Month: February 2019

Before the Mayberry Day-by-Day Flip Book Calendar, I used to joke that I was a published author and photographer due to a paragraph I wrote and a few photos I took being used in the great website and even better app, Roadside America. 

I have always been a fan of unusual “roadside attractions.” If time allows, I am not averse to driving out of my way a reasonable amount to see one. I have especially fond memories of my old college roommate, Dick, and I driving down to visit our good friend, Jim, in Lexington. The three of us had attended Mayberry Days together the first time I ever attended in 2006.  On a whim, the three of us drove from Jim’s all the way to the excellent Moonlite Bar-B-Q in Owensboro, Kentucky, nearly a three-hour trip each way! It took much longer than that, though, due to us detouring multiple times to see roadside attractions.

One of the few apps of my phone that I have paid for—and it was worth every penny—is the Roadside America app. They also maintain a useful website but it is not as extensive as and can’t compare to the app when traveling.

Roadside America invites users to submit tips for attractions not already on the website and app. My friend Barry, the co-founder of The Gomer and Goober Pyle Comic Book Literary Guild, had submitted a tip and called my attention to it or I am not sure if I would have even realized it.

In 2014, I submitted a tip through the app that was eventually published, along with some photos of a unique sculpture outside of a wonderful diner near Cincinnati called Sugar and Spice that is open for breakfast and lunch only.

One of the restaurant’s specialties are thin, wispy pancakes. The sculpture is a pig balancing a plateful of pancakes while sitting on a larger stack. Smaller pigs bearing breakfast items circle the base of pancakes. Cincinnati has a long history tied to pork and many years ago was sometimes nicknamed “Porkopolis.” The city used to avoid the name but now embraces it, even running the Flying Pig Marathon every year.

Only one photo I submitted is used on the Roadside Attractions website which is more limited than the app. The phone app includes two photos I took, as well as others of the sculpture later submitted by other users.

On the afore-mentioned trip with my college friends, I used the app to locate a Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial in Kentucky’s state capital, Frankfort. The tip had been written by the Roadside America editors themselves instead of a user. I was surprised there were no photos of the memorial which is a giant sundial, so I submitted photos of that as well which were eventually used.

The app is so extensive, it is unusual to find an attraction not on the app or on the app without photos. Still, I am glad that my being published now includes the Mayberry Day-by-Day Calendar and a soon-to-be-released traditional book about The Andy Griffith Show and not just my single paragraph tip!

 

 

 

Last week, I posted about The Mystery of Al Becker. Thanks to Jim Clark and Neal Brower, we learned who the real Al Becker was. My post also called attention to the use of the same name more than three years earlier in an episode of The Real McCoys.

I recently have also wondered about the likelhood that there was a real Mendelbright that either Everett Greenbaum or Jim Fritzell actually knew. The writers used the name on several occasions in The Andy Griffith Show.

The name first appeared in the third season episode “Man in a Hurry.” When the stranded Malcolm Tucker wanted to use the phone on a Sunday afternoon, Andy told him he was free to try but it wouldn’t do him any good. Andy explained, “See, the Mendelbright sisters visit by phone every Sunday afternoon. Everybody knows about Maude and Cora and they let ‘em use the phone for a good three or four hours.” Andy said the sisters were in their 80s so it was hard for them to get about and Maude lived in Mayberry while Cora lived in Mount Pilot.

By the way, while not canon since it was not part of the actual episode storyline, the Mendelbright sisters also figured into the commercial ending which was an advertisement for Sanka Decaffeinated Coffee, a product of the series sponsor, General Foods. In the commercial, Andy was in the living room with Malcolm unable to call Wally’s as the Mendelbright sisters were still on the line. Andy tried to trick them into hanging up by saying it was an emergency as he had run out of Sanka Coffee and needed to order more. They misunderstood and each said they had not run out while pointing out that Sanka was caffeine free causing Andy to finally give up. He then picked up a jar of Sanka and broke the fourth wall by speaking directly to the audience to encourage viewers to enjoy Sanka. “Try Sanka Coffee in the ‘nice to hold’ new jar. The coffee for folks who love good coffee. Outstandingly good coffee!”

