Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/293070
48 | Overdrive | April 2014 Diversions Even Helen Keller couldn't have missed the signs for Pedro's South of the Border. The billboards monopolize the I-95 corridor with neon campiness that is best described as "tacky." I love them. I love the place, too. We'd stopped there before, just south of the North Carolina/South Caro- lina border in Hamer, S.C. It's very truck-friendly – one reason I love it. A sprawling complex of buildings and outdoor sculptures includes rides, an arcade and five places to eat the same five ingredients done 50 different ways. Showers, $8 each, are pretty dark and ominous, but they appear to be fairly clean and have smelled strongly of bleach every time I've seen them. Querying the popularity of Pedro's on Facebook, I was surprised at how many people said they had seen it but never stopped. Where else can you climb to the top of a giant sombrero and look out over the vast beauty of the I-95 corridor? Am I the only one who appreciates giant fiberglass chickens? I didn't ask George to stop this time around. Traffic had been horrible, as it often is on I-95. When he pulled in, I was surprised. "Oh goody! I'm gonna get a taco!" I did the happy dance in my seat. "You're like a little kid. I need to take a break anyway. We can't ride rides or go to the arcade, but I guess we'll eat something." "Goody goody goody." We helped ourselves to some pretty dubious-looking chili-cheese dogs and tacos. Not the best I've ever had, but the fries are good, and it's all relatively cheap. We also got a really good walk, from one end of the Pedro strip to the other. If you're with someone cool who doesn't mind taking stupid pictures with fiberglass animals, it's an added bonus. We now have a "Pedro's Photo Album" folder on my computer. It's worth stopping just to take a stroll up and down the street for a leg stretch. And you haven't lived until you've purchased a pile of fake doo-doo from a gift shop. Every cab should have one. You owe Yourself a stop at pedro's A fine new album by a 21-year-old Oklahoman raised in the Pentecostal church doesn't explore trucking so much as it does religion, though one blazing cut illuminates the intersection of both. The self-titled Parker Mill- sap album "unpacks the complex symbiosis between faith, fear, desperation and repentance," wrote reviewer Kim Ruehl. "In 'Truck Stop Gospel,' [Parker's] narration is so astute it's impossible to tell what side he's on – not that it matters." Consider this verse: Parking lot lady wants me to let her climb in It's 'my kind of truck,' the kind she could 'have a good time in' She jumped up, but before she could even chime in Well, I was speaking in the Holy Spirit Cast that demon out, I could hear it dying. You can see Millsap perform "Truck Stop Gospel" by searching that title at youtube.com, which also contains other performances by him. Overdrive blogger Wendy Parker mixes with the fiberglass creatures at that most visible of South Carolina roadside attractions. Wendy Parker chronicles her journey on the road with her owner-operator husband, George, in the George and Wendy Show blog on OverdriveOnline. com. Scan the QR to read more from her on your phone or tablet. For more shots from the Parkers' recent visit to Pedro's, search "South of the Border" on OverdriveOnline.com. Singer preaches an offbeat 'Truck Stop Gospel' One cut on Parker Millsap's new album illuminates the intersection of religion and trucking. Diversions_0414.indd 48 4/1/14 7:34 AM