(Originally Posted 4-19-2025)

A recent road trip found me driving through the mountains of North Carolina as I headed to the middle of Virginia. With some time to spare before my final destination I decided to stop and visit the small town of Mount Airy, North Carolina. Known for being the hometown of the late, great actor Andy Griffith, Mount Airy was the basis for the fictional town of Mayberry in his television sitcom 'The Andy Griffith Show' that ran from 1960-1968 – one of the greatest American television sitcom of all time!

Mount Airy has embraced the town’s connection to Andy Griffith and you’ll find a mix of sights and businesses that existed during his time growing up there, as well as places that now capitalize on the Mayberry connection. Even without “Mayberry”, it’s a small, charming town of just under 11,000 people and a place I would normally love spending the afternoon at while checking out antique shops, grabbing a bite to eat, and enjoying the gracious southern hospitality that you'll find there. Mayberry and Andy Griffith are what brought me to the town and I had a short list of places that I wanted to cram in with the four hours that I had allotted myself for the visit.

I’ll let the photos and video speak for themselves. If you are a fan of The Andy Griffith Show, you will know all of these references – but even if you aren’t the charming town is worth a stop. I was able to eat at both Snappy Lunch (opened in 1923) and Leon’s Burger Express (opened in 1990)… both closes at 2pm, so be mindful! Yes, I ate two lunches and just skipped dinner that night! The Andy Griffith Museum is fabulous at tracking Andy’s historic career and contains so many original props, clothes, and artifacts from the various projects he was involved with. Wally’s Service Station is a fun stop that was originally a real gas station, but changed over to a Mayberry themed tourist stop in 2001. At Wally’s you can find all kinds of Mayberry merchandise, take tours of the town in squad cars, and visit recreations of the shows sets – most importantly Andy’s Sheriff’s office and jail!

I’ll be back to Mount Airy. It was too much fun and I really want to return during the town’s ‘Mayberry Days’, the town’s Mayberry festival! Oh… free parking everywhere I went! Awesome. However, nowhere did I find a vintage red Acorn gumball machine like when Buddy Ebsen’s ‘Dave Browne’ taught Opie how to get a free gumball from it by saying the magic word, “TUSCARORA!”    (Click Here for more about Tuscarora!)

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