Article by Greg Rickman, Tiffin Ambassador
I grew up on the Andy Griffith Show. I would venture to guess that the majority of people who read this article also did. The show first aired in 1960, not long after I was born, ran until 1968, and was loved by millions. It was broadcast on CBS, in black and white, back when there were only three major networks. I remember as a child lying in the floor with eager anticipation, waiting for my dad to tell me to turn the channel on the TV to channel 5 because it was time for “Andy” (yes, I was the remote control back then since they weren’t invented yet). Those were some cherished times.
As almost everyone knows, the show was based on the fictional town of Mayberry, North Carolina. But did you know where that idea came from? The real- life hometown of Andy Griffith, which is Mount Airy, North Carolina. A small but vibrant little city in the Blue Ridge Mountains of northern North Carolina near the Virginia border. Back then the show often mentioned the population of Mayberry was around 2000 or so people. The real-life version in Mount Airy has around 11,000 as of the latest census.
With that said, Mount Airy was a place that I had always wanted to visit. Of course, that was mainly because of my love for the show but also because I enjoy visiting small towns and enjoying the culture. While mapping my return trip home from a Tiffin event, I saw that I would be passing right by Mount Airy on I-77. I finally got my chance!
Driving up I-77 I got my first reminder of the Andy Griffith Show. What starts off as a small blob on the horizon turns into Pilot Mountain, a large rock mountain formation that rises up 2421 feet and is the basis for Pilot Mountain State Park. Remember Mount Pilot from the show? Andy named that fictional town in the show after this mountain. Anybody remember how far it was from Mayberry to Mount Pilot? I’ll answer that later in the article.
There are several campgrounds in or around Mount Airy but a lot of them were full due to the time of year. However, I was able to secure a full hook-up site at Veterans Memorial Park. This is not the normal type of campground with all of the amenities, it is basically like a fairgrounds with a huge field for camping. But guess what? I was the only one there and the management could not have been nicer. They let me pick the site I wanted so I could get level, as not all sites are big rig friendly. And you actually pay by the honor system! You just put a check or cash in a box by the front gate as you leave. I felt like I was in the 1950’s!
First stop was to head for the downtown area to the visitor center. It was a weekday, but the whole downtown area is thriving. Found a great parking spot right on Main Street (and free!) right in front of a replica Mayberry police car that is stationed there. The entire area, for the most part, is totally based around the show. You have the famous Floyd’s Barber Shop, Barney’s Café, Opie’s Candy Store and several others. There’s even a Walker’s Soda Fountain, which was closed that day. After picking up a map of the area and some brochures, it was time for lunch.
Mount Airy offers a lot of choices for restaurants, mostly diners and casual dining. There is also an Italian and Mexican restaurant downtown but we chose to stay with the theme and go to Barney’s Café. Had the “special” as Barney would have and it was delicious. It was a difficult decision between that and the Snappy Lunch diner, home of the $6 pork chop sandwich but the long line outside made the choice easy as we were starving!
After lunch, we spent the afternoon walking and browsing the shops on Main Street. Of course, that meant a stop into Floyd’s Barber Shop where we met the owner, Bill Hiatt. His father actually cut Andy’s hair one time during the annual Mayberry Days, which is a huge hit there. I got to actually sit in the same barber chair that Andy sat in, which is now over 100 years old and still functions perfectly! They sure don’t make them like that anymore.
Incidentally, the owner of Snappy Lunch is actually Andy’s cousin in real life and the diner was mentioned in one episode of the show. And Andy is not the only famous person from Mount Airy. Donna Fargo, the country music star, is also from there. There is a large mural of her on Main Street that is hand painted. You might remember the song “Happiest Girl In The World”, one of her biggest hits.
Just a block or so from downtown is Wally’s Service Station where you can rent a tour of the entire Mount Airy area in an authentic Mayberry Sheriff Department squad car. A driver will take you and your friends throughout town and let you blow the siren and lights. The cars are an exact replica of Andy’s police cars right down to the slide across seats! We didn’t participate but the ones who did sure looked like they were having a blast!
