MT. AIRY, NORTH CAROLINA

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!

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 8^th, 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 3^rd, 2012.

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!