Monday, March 9, 2009

Chapter 1, Part 8 - The Drive Down

It takes Mom and Dad two or three days to make their way from their home in Pennsylvania to Florida. Now if you don’t already know, I-95 is not the most exciting route in the United States. In fact, after the New Jersey Turnpike, it’s probably the most boring route…until you get to North Carolina. That’s when you start seeing signs for South of the Border. For anyone who has ever driven to Florida, you know which signs I’m talking about. If you haven’t, let me try to explain them here. South of the Border is one of the biggest tourist stops in the most convenient of locations on the well-traveled I-95 corridor. It is opportunely located, just south of the border…of North Carolina. It is a bright enclave of shops, restaurants, arcades, and various other entertainment venues designed as a Mexican village, hence the name. The whole ‘village’ is painted with bright colors – oranges, greens, and yellows, to name a few. And for about 200 miles before you reach South of the Border, there are signs…hundreds of them, it seems, in equally bright colors with pictures of sombreros and corny sayings like ‘Pedro’s weather forecast: chili today; hot tamale’ or ‘Keep yelling, kids, they’ll stop.’ All of the signs also advise you of the number of miles before you will reach this most coveted of tourist spots. Most of the signs are very colorful; some are in 3-D; and a few are actually funny. All of them seem to make the ride to Florida go by a little bit more quickly.

No comments:

Post a Comment