The Mayberry Cafe is always very crowded during the Mayberry in the Midwest festival. I considered going to a less crowded restaurant in town but the wait time wasn’t too heinous so I decided to stick it out. As I was waiting to be seated, a steady stream of the tribute artists came in and was ushered to a section of the restaurant set aside for them so they could eat quickly. When I was seated, it turned out I was in the same room though on the opposite side. While I am always fine traveling alone, it says something about Terry Varvel , the Barney tribute artist I mentioned earlier, and his lovely wife, Tonya, that they came over and sat with me so I would not be eating alone.
One other reason I decided to wait at the Mayberry Cafe was I had read that they had a good version of Indiana’s signature pork tenderloin sandwich. With the breaded meat extending far past the bun, these sandwiches are something for which Indiana is known. I know that some restaurants pound the meat extremely thin so you end up with a pork tenderloin the size of your plate but I have also read that in this situations you end up with more breading than is ideal. The sandwich I had certainly had a large tenderloin but it was also a decent thickness. I would recommend it if you are ever there.
The festival wrapped up with a free concert by the Grascals, the bluegrass band that served as Dolly Parton’s band for a time. This wonderful band has performed on the Grand Ole’ Opry many times and have won many awards, including nine from the International Bluegrass Music Association. I bought a CD they released in conjunction with Cracker Barrel that included their versions of all songs included in The Andy Griffith Show and even got the CD autographed by the band.
After another late night visiting with my cousin, Darrell, and a wonderful breakfast at a spot he recommended, I headed back to Danville for the last day of the festival.
I had seen both tribute artists shows previously and knew I would have to kiss the last one at the end of the day, so I brought an umbrella and watched then Sunday afternoon show in the rain. Afterward, I headed to the Dixie Griffith interview,
Allan Newsome conducted the interview session which was worth the trip to Indiana all by itself. Dixie shared lots of photos and memories of life with her parents and fielded many questions from the audience.
If you are a Mayberry fan, you really owe it to yourself to attend these type of events.
