When I was growing up I remember watching a few episodes of the Andy Griffith Show during the summer. It was on at Noon, so while I was eating lunch I watched the show. It has been years since I had seen an episode. That is until recently. My husband, Bobby, and I have a access to Amazon Prime. Disney Plus and Netflix, so we have gotten in the habit of binge watching TV series. Recently we’ve watched Counterparts and Jack Ryan on Amazon, The Mandalorian on Disney Plus and Longmire on Netflix. While I have enjoyed the shows, they all have a darkness to them. Even the hero has issues they are dealing with — I guess like real life. I decided about two weeks ago that I needed to counteract some of that darkness with light-hearted fun. Enter Andy Griffith.
When I had the thought to bring some positiveness into my TV experience for some reason The Andy Griffith Show came to mind. I don’t think I ever saw all the episodes, so thanks to Amazon Prime, I have been able to start at the very beginning of the series. While I was hoping to enjoy the show, I didn’t expect that I would like it so much.
The Andy Griffith Show first aired on October 3, 1960. It continued until April 1, 1968. It was always popular and never ranked below 7 on the Nielsen ratings. It starred Andy Griffith as Sheriff Andy Taylor, Don Knotts as Deputy Barney Fife, Ron Howard as Andy’s son, Opie and Francis Baiver as Aunt Bee. It’s set in the small town of Mayberry, North Carolina and gives a real sense of nostalgia of a more innocent time.
When I watch the show I laugh at the predicaments Barney gets himself into. I appreciate Andy’s way of calming down situations in a folksy manner. I enjoy Opie’s “out of the mouth of babes” statements that make the adults stop and think. Aunt Bee’s hovering and concern for the crew remind me of other women I have known. There have been episodes where I worry how Andy is going to come out on top when city folk try to make fun of him or take advantage of him. Still he perseveres, teaches a lesson and then it’s on to the next episode and situation. With each episode only being around 24 minutes, I have watched many of them since I started. Although, there are 249 altogether, so it may take me awhile to get through them all!
Having stepped back in time by watching The Andy Griffith Show has caused me to step back in my memory to a time when traveling through North Carolina we stopped in Mount Airy. Mount Airy, North Carolina is the hometown of Andy Griffith. It was 2013 when we went through, which was 2 years before I started this blog. Bobby and I were traveling with my parents to go to my cousin, Wesley’s, wedding in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
As we were driving through North Carolina, Bobby saw a sign for Mount Airy and the Andy Griffith Parkway. He suggested we stop by and see what it had to offer. He had always liked The Andy Griffith show when he was growing up. Also, our minister, Brian White, had his first full time youth ministry in Mount Airy. I can’t remember the full details, but I’m sure Bobby sent a text to Brian to get the down low on the town.
Brian told us we had to go to Snappy Lunch, home of the “Famous Pork Chop sandwich.” The sandwich comes with a battered pork chop, onions, chili, coleslaw and tomato. It was so long ago, Bobby couldn’t remember the details of the sandwich, but we do have photographic evidence that he and my dad got the sandwich. One thing we know for sure is that Bobby would have gotten his without onions.
After we ate at the diner, we went to Floyd’s City Barber Shop. I remember that the barber seemed just about as old as Floyd in the show…maybe even older. I remember he was a friendly old guy and I bought a t-shirt there. In retrospect, I wish I had gotten a different color because of all the t-shirts I have gotten in my travels, I rarely wore this one. And it has probably long since gone the way of Goodwill.
We decided that we would go to the Andy Griffith Museum. It was opened in 2009. A childhood friend of Griffith’s, Emmett Forrest, had been collecting memorabilia of Griffith’s career from his time in the movies and TV shows. The walls were covered with pictures and posters and information about his career. There were props and costumes from the shows on display as well.
There is a statue outside of the museum with the iconic scene of Sheriff Andy Taylor and Opie with their fishing poles. Anyone who has seen the show can hear the tune and probably whistle it without much thought. We got our pictures taken by it and now, I’m glad we did!
When we went inside the museum we were surprised to see a line of people waiting. What we didn’t know is that monthly Betty Lynn, the actress who played Barney Fife’s girlfriend, Thelma Lou, came to meet the fans and sign autographs. My mom and dad were super excited to meet her, so we decided to stay in line and look at the museum as we waited.
As I was getting some information for this post, I found out that Mount Airy has a Mayberry Days festival at the end of September every year. Even with the social distancing, it is still scheduled for September 21-27, 2020.
Incidentally, as I called my parents to see what they remembered about the trip it turns out that it is quite possible my dad saw Andy Griffith in a Broadway performance of “No Time for Sergeants” in 1957. When Dad’s high school senior class took a trip to New York City, this was the Broadway show they saw. Andy Griffith had the part of Will Stockdale, the lead role. My dad doesn’t remember if Griffith was still performing the role when he saw it. I think, though, that since the play ran from 1955 to September 1957, the performance my dad watched had to include him. Not only that, but Don Knotts made his Broadway debut in the play, so my dad had to see him in it, too!
Now that my interest in the show has been renewed I wouldn’t mind taking another trip to Mount Airy. This time I would be much more focused on the details. I know that the show itself was filmed at the Desilu Studios in California, but Mount Airy has become the unofficial/official Mayberry USA. So stepping back into time, whether through Amazon Prime or a 10 hour trip to North Carolina, is a definite possibility.
