Travel | Camping | Mayberry | Andy Griffith

A Visit to Mayberry

aka Mt Airy, North Carolina

Photo by the author

Tuesday, shortly after noon, the missus and I left home and headed for Mayberry Campground near Mt Airy, North Carolina. It started raining as soon as we hit the interstate, and it rained all the way to the campground, which was a nearly 200-mile trip.

The photo is of our camper after we finished setting up in our site.

If you're not familiar with Mt Airy, it is the hometown of Andy Griffith. Yes, the Andy Griffith of the long-running television show set in Mayberry, North Carolina.

Though the show was filmed in California, the town of Mayberry was based on Andy's memories of his hometown, as were many of the characters in the show.

On our first night in camp, we stayed in, cooked dinner here, and watched TV.

Wednesday, the rain let up enough for us to take a nice walk around part of the campground and stop by the Camp Store. It was there that the missus spotted a miniature lighthouse and decided I was going to get it for her as an early Mother's Day present.

Photo taken by the author.

While it may look good next to the camper, it will not be traveling with us once we get it home.

The missus worked remotely from the camper on Wednesday and Thursday. To do so, she monopolized the dinette table. I was using a TV tray as my desk. The drawback was being unable to dual screen. I have become spoiled, having not two but three screens at home. Being limited to my laptop screen was frustrating.

Her solution was to buy a small camp table at the Camp Store, which I did. At first, I was using it with the tray. Eventually, I realized the laptop and the second screen would fit on the table and retired the tray.

Photo by the author. Taken before retiring the TV tray.

Dinner Wednesday evening was with our club at a local rib and steak restaurant called 13 Bones (13 bones being the number of ribs in a full rack of pork ribs). The food was delicious, and the staff was great.

Lunch on Thursday was supposed to be a bag lunch for the club under the nearby picnic shelter. I showed up, as did one other person. There was a drizzle at the time. It didn't remain a drizzle.

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Once the rain let up, we returned to our respective rigs and waited for dinner time.

Thursday night was another night out with the club. We went to The Depot at Cody Creek. The Depot isn't just a restaurant but an event venue covering several acres and including cabins, a wedding chapel, and an ornate reception hall.

Photo by the author. This was in the lobby at The Depot Restaurant.

The Depot Restaurant itself had an interesting decor, including this waterfall in the lobby. The cocktail lounge was separated from the hall by old iron bar cell walls. We ate in the overflow dining room with 41 of our friends and fellow RVers.

Again, we were treated to delicious food and excellent service.

Thursday night, things got ugly weather-wise.

Screenshot from author's phone.

The blue dot was our location. The storm came roaring right over us. Our Corgi was so upset that she spent most of it in my lap. We experienced severe thunder and lightning, tornado watches and warnings, and heavy rain. It rained so heavily at one point that it seeped past the seal on one of our slideouts and dripped into the rig.

After the main storm line passed, other, smaller, weaker squalls continued to roll over until the wee hours of the morning.

Friday, we saw some sun and felt a lot of wind. The winds are still whipping up as I write this.

Blustery winds didn't stop us from visiting the Mayberry section of Mt Airy.

Photo by the author.

We visited Wally's Service Station, the Mayberry Courthouse and Jail, and saw the Mayberry Sheriff's Office Police Car. These were not the ones seen on the show, of course.

While visiting the Jail, my missus had some fun and got me locked up.

Photo by Mrs. Author

I was released on my own recognizance almost immediately. That, and the fact there are no locks on the cell doors.

A few blocks north of the Courthouse and Wally's Service Station are many souvenir shops, candy shops, and an awesome coffee shop called Keep Smiling A Lotte (where I tried a maple brown sugar latte — loved it, and got to sign the wall), Floyd's Barber Shop, and Snappy Lunch. Snappy Lunch is famous for its pork chop sandwiches.

Photo by the author.

I had my pork chop sandwich with chili. You can also add coleslaw, onions, and other items. The menu at Snappy's is basic; the sides are bags of chips, sandwiches are served in paper wrappers, and drinks are served in styrofoam cups. There are no deep-fried items, no chicken options, and no dishes for the staff to wash. The prices are quite reasonable, too.

Snappy's was our last stop in Mayberry before we returned to the campground to rest before going out to supper. We're on our own for supper—more on that in my next post.