But right next door was the best attraction. An authentic replica of the Mayberry Courthouse, complete with two jail cells and Andy’s desk with Barney’s chair next to it. You can take all of the photos you want and even imitate a conversation on Andy’s desk phone, said to be one of the originals used on the show. The jail cells are identical to those in the show, painted in the same colors and come complete with a cot and a rocking chair. Everything inside looks exactly like it did in the show right down to the old radio and file cabinet next to Andy’s desk. A lot of attention to detail went into this attraction. It was definitely one of the highlights!
The absolutely, without a doubt, can’t miss attraction is the Andy Griffith Museum. If you ever were a fan of the show, this is the place that has it all. There are so many things to see inside, it takes several hours to complete. From the moment you walk in, you are immersed in the show and its characters. There are hundreds, if not thousands of artifacts surrounding Andy’s life in Mount Airy and throughout his life in plays and movies. There are videos going through the years of Andy’s career, both as an actor and singer. He really was a good guitar player.
One of the most fascinating pieces of memorabilia is the entry doors of the Mayberry Courthouse, which are the actual doors used on the film set and complete with the words “SHERIFF” and “JUSTICE OF THE PEACE”. The doors even have the old mail slot that Barney was so famous for trying to listen through. It was awesome to see, up close, those doors that I have seen so many times on the show.
There was also an original “call sheet” which is a detailed description of the episode complete with the actor’s real name, their character, shooting dates, locations, stand-ins and even the weather. An actual uniform that Andy wore complete with sheriff’s badge and Barney’s tweed suit are also prominently displayed in glass cases. There are many references to the other characters in the show including Opie, Aunt Bee, Floyd, Thelma Lou, Gomer and even good ole Otis.
But to me, the display closest to my heart was the glass case containing the original memorabilia from a music video that Andy did with country superstar, Brad Paisley. The video was titled “Waitin On A Woman” and was released on July 8th, 2008, four years before Andy passed away. The white suit worn in the video by Andy, complete with shirt, tie and shoes, is also on display.
But there is another story about this video, one that is not as well known. After Andy retired from show business, he absolutely did not want to be cast in any shows and especially videos. When this song was written and the video planned, Andy was approached about being in the video with Brad Paisley. Brad was a big fan of the show and as everyone knows, an extremely accomplished guitar player. The story is that Andy flatly refused to be in the video, until he read the lyrics. He then agreed to be in the video with Brad, which was shot entirely in Andy’s home state of North Carolina. Andy and Brad struck up a warm friendship and at the end of the video shoot, Andy surprised Brad with a special gift. He gave Brad the actual guitar that he always played on the show, a 1956 Martin D-18, that you can see Brad play in the beginning of the video. You can watch the entire video there at the museum, a touching finale to a wonderful man’s life and career. Andy passed away July 3rd, 2012.
After we left the museum, we went to Andy’s childhood home, which is now owned by Hampton Inn and used as a guest rental. We were lucky enough that day to get to see the inside from the family that had just arrived for their stay. The inside of the home is still like it was when Andy was a child and has numerous pictures and posters depicting Andy’s life. Andy was born there and his family owned the house until it was sold when Andy was about 31 years old. It was an appropriate conclusion to our trip there.
I will never forget the day that Andy died. My mother actually called me to deliver the news as I was working and had not heard. She knew how important that show was to me. The Andy Griffith Show taught me, through the show, about life and how to be a “good human being” as Andy would say. About simpler times. About love and honesty. I still to this day use some of the wisdom and knowledge I learned from all of those years watching good ole Sheriff Andy Taylor and Barney Fife. It’s just too bad there aren’t any shows like that anymore, it was truly one in a million. But that’s ok, I’ll just keep watching those reruns and enjoying every minute and every memory. And I am so glad I went to Mount Airy, the place that inspired Mayberry.
And, oh by the way, it was nine miles to Mount Pilot!
Greg’s dream was to own a motorhome after his retirement from a long career in law enforcement. He and his wife Tina live in Baneberry, TN part of the year and travel this great country in their Tiffin Phaeton 40IH, enjoying the excitement of exploring new places and meeting new people. Their motto is “If you can’t wear shorts, flip flops and a t-shirt, we ain’t going!”
