MT. AIRY, NC--A LOOK BACK FOR ALL BABY BOOMERS

The Andy Griffith Show was a popular television series in the 1960's that many baby boomers enjoyed.  Andy Griffith was born in Mt. Airy, North Carolina.  In the show, he played Andy Taylor, the sheriff of Mayberry.  Did you know, Mayberry was filmed in Mt. Airy, North Carolina?  We decided we wanted to visit the town to view the places featured on the TV show.

Mt. Airy is located about 25 miles south of Hillsville, an easy drive from our campground.  We began our day with a hike along the Emily B. Taylor Greenway Trail built beside a creek on the outskirts of the town.  Here are a few different flowers we encountered along our path.  These spring flowers pictured below were in full bloom.  First, some Hepatica,

And Blue-eyed Grass.

Both Andy Taylor and Barney Fife, played by Don Knotts, enjoyed lunch most days at Snappy Lunch and had their hair cut at Floyd's Barber Shop, shown on the right below.  Floyd's was also where the town folk got caught up 0n the gossip of the day.  Both of these businesses are still in operation today.

Further down Main Street we found Mayberry Courthouse.  The sign still reads Mayberry even though the TV show has not been filmed in nearly 50 years.

Next to the court house is Wally's Service Station.  This was known back then as a filling station.  Look at the old truck parked on the right.  No diesel at the pump here.

Ronny Howard played Andy's son, Opie.  We saw Opie's candy store as it exists today.  As we remember it, there was no such place in the TV show.  Paul enjoyed some hand-dipped ice cream on the bench in front of the store.

Mt. Airy is a sleepy little tourist town that was fun to visit.  There were historic sights to see as well as several souvenir stores selling all types of relics from the past, including TV show memorabilia.  Our visit made us want to watch some of the episodes from the show to see how the town was portrayed - when we get home and have decent internet connectivity.