Visiting Mount Airy – Hometown of Andy Griffith

We’re having a fabulous time visiting Marty’s sister and family here in North Carolina. This particular day we took a trip out to Mount Airy, famous for being the hometown of actor, Andy Griffith from the Andy Griffith Show & star of Matlock.

Andy Griffith Museum

We visited the Andy Griffith Museum for an interesting walk through the history of the original hit TV show.

See the picture on the wall (above) of the “Snappy Lunch” cafe? One episode, Andy suggested to Barney that they take the girls to the Snappy Lunch to get a bite to eat. Andy used names from his original home town in the TV show, and this cafe opened in 1923 and is the only business that is mentioned on the show that is still in existence by the same name. Andy ate here as a boy.

So guess where we ate for lunch?

We poked our head in the door of Floyd’s Barbershop, which also featured on the TV show. The barber convinced Marty to hop in the chair for a pretend haircut photo in the original barbershop chair and cape.

We couldn’t go past Opie’s Candy Store without stocking up on American candy & buying an ice-cream cone.

Antique Malls in Every Town

I’m sure it’s true that in every American town there is at least ONE Antique mall. And so it was in “Mayberry” – Mount Airy.

Here’s a little of the fun things I saw …
Found a pile of American quilts – love these and would love to find “just the right one” to take home with me.

Please can I take this little horse home??

I hope you enjoyed this step back through time. It’s a little diversion from my furniture painting posts, which I have plenty more to come in the New Year, but I couldn’t help share some of these beautiful places and treasures with you while we are over here in the land of antiques & furniture goodies.

---

Stay tuned for a big blog post coming soon on America’s largest home – the Biltmore House! Oh MY!! We went there this week and it was worth the 3-4 hour drive at 4:30am to get there at opening time. It’s hard to believe Biltmore House was a bachelor pad, complete with a billiards room and a bowling alley. In total, there are 250 rooms in the house. That includes 35 guest and family rooms, 43 bathrooms, and three kitchens! Here’s a pic Marty took from the outside …If you haven’t subscribed to my blog yet, you can do so in the sidebar or if on mobile device, via the email subscription when scrolling to the bottom of the page.

Happy painting & antique collecting!

Sharon.