Mount Airy Roadside Attractions

I recently posted about the Roadside America website and app I contributed a small item to along with several photos. There are several roadside attractions near Mount Airy, North Carolina. In fact, the same website and app list many spots familiar to anyone who has visited Mount Airy.

First, Roadside America literally lists the town itself as a tourist attraction. It also lists individual spots in Mount Airy.

The most obvious are the statue of Andy and Opie erected by TVLand and Wally’s which houses a wonderful gift shop, offers tours in recreations of the Mayberry squad car, and also has recreations of the courthouse, jail cells, and the Darling’s cabin that make for great photo opportunities. 

TVLand erected the original statue of Andy and Opie in Raleigh since it is a large city and the capital of North Carolina. They soon heard from fans about that decision and so erected a second statue in Mount Airy itself.

Wally’s was once a real gas station that was built in 1937 and remained in operation until it became a tourist attraction in 2001. Supposedly—and it would not seem unlikely in the least—a young Andy Griffith would grab a bottle of pop there. The gift shop in Wally’s is known for providing a nice selection of Mayberry gifts at reasonable prices and also has a large selection of old-time candies. I have taken tours in the squad cars a few times and have yet to encounter a guide who was not extremely knowledgable about the town and its ties to The Andy Griffith Show.

 

The site/app also lists The Andy Griffith Museum and provides a separate listing for the Chang and Eng exhibit about the famed “Siamese Twins” who lived in the area for many years and are buried nearby.

 

 

 

Floyd’s Barbershop is also listed. This longtime Mount Airy fixture was not really called Floyd’s long ago, of course, but was re-named to take advantage of the tourist trade that has developed around Mount Airy. The well-known barber Russell Hiatt passed away a few years ago but was always friendly with the constant parade of Mayberry fans who came into his shop.

Mount Airy’s granite quarry made the list since it is the world’s largest open-face granite quarry. 

Andy Griffith’s childhood home is another listed attraction. The exterior is available for viewing from the street easily enough, but the interior is not. It is operated as a bed and breakfast annex of the Hampton Inn. (The breakfast part is just that you can drive to the hotel to have their standard breakfast offerings.) The house has been expanded since Griffith lived there. What is now a small bedroom on the back of the house was originally a porch. I have been lucky enough to stay there. The house had various Mayberry paraphernalia hanging throughout and was stocked with a collection of episodes to be watched.

Room 109 at the Mayberry Motor Inn is the last individual attraction listed. The room holds a large number of items that once belonged to Frances Bavier who played Aunt Bee in the series.

Amazingly, Snappy Lunch is not listed individually. It sounds like I have another