Three episodes later, the name Mendelbright appeared again, this time in “Class Reunion.” (This episode was actually the fifth filmed after “Man in a Hurry” but it was aired just three episodes later.) As the episode opened, Andy was helping Barney move a trunk into storage in his garage since Barney’s landlady insisted he remove it from her cellar. Barney explained his landlady needed the space to grow mushrooms after seeing an advertisement on how to “[g]row mushrooms for fun and profit.” Andy then commented that Mrs. Mendelbright was full of ambition. This was the second use of the name Mendelbright and the first time the audience learned the name of Barney’s unseen landlady.

Just six episodes later in that same season, the name appeared yet again, this time in “The Darlings Are Coming,” the same episode which introduced the mountain family. When the Darlings were first seen, they had pulled up to a horse trough in town. It was engraved with the name “David Mendelbright,” the dates 1870-1933, and the words, “Let no horse go thirsty here.” The episode offered no further explanation as to who David Mendelbright was, though the phrase about horses is in quotation marks, indicating it is a quotation of Medelbright’s.

The original script for this episode of The Andy Griffith Show offers a bit more information. First, it is of interest that this engraving was not a random name created by the prop master or one he might have used on his own, perhaps having heard it from the previous episodes. The name David Mendelbright, the dates, and the inscription seen on the trough in the episode were all provided verbatim in the script, though the writers envisioned the words inscribed on a bronze plaque affixed to the trough. The script specifically described the structure as “a permanent concrete watering trough donated by one of the town’s founders many years ago.” Since this reference to David Mendelbright being one of the town’s founders was not reflected in the episode as aired, it is not canon, but it is a great piece of Mayberry trivia.

So the name Mendelbright was used in “Man in a Hurry,” then “Class Reunion” three episodes later, then “The Darlings Are Coming” six episodes later. All three episodes were written by the writing team of Everett Greenbaum and Jim Fritzell, the same writers who gave us Al Becker as discussed previously. Greenbaum and Fritzell also wrote the fourth season episode “Up in Barney’s Room” where the viewers got to actually see Mrs. Mendelbright.

Was there a real person named Mendelbright that the writers were making an inside joke about by using the name? It seems likely though we will probably never know. Neither Jim nor Neal had any inside information from their dealings with Everett Greenbaum, so there is no way to be sure. Of course, it could simply be a name the writing team just liked the sound of and decided to use a few times, but I like to think it had some further meaning that will remain a Mayberry mystery.

The Andy Griffith Show premiered before I was two years old. While the first new episodes I would have been old enough to remember were color ones, I also remember seeing the black and white episodes in reruns.

Another series I remember through reruns is The Real McCoys, though I was so young my strongest memories are really just the dinner bell being rung at the beginning of the show and the way Grandpappy Amos walked.

I know that the shows shared a huge number of guest stars. Mayberry’s Mayor Pike was also the veterinarian Doc Thornton on The Real McCoys. Frank Myers who had a Confederate bond in Mayberry was the McCoy’s neighbor, George MacMichael. There are many more examples. Not to mention that Dick Crenna who played Luke McCoy went on to direct eight episodes of The Andy Griffith Show, including the classics “A Date for Gomer,” “Citizen’s Arrest,” and “Opie the Birdman.” When you saw a barn in the early Mayberry episodes, it was the McCoys’ barn since The Real McCoys was filmed on the 40 Acres Backlot just like The Andy Griffith Show.

As a result, I have been gradually working my way through the run of The Real McCoys. I recently watched a third season episode titled “Grandpa Fights the Air Force” in which Grandpappy Amos sneaked onto an Air Force base because he was upset about the planes that kept flying over his farm creating sonic booms.

In the episode which aired on September 15, 1959, Amos’s grandson, Luke, and his wife, Kate, went to the Air Force base to try to find Grandpa but were immediately held for questioning. The dialogue of note was:

Kate: You see, our grandpa ain’t the type of person that goes around lookin’ for trouble, but, well, he always seems to find it. Like that time back home in Smokey Corners, he…

Provost Marshall: Back home where?

Luke: Smokey Corners, West Virginia. Population 307. Queen City of the Moccasin Creek.

Kate: You know your snakeskin bookmarks?

Provost Marshall: No, I don’t think I’ve ever seen one.

