Journal & Topics Media Group

Maybe It’s Mayberry

Mount Airy, North Carolina, Still All About 'Andy Griffith'

By RANDY MINK
Special to the Journal & Topics

Stores and eateries on Mount Airy’s Main Street, including Snappy Lunch and Barney’s Cafe, offer many reminders of “The Andy Griffith Show”. (Randy Mink Photos)

It’s been more than 50 years since the classic television series about a small-town sheriff ended its eight-season run, but flashbacks of “The Andy Griffith Show” are ever-present in Mount Airy, North Carolina.

The whistling of the catchy theme song seems to waft through the air as images of Andy and little Opie toting fishing poles come to mind. As the real-life hometown of Andy Griffith, the actor who played Sheriff Andy Taylor, Mount Airy was the inspiration for mythical Mayberry, a place that took TV audiences back to simpler times. Many episodes of the program included shout-outs to Mount Airy as a way for him to say hello to folks back home, and today’s tourism businesses trade on its ties to the situation comedy that ran from 1960 to 1968. However, not a single scene was filmed in Mount Airy — the show was all done in Hollywood, a fact that surprises many visitors.

“The Andy Griffith Show” claims a soft spot in the hearts of many of us baby boomers. It certainly was must-see TV at my house when I was in junior high and high school. My sister Laurie was our family’s biggest fan, and she still is. In fact, it was she who prompted the trip we took to Mount Airy last fall from suburban Chicago, with my 32-year-old son, Jeremy, doing the driving. (Since then, he has faithfully watched, in chronological order, several episodes a week on Netflix.)

From 1960s squad cars, tourists in Mount Airy can cruise around town viewing Andy Griffith’s old stomping grounds

While Mount Airy may be nirvana to boomers, the show’s wholesome content bridges generations, said Jenny Smith of Mount Airy’s tourism office.

“We get a lot of families, many traveling with grandparents. It’s amazing how many kids know about the show” (from cable TV, Netflix and Hulu) “and they watch it with their grandparents.” Smith said a family from Ohio recently made Mount Airy their vacation destination because that’s what their son wanted for his eighth birthday.

From the Andy Griffith Museum to the souvenir stores on nearby Main Street, there are plenty of places that play up their “Mayberry” connections. And there are other things to see and do in and around this town of 10,300 in the Blue Ridge foothills just south of the Virginia border.

We started our Mount Airy trip with a big surprise — a surprise for my sister anyway. When my son pulled up to the town’s Hampton Inn in late afternoon — after a leisurely, day-long drive from Charleston, West Virginia — I got out of the car but told them to stay put. I went to the front desk, gave my name and came out with a set of keys for somewhere other than the Hampton Inn. We took off down the road and just before our destination told Laurie there was a slight change in plans.

Even when we had reached the driveway of a modest home identified by the “Andy Griffith Homeplace” sign, she was still in the dark until I explained that the three of us would be staying the next two nights in Griffith’s actual childhood home, a two-bedroom vacation rental handled by Hampton Inn. Needless to say, she was beside herself.

Pilot Mountain State Park is near the North Carolina town of Pilot Mountain, an easy drive from Mount Airy. As a shout-out to locals, the fictional town of Mount Pilot was mentioned many times on “The Andy Griffith Show”.

Andrew Samuel Griffith, an only child, lived at 711 E. Haymore St. with his parents, Carl Lee and Geneva, who purchased the wood-sided, single-story home (now aluminum-sided) for $600 in 1935, when he was 8 years old. It was his last and primary childhood residence. Mom and dad sold the house in 1966 and moved out to California to be close to their son.

Before dinner the first night, we sat on the front-yard swing and waved at motorists when they slowed down to gawk at the local landmark. The sign advises curiosity-seekers, “Guests are Occupying Andy’s House. Please Respect Their Privacy.” It also gives two phone numbers for making lodging reservations. Across the street, the municipal water tower bears a color silhouette of Andy and TV son Opie, fishing poles in hand.

We made ourselves at home in the living room, furnished with Early American-style plaid rockers and a couch. Before bed each night, we watched an episode or two of “The Andy Griffith Show” from the complete collection of DVDs provided. (There was also a player for VHS tapes of the series.) The wall next to the living/dining room featured all kinds of Andy memorabilia, including high school class pictures, his framed birth certificate, the deed to the house, and photos and drawings of show cast members like fumbling Deputy Barney Fife (played by the zany Don Knotts), Aunt Bee (Frances Bavier), Gomer Pyle and his cousin Goober (Jim Nabors and George Lindsey), and Floyd the barber (Howard McNear). On the shelves were a 500-piece “Andy Griffith Show” jigsaw puzzle, a Mayberry Mania Trivia game and other ways to pass the time. (The furniture, though representative of the period, is not original — the Griffiths gave most of their stuff to the Salvation Army before moving out West.)

The small bathroom, with tub and shower, is stocked with Neutrogena toiletries, and the kitchen, which we barely used, includes a table with four chairs and cabinets full of dishware. The fenced-in backyard has a picnic table and grill. Maid service is available upon request. Highlights at the Andy Griffith Museum include costumes and props from the TV show, a re-creation of the Mayberry Courthouse and a touchscreen that allows visitors to watch excerpts of popular episodes. Posters and film clips remind fans that Griffith appeared in “A Face in the Crowd” (1957), “No Time for Sergeants” (1958) and other movies.

One exhibit recalls his role as a folksy attorney in the TV whodunit series “Matlock” (1986-1995). I was surprised to see the displays of Andy Griffith-brand packaged meats and canned goods, and I didn’t know there was a short-lived chain of barbecue restaurants that bore his name. The shrine also chronicles Griffith’s early adulthood. After graduation from the University of North Carolina, he taught high school music and dramatics and in summer from 1947-1953 acted in “The Lost Colony,” the famous outdoor drama that still entertains crowds on Roanoke Island. It was during these years in his roles as Sir Walter Raleigh and other characters that Griffith fell in love with acting and the North Carolina coast. He spent his final years in Manteo and is buried there.

The museum is adjacent to the Andy Griffith Playhouse, built on the site of the grammar school where Griffith first appeared on stage. Outside, the TV Land statue of Andy Taylor and Opie (played by Ronny Howard) carrying fishing poles is a prime photo op. And don’t forget to visit the adjacent Surry Arts Council building, whose lower level has an exhibit on Betty Lynn, the actress who played Barney’s girlfriend. Lynn, now 93, has lived in Mount Airy since 2007 and makes occasional appearances at the museum.

Also downstairs is a fascinating exhibit on Eng and Chang Bunker, the “Original Siamese Twins.” After appearing in “freak shows” as boys, the world-famous brothers (born in 1811 in Siam, now Thailand) settled down on a farm just outside of Mount Airy, started families and became important members of the community. Plans are being made for a museum dedicated to the conjoined twins.

To really get into the spirit of Mayberry, take a spin around town with Squad Car Tours, a company with six 1960s vehicles based at Wally’s Service Station. With your guide at the wheel, you sit back in a vintage, black-and-white Ford Galaxie, the kind that Andy and Barney drove, while cruising by places with Griffith tie-ins. Examples include Main Street shops, the boyhood home and Grace Moravian Church, where Andy got free trombone lessons and later served as band director. Our guide, Allen Burton, said there were 150 references to the star’s hometown on “The Andy Griffith Show.”

The tour stops at the massive North Carolina Granite Corp. quarry, which represents the area’s only original large industry still intact — textiles, tobacco and furniture-making have pretty much gone by the wayside. (However, you will pass the factory of Renfro Corp., one of the world’s largest sock manufacturers. Save big on brand-name and novelty socks at the Renfro outlet store downtown. I stocked up.) These days, the countryside surrounding Mount Airy abounds with wineries.

Learn more about this part of northwest North Carolina at the Mount Airy Museum of Regional History. One exhibit is devoted to singer Donna Fargo, a hometown girl who made good as a country/pop star in the 1970s with hits like “The Happiest Girl in the Whole U.S.A.” and “Funny Face.”

In the replica Mayberry Courthouse and Jail next to Wally’s, tourists pose with the candlestick telephone at the desk of Sheriff Andy (who also served as justice of the peace) or sit on the rocking chair inside the jail cell often occupied by Mayberry town drunk Otis Campbell (portrayed by Hal Smith).

Strolling Main Street in downtown Mount Airy is a fun trip into yesteryear and would be a delight even without the call-outs to Mayberry. Relive bygone days at the Mayberry Antique Mall or indulge at Opie’s Candy Store. For another blast from the past, drop in for a malt or sundae at Walker’s Soda Fountain, which was Lamm’s Drugstore when Griffith worked there delivering food and medicines.

My favorite place to pig out is Miss Angels Heavenly Pies, which makes scrumptious pies, brownies, muffins, bread pudding, whoopie pies and other baked goodies. Owned by Angela Shur, it’s a stop on the Surry.

Sonker Trail, a collection of eight local eateries that serve the sonker, a regional, cobbler-like treat blending dough with apples, peaches, blueberries or other fruits. Some of Miss Angel’s “zonkers” (her spelling) and pies have a moonshine glaze. Hungry tourists make a beeline to Snappy Lunch, a diner famous for its messy pork chop sandwich. Opened in 1923 and frequented by Griffith as a boy, it was mentioned once on his TV show. Visitors exploring Main Street also will see Floyd’s City Barber Shop and Barney’s Cafe.

Souvenir stores brim with T-shirts, mugs, magnets, posters, Christmas tree ornaments, metal signs and other items emblazoned with the faces of Andy, Barney, Gomer and the gang. You’ll find books like “Aunt Bee’s Mayberry Cookbook” and “Mayberry Trivia: 1,500 Questions About a TV Classic.” There are CDs of Andy Griffith and Jim Nabors singing hymns. A box of 39 discs covering all 249 episodes of “The Andy Griffith Show” sells for $125.

A Main Street treasure is the 1937 Earl Theatre, a renovated Art Deco gem that honors Surry County “old-time music,” an intense, driving sound based around the fiddle and banjo. An audio guide enhances exhibits paying homage to locals enshrined in its Old-Time Music Heritage Hall, and a jam session is held Thursday nights. The theater hosts “Merry-Go-Round,” the nation’s second-longest, continuously-running live radio broadcast (Saturdays at 11 a.m.).

Outside of downtown, a room at the Mayberry Motor Inn on Andy Griffith Parkway has been set aside in honor of beloved Aunt Bee. In addition to clothing worn on the TV show by Frances Bavier, memorabilia on display includes furniture, photos and personal possessions bought by the motel owner at the estate auction following her death in 1989. Bavier spent her later years in Siler City, North Carolina. Two or three people at a time are allowed to enter and view the contents from behind a rope.

Every September, cast and crew of the show (and spin-offs “Mayberry RFD” and “Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.”), or sometimes their offspring, come to Mount Airy for Mayberry Days. The week-long festival features a parade, concerts, checkers and corn hole competitions, a whistling championship, and pie-eating, pork chop-eating, apple-peeling and hay bale-tossing contests.

Fans of “The Andy Griffith Show” will recall references to Mayberry’s little cousin, a neighboring town called Mount Pilot. That was a shout-out to real-life Pilot Mountain, a pleasant Surry County community of 1,500. Most visitors passing through town are on their way to Pilot Mountain State Park, whose 2,420-foot peak looms over the Yadkin River Valley.

For more information on Mount Airy and environs, log on to www.visitmayberry.com

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