follow these billboards as you get closer and closer, beginning over 160 miles away... And then, before you know it the mecca of kitsch is upon you. You know, I remember travelling with the kids when they were younger, driving to Disney World and those billboards provided us with hours o...

What is it with Lady Liberty and taxes. Saw this guy on a south Florida street corner; he wasn't exactly drivin' in the customers. But why are tax preparers always associating themselves with the Statue of Liberty? After all, the saying isn't: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to get their taxes in on time." That reminds me. Good thing we're leaving for home today. I've gotta file my tax return!

While visiting south Florida there's been a superfluity of sporting events in both Fort Lauderdale and nearby Miami. The NHL's Panthers played the Toronto Maple Leafs. One of the early rounds of March Madness, the NCAA basketball tournament, was hosted in Miami as was the world baseball series and so on. But we didn't go for those big ticket items. Oh no. We decided to take in that great American pastime: Spring Training. Fort Lauderdale Stadium was built in 1962 and up until about 1996 was spring training home to the New York Yankees. Since then, when the Yankees moved on to Legends Field in Tampa, the Baltimore Orioles have played there. My buddy and I got tickets to the Orioles vs the Tampa Rays but unfortunately the game was rained out. Sure, fly 1500 miles from snow covered Canada in search of fun in the sun and encounter 17 straight hours of rain and flood alerts. We weren't off to a good start. Undaunted we traded our tickets in for a game with the Washington Na...

Yup, "YEE-HAW" about says it all. Been in Fort Lauderdale since March 16 and decided to stay on a couple of extra days. Hey, there's a big difference between 82F and -2C! BTW, the sign was found on the Florida Turnpike between Fort Lauderdale and Orlando.

"Where The Boys Are" is a 60s film about spring break in the town once known as "Spring Break USA": Fort Lauderdale. Since the 50s college kids from across the U.S. and Canada flocked to Fort Lauderdale Beach in droves - in the hundreds of thousands - to party. And that's just what the film portrayed... Times have changed. In the mid 80s Fort Lauderdale was overrun by somewhere in the area of 350,000 hot-blooded and/or drunk teenagers. Today things have changed. The city fathers have discouraged the love-in and now cater to an older, whiter-haired and richer kind of tourist. And it's to Fort Lauderdale I have come for 2 weeks, and as for older, whiter-haired and richer? Two out of three ain't bad... Here's a modern Fort Lauderdale beachfront hotel, compared to the tiny motels from days gone by, followed by an older edifice, updated. And here's a view from across the street of the famous Fort Lauderdale Beach, practically deserted. Here's whe...