Kate: Well, they’re all made right there.

Luke: Why it’s knowed as one of Smokey Corners’ biggest success stories. This fella Al Becker started that whole industry with one old snake and a big idea.

Al Becker! Hey, I recognized that name! Later in the episode, Amos was caught and questioned in an interrogation room by an Air Force officer. When Amos was asked where he was from and answered Smokey Corners, the officer couldn’t find it on the map. Amos said it was about 57 miles south of Wheeling, then added:

Amos: You turn left where Moccasin Creek empties into Tadpole Swamp. That’s our resort area. Tadpole Swamp’s famous for mud baths. Cures just about anything that ails ya’.

Officer: (still having trouble finding it on the map) Maybe I better start back at Wheeling again.

Amos: Ya’ wanna’ watch out for snakes if you’re muddin’, though. But if you do catch one, Al Becker will give you 10 cents for it.

Mayberry fans will remember that in “A Date for Gomer,” which was first broadcast on December 9, 1963, Andy was trying to make small talk before the group, which included Gomer and Thelma Lou’s cousin, Mary Grace, left for the Chamber of Commerce dance. Chuckling throughout, Andy was telling a story about a collie dog that had just been shaved for the summer who came into Norman’s Groceteria.

Andy: Well, Al Becker happened to be standin’ there right at that minute… Y’all know Al Becker.

Helen: I don’t.

Thelma Lou: I don’t know him either.

Andy: (to Barney) Well, I know you know ‘im.

Barney: Al Becker? No, I can’t say I do. But that ain’t important, Ange. You go right ahead.

Andy then stopped, explaining the story wouldn’t mean anything if they didn’t know him. Barney then kept the awkward situation going another moment, saying aloud, “Al Becker… Nah, I can’t place him.”

A quick check of the credits revealed that both “Grandpa Fights the Air Force” and “A Date for Gomer” which aired more than three years later had both been written by the writing team of Everett Greenbaum and Jim Fritzell. This convinced me that the use of the name Al Becker must have had some significance to one of them since they bothered to use it in two different series. I had never sen any reference to it in any of my books on The Andy Griffith Show and a Google search was unfruitful, so I reached out to someone I knew had an actual relationship with Greenbaum. Jim Clark is a noted author of several fine books about The Andy Griffith Show and is the founder of The Andy Griffith Show Rerun Watchers Club.

I asked Jim if he knew whether Al Becker was a real person and if so, who he was. Jim confirmed Al Becker was an across-the-street neighbor of Greenbaum’s when he was growing up in Buffalo, New York! Jim also mentioned that he never asked Greenbaum about whether Al may have contributed his last name to Sam and Lily Becker in “Quiet Sam,” but it seems a safe bet that was also the origin of they last name.

By the way, as I mentioned earlier, there were many character actors who appeared in both series. In the fifth season episode “Banjo-Playing Deputy” on The Andy Griffith Show, one of the workers who was stealing purses at the carnival where Jerry Miller had worked was played by Lee Van Cleef. And one of the sentries who Grandpappy Amos sneaked by to get on the Air Force base and then searched for him? Played by Lee Van Cleef, of course! When Van Cleef appeared in The Andy Griffith Show in 1965, he later said that year he was on the verge of giving up his acting career. But he was then cast that same year in Clint Eastwood’s For a Few Dollars More directed by Sergio Leone. Van Cleef’s anti-hero role made him an international star.

One other last point. A groceteria is an obsolete term for a self-serve grocery store, meaning Mayberry had, at least for a time, another store other than Foley’s down the street from the courthouse.

The six posts I have made (including this one) about good burgers in Cincinnati is in no way meant to be all-inclusive but they are my personal favorites. There is one other that I especially enjoy, but I will discuss it in a later post since it really is located in greater Cincinnati and not the Queen City itself. This last burger is from one of my favorite restaurants in town—period.

CWC, the Restaurant is an outgrowth of a popular cooking blog called CWC, which stands for Cooking with Caitlin. Between chef Caitlin Steininger and her sister Kelly Trush, they have posted dozens and dozens of “how-to” cooking videos. They’ve been seen doing local television spots, have run pop-up shops, and ran a food truck while their restaurant was being readied.

There are not many guarantees that can be made with restaurants, but I can absolutely guarantee that you cannot go to CWC and not feel welcome. While Caitlin does the food, her effervescent sister Kelly is the host and manager who greets you. What a treat to go to a restaurant where you are made to feel that they are happy you are there from the moment you step in the door.

Part of the difference is that Caitlin and Kelly are both working moms and everyone knows moms are the best cooks. They have created a work situation that makes being mothers raising kids while also running a restaurant work. CWC is only open Friday and Saturday evenings and for Sunday brunch.

The intimate restaurant is located in the Wyoming neighborhood of Cincinnati and serves amped-up comfort food. Their signature burger is a great example.

I am always game to try burgers with lots of interesting toppings, but on the other hand, if there are too many toppings you basically can’t taste the burger. CWC’s Char Cheddar Burger is a burger genius in its simplicity that allows you to actually taste the high-quality beef. The generous, hand-formed burger is not topped with traditional slices of cheese. Instead, it is placed atop a generous bed of fries and a heaping ladle of decadent cheddar sauce is poured over the patty.

While Caitlin serves lots of other dishes and has a menu that changes periodically, she sometimes has homemade Oreos available for dessert. These handmade cookies are literally as big as your palm. And naturally, they are served with a glass of milk for dunking!

If you are ever in the area during their limited hours, I cannot recommend CWC, the Restaurant highly enough. You will leave not only with a satisfied appetite but feeling like you just had a meal with good friends who care for you.

Since I have been posting on good hamburger joints in the Cincinnati area the past five Wednesdays and discussed Mayberry in the Midwest the past two Saturdays, I decided to combine the two for today’s post.

I mentioned during my first post about Mayberry in the Midwest that I met one of my favorite cousins for dinner on the way home. When my buddies Rob and Steve went with me to the Mayberry festival in Danville, Indiana last year, I took them to the same restaurant on our return.

When my cousin and I originally met for dinner, he suggested a great burger restaurant called Kuma’s Korner in Indianapolis. When he mentioned it, I told him I was sure I had heard of it but could not place it and had never been. I later realized I had made a note that it was a possible restaurant to try in Chicago which is where the original is located.

Now, I grant you that Kuma’s Korner is about as far away from Mayberry as one can get as it technically has a heavy metal motif! But other than the names of the burgers, it’s just an enjoyable burger joint. Burger names include the Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, and Metallica. But the burgers themselves are made up of interesting combinations of ingredients. For example, the Led Zeppelin is topped with applewood smoked bacon, Buffalo sauce, bleu cheese dressing, lettuce, tomato, and red onion.

The restaurant’s first location opened in 2005 in Chicago’s Avondale neighborhood but they now have three other locations in the Windy City and nearby towns plus their fifth location in Indianapolis. They support a number of charitable causes which is part of their stated ethos: “Support your community. Eat beef. Bang your head.”

They also strive to support local and homegrown suppliers. As a result, you won’t find a Budweiser or Miller in their extensive beer list. They instead offer a wide range of craft beers.

The burger I had was called the Sourvein, named after—appropriately enough for this particular blog though I was unaware of the connection when I ordered it—a North Carolina metal band. The beef patty was topped with deep-fried blackened chicken tenders, applewood smoked bacon, cheddar cheese, and a raspberry aioli. And the big finish for the toppings? Strips of a Belgian waffle with a maple syrup drizzle! 

While Danville is about 20 minutes west of the edge of Indianapolis, it is closer to a 40-minute drive to Kuma’s Korner, but if you are heading east you will have already passed halfway through Indy. The burgers are definitely worth going out of your way for.

This East Side landmark restaurant was closed in December by the original owner who retired and then quickly re-opened under new management under the name The Turf Club. I have not been since the change, but the new owner would be foolish not to adhere to the attributes that made Terry’s Turf Club so popular.

Certainly, a large factor in the restaurant’s popularity is its garish and kitsch decor. The outside is absolutely covered in neon signs from various other businesses and the inside is no different. It is filled with neon as well as vintage beer posters and enormous beer coolers made in the 1950s that hold 264 cases of beer each in their refrigerated interiors. The place is a feast for the eyes as much as the food is a feast for the stomach. Their self-description is “a quirky joint doling out beers and jumbo burgers with adventurous toppings in a neon-lit room.”

The Turf Club is often crowded on the weekends so be prepared to wait, but the burgers really are quite good. The burgers are made with Black Angus patties and served on buns made locally by Shadeau Breads. The burger menu is designed so you build your own burger from their broad selection of toppings.

The standard burger comes with two slices of American or Swiss cheese, but for an additional fee, you can get other options like a triple cream brie from France or an onion-infused cheddar from the UK. They also have goat cheese, gouda, gorgonzola, and others.

You can also choose from many sauces such as a cheese sauce made with gouda, cheddar, French Mimolette, asiago, and heavy cream or their Foghorn Leghorn sauce made with “garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, sage, thyme, apricot, shallots, onions, pear balsamic, and more garlic.”

Other toppings often found in many restaurants are available such as bacon (though at The Turf Club it is automatically three slices) or a fried egg, but they have more unusual options such as a balsamic glaze, a lump crab and lobster cake, or a slice of grilled pineapple.

The burgers are usually served with fresh-cut fries but they also offer mac & cheese, onion rings, or fried corn on the cob.

Let’s hope the new owners keep up the same high standards as the original.

My wet experience at the 2017 Mayberry in the Midwest was definitely not repeated at last year’s Indiana festival. In fact, I was working on a good sunburn by the end of the day. But I am fair-skinned enough that I often joke I can get a sunburn just by thinking about the sun too much.

Last year, my buddy Rob who has gone to Mayberry Days with me the last few years and buddy Steve who was able to go with us to Mayberry Days once in spite of being a school teacher who can not easily get a Friday off, all went to Mayberry in the Midwest. We drove over early enough to have breakfast at a Danville landmark.

The Mayberry Cafe sits on the same town square where the festival is held. Televisions throughout the restaurant continuously air episodes of The Andy Griffith Show. We all opted for the buffet and it was a great meal together.

This time, I was able to watch the parade. Just as I had done the last year, we spent the day watching the free entertainment, including free entertainment by the tribute artists, Maggie “Charlene Darling: Peterson, and various bluegrass bands. We strolled through the many vendor’s booths and walked down to watch the “Squad Car Nationals” with numerous Mayberry squad car reproductions. We attended a remembrance of Jim Nabors by Ronnie Schell.

I also participated in the trivia contest and did much better than at the Mayberry Days trivia contests. That being said, I came close but did not break into the finals. People often assume since I have become an expert on the show that I would automatically do well in trivia competitions. While I do know a great deal about the show itself, such as how it came to be and the actors who played roles, I definitely do not have everything about the show memorized. I know some past champions literally made flash cards of each bit of trivia from each episode and memorized them, but I do not fall in that category.

One of the most fun aspects of a friendly festival like the one Danville hosts is the opportunity to meet and spend time with so many fellow fans. It is a treat to be somewhere and know everyone you see there is at least somewhat of a Mayberry fan.

I got to meet Steve Jackson, a member of The Gomer and Goober Comic Book Literary Guild who is instrumental in making Mayberry in the Midwest a reality. His work with the festival is just one of the reasons he received the Mayberry Appreciation Award from the members of the national rerun watcher’s club which was presented at least year’s Mayberry Meet-Up.

I was also able to meet in person another guild member, Janet Anderson, who not only is a charming person but was also the winner of the trivia competition in Danville last year!

But the biggest personal surprise for me came while I was participating in the trivia contest. I was standing by another guild member who has become a friend, Mike McGonigal, when I felt someone tap me on the shoulder. I turned around to see George Lindsey Jr., the son of the actor who played Goober. He asked me, “Are you Randy Turner?” When I said he was, he held up both hands palm out and pretended to bow. It was a thrill for me to learn that he made it a point to introduce himself because he is a fan of my podcast audio reports and my Facebook postings about Mayberry history. I had seen George in the Mayberry Days parade in 2017 but had disappointingly not had the opportunity to meet him. It was especially gratifying for me as his dad was the first Mayberry cast member I ever met many years ago.

If you are a Mayberry fan, I would really encourage you to attend Mayberry in the Midwest.  The festival continues to grow and this year will even include a free concert by the nationally known bluegrass band, The Grascals!