Mayberry, Here We Come!

Our last full day of true vacation was SO FULL!!! We got up super early and drove two and a half hours from our friends' house to Mt. Airy, North Carolina. Both Ryan and I adore The Andy Griffith Show and since we were going to be so close to Andy Griffith's hometown of Mt. Airy, we had to stop by for a visit. Unfortunately, we underestimated how much time we really could spend there, so it was a whirlwind tour, and we'll just have to go back and be more thorough later.

When we arrived, it had just begun to snow, and apparently this part of North Carolina is not really accustomed to snow, nor do they like it. So the freaking out amongst the locals was already in full swing when we arrived. And as you'll soon see from the pictures, at times it came down pretty hard!

There's a little place on the edge of town that offers replicas of the places everyone knows from the show: Wally's Filling Station, the Courthouse, etc. They're set up to be great photo opps! (You can also take tours in the squad car, but we didn't have time for that on this trip.)

 We lucked out and got there right after a squad car tour had departed and right before the charter bus arrived, so we had the place to ourselves for a few minutes!

 Just call him Otis.

 The face of justice, apparently.

 Ain't Bee's Kerosene Cucumbers

 "I already 10-4'd ya."

 Barney impersonation...

We stopped for breakfast/lunch after our photo opps. The Snappy Lunch has this famous pork chop sandwich that is actually North Carolina's state sandwich. (I didn't even know state sandwiches were a thing!)

 So of course, Ryan has that. Quite an assortment of things on this sandwich, including onions with staying power, coleslaw, and chili.

 Just breakfast for me. I have never received a side dish of butter and jelly, but it was quite cute!

Here's the thing that cracked me up. The guy who sat in the booth behind us clearly smelled that we were tourists (hello, camera) and said to us, "I own the candy shop a couple of doors down. I should be back in about ten minutes. Stop by!" They really do close up to eat breakfast! It is Mayberry!!!

On our way to see him, we stopped in Floyd's Barber Shop. Floyd was a real person who inspired the barber on the show, and though he has since died, his son keeps the barber shop open as a tourist attraction. They do still cut hair there, but because of the weather report, he'd told all the people to stay home the day we were there. Floyd's son is a retired schoolteacher, but he pretends to cut hair to give people photo opps. I think this was Ryan's favorite stop of the day! They had a great time talking!

 LOVE this old cash register. And see all those pictures behind it? Every inch of wall in that shop was covered with such pictures.

 See what I mean? And there's the real Floyd!

 I wish these prices were still in effect.

 One of the actual stations still in operation today. (Notice the pictures in the mirror's reflection!)

 A child's size chair that they use for photo opps when kids come in.

 Ryan wanted a picture in the chair and would have been content with just that, but Bill offered to give him a "haircut."

 Getting ready...

 If you can't see, that's a hammer and chisel he has in hands. When you only have one hair...

 Wait! I know I cut it off...where did it go?

 Such a fun stop!

We stopped in at the candy store and walked around just a bit more, before we decided we better get on the road. We still had another 2.5 hours to drive, and with the snow picking up, we had no idea how much longer that might actually take!

 We didn't have time to go to the museum on this trip, but we did try to get a picture of the Andy and Opie statue. It was easier said than done in the snow!

And then it was time to drive! Here are just a few shots from the road...in the state that never gets snow:

By the time we got to our hotel, the snow had piled up fairly significantly! We were glad we had a reservation, because by the end of the night, there were no vacancies!