{"id":16499,"date":"2015-10-28T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-10-28T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/?p=16499"},"modified":"2021-10-28T16:33:13","modified_gmt":"2021-10-28T16:33:13","slug":"off-the-beaten-path-in-the-south","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/off-the-beaten-path-in-the-south\/","title":{"rendered":"Off the beaten path in the South"},"content":{"rendered":"

Drinking sweet tea, eating deep-fried food, driving pickup trucks, speaking in similes, and being able to fix almost anything with duct tape are all just a part of life in the South. Lifelong Southerners such as myself are not at all offended that many outsiders view our lifestyle as strange, weird, or quirky. To the contrary, we consider it a matter of pride and tend to flaunt our eccentricities like a badge of honor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s good news for travelers venturing south, as it provides plenty of weird and off-the-beaten-path things to experience. So next time you\u2019re down in this neck of the woods, check out a few of our favorites. You\u2019ll be happier than a possum eatin\u2019 a sweet tater.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bamahenge (Alabama)<\/strong><\/p>\n

You don\u2019t have to travel to England to experience Stonehenge. There is a full-size fiberglass replica in \u201cLA\u201d (lower Alabama) just outside of the Gulf Coast<\/a>\u00a0town of Elberta. As a bonus, in the nearby woods on the road to the Barber Marina, there are four fairly realistic-looking life-size dinosaurs. While at the marina itself, you\u2019ll find a giant 50-foot, half-submerged woman referred to as the \u201cLady in the Lake.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spook Hill (Florida)<\/strong><\/p>\n

There is a road in Lake Wales, Florida<\/a>, known as Spook Hill. Legend has it that ages ago, a giant gator and an Indian chief were killed while battling each other. Early mail carriers noticed that their horses labored whenever going downhill on a path near the chief\u2019s burial site. They named it Spook Hill. Today, that path is a paved road, and if you stop at the white line by the Spook Hill sign and put your car in neutral, it will roll backward up the hill! We put it to the test in a video<\/a>\u00a0when we participated in the Best of the Road Rally in 2012.<\/p>\n

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Cabbage Patch Kids are born at Babyland General Hospital in Cleveland, GA<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Babyland General Hospital (Georgia)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Babyland General Hospital in Cleveland, Georgia<\/a>,\u00a0is where Cabbage Patch Kids are born and cared for. When you enter the hospital, you\u2019re greeted by a \u201cnurse\u201d who explains the adoption process. If you are there when a mother cabbage is dilated to 10 cabbage leaves, you can witness a \u201cdoctor\u201d assist with delivery of a newborn doll.<\/p>\n

The waiting room is a mini museum featuring the first Cabbage Patch Kid that was originally adopted for a fee of US$30.00 in 1977 and readopted by Cabbage Patch creator Xavier Roberts in 2006 for US$37,000.00. The walls are adorned with pictures of celebrities who either visited the hospital or adopted a Cabbage Patch Kid. There is an enormous selection of dolls throughout the hospital waiting to be adopted.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Viewfinder Tip: When ordering iced tea in the South, most places will bring you sweet tea unless you specifically ask for unsweetened.<\/p>\n

South of the Border (South Carolina)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Located on I-95, just south of the North Carolina and South Carolina<\/a>\u00a0state line, is South of the Border\u2014a Mexico-themed tourist complex with a gas station, a souvenir shop, restaurants, a campground, a motel, and a mini amusement park.<\/p>\n

The centerpiece is the 200-foot-tall Sombrero tower that is often referred to as the \u201cEiffel Tower\u00a0of the South\u201d or the \u201cSpace Needle of the East.\u201d<\/p>\n

Along a 200-mile stretch of I-95, there are 120 billboards featuring a sombrero-clad mascot named Pedro beckoning you to visit South of the Border and experience all it has to offer. The frequency of the billboards increases the closer you get to the state line. You\u2019ll find yourself stopping by just for the sake of curiosity if not for Pedro\u2019s power of persuasion. South of the Border is perhaps America\u2019s cheesiest tourist attraction, but therein lies its charm.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Experience Andy Griffith\u2019s Mayberry in Mount Airy, NC<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Mount Airy (North Carolina)<\/strong><\/p>\n

It could be said that the entire town of Mount Airy, North Carolina<\/a>,\u00a0suffers from a bit of an identity crisis considering it has morphed itself into the\u00a0fictitious town of Mayberry from\u00a0The Andy Griffith Show<\/em>. But that\u2019s not a bad thing, especially for those of us old enough to remember the hit TV show from the 1960s. Mount Airy is a place where you can experience small-town southern charm at its finest.<\/p>\n

Many businesses in town have gone to great lengths to recreate the look and feel of what Mayberry was like in the television series. There is an old black-and-white sheriff\u2019s car in front of the Mayberry Courthouse and an old tow truck parked beside Wally\u2019s Service Station. Inside the courthouse you\u2019ll find a replica of Sheriff Taylor\u2019s desk and the jail cell where Otis the drunk would let himself sober up. While you\u2019re in town, be sure to grab a fried pork-chop sandwich from The Snappy Lunch. While you\u2019re at it, get a haircut Floyd\u2019s City Barber Shop on Main Street.<\/p>\n

Unclaimed Baggage Center (Alabama)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Did you ever wonder what happens to all the unclaimed baggage left on airport baggage carousels? Look no further than the Unclaimed Baggage Center. Since 1970, the only lost-luggage store in the nation has been purchasing unclaimed baggage from airlines and selling the contents in Scottsboro, Alabama. Truckloads of baggage arrive at the center where it is sorted, priced, and sold. Because luggage comes from all over the world and contains some quite unique items, the store has the feel of a giant boutique thrift store. Bargains are to be had for sure.<\/p>\n

What are some of the off-the-beaten-path things you\u2019ve encountered in your travels?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sampling some of the South\u2019s most offbeat attractions<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11223,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1782,1775,1778,1851,1854,1855,1774,1779,1856,1776],"tags":[31],"authors":[2221],"class_list":["post-16499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-destinations","category-fall","category-features","category-florida","category-georgia","category-north-carolina","category-occasions-and-seasons","category-road-trip","category-south-carolina","category-type-of-vacation","tag-sightseeing","authors-rick-sandi-griffin-mckenna","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nOff the beaten path in the South | Expedia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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