Mount Airy, North Carolina

When Andy Griffith and company wanted to create a situation comedy around 1960, they decided to set it in a place similar to Andy's home town of Mount Airy. Yes, not much happened there, but the people were warm and friendly. While the show ran throughout the Sixties, it felt like it was from previous decade. Mayberry became a universal name for a small town.

Mount Airy was mighty proud of Andy, and downtown has become something of a shrine to him. It's great fun to visit the place for a couple of hours.

The visitors' center on Main Street has plenty of information on the connections to Griffith. A map will show you where stores that are named after Aunt Bea and Opie. There are stores that sell Mayberry souvenirs; my favorite was a t-shirt reading "Floyd's Barber Shop - Two Chairs, No Waiting - Mayberry, North Carolina." (The two empty chairs are pictured in the middle of the shirt.)

If you want to tour the town in style, you need to go to Wally's Service down the street. Wally, you remember, was the boss at the filling station. Goober and Gomer Pyle both worked there. They have tours of the town in a 1960s squad car. You'll get to see Andy's home as a child; it was purchased by the local Hampton Inn and visitors cane stay there if they so choose.

Mayberry has a fall festival each year, and participants in the show turn up to tell their stories. There also are road races in early November.

Here's a video on how the town looks:

 

Mount Airy is located just north of Interstate 74 in the northwest corner of the state. It's definitely worth a two-hour stop.

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