Well, in my ongoing battle with my crummy cold, the cold is winning right now. But we did manage to go into Mount Airy and explore Andy Griffith's hometown. We started at the Museum
No pictures were allowed inside, but they had lots of memorabilia and photos of not only the Andy Griffith show and Matlock, but also the movies Andy was in -- probably the most famous was No Time for Sergeants. Also here in a separate room were exhibits of the Siamese twins Eng and Chang who, although born in Siam (hence the origin of the word "Siamese") in 1811, they settled here in the late 1830s. They lived, co-joined, until 1874, at age 62. It was later discovered at autopsy that they shared part of their liver. Amazingly, they married sisters and produced 22 children between the two families. (I don't know the answer to that unspoken question, so don't ask)
Next, we drove by Andy's boyhood home.
Next, we drove down to Wallys Service Station, which was pretty authentic looking, even though it was basically a gift shop. Parked outside were Barney's squad cars, which you can ride downtown in.
Next to Wally's were storefronts of many of the buildings brought to life in the Show.
We liked this "sign".
The Courthouse and Jail were part of this strip of buildings. Joe took up residence in Otis's cell, while I took the other one. Then Joe assumed his official capacity, first as Sheriff, then as Justice of the Peace.
We drove downtown Main Street and found a parking spot, then walked the 2-3 blocks of the shops. Spaced around town were 3 guitars all painted up -- Bluegrass music is famous in this area.
We also went into the Earle Theater, where we could come back in tonight for a double header -- Harper Valley PTA and Chattanooga Choo Choo. Too bad I'm sick.
We eventually stopped for lunch at Snappy's Lunch, but by then I was so tired I could hardly hold my head up. Snappy's was here when Andy was growing up here. Next door was Floyd's Barber Shop, and the actual Floyd was sitting in here. He's either 92 or 95, and cut Andy's hair when he was a kid.
We went in and out of lots of antique stores and gift shops. Mayberry Days started today, and the big celebration and parade are this weekend, but there were lots of people in town. We actually had to move campsites because our space was rented out for the weekend (we checked in for only one night, but decided to spend another day).
Mount Airy is part of the Wadkin Valley Wine Region, home to over 35 wineries, but we skipped all that. We finished up about 3:30 (oh yeah, we bought candy, fudge and ice cream cones at Opie's Candy Shop), and headed back to the RV, where I took another cold pill and immediately went to bed. We drove back into town for dinner, and called it a day. I sure hope I feel better tomorrow.
It was cloudy this morning, but this afternoon the sun came out and it was a really nice day. However, they are predicting heavy rain on Friday, and I'm not sure if that is going to hit the area we are heading into or not. But we hope to make a little more progress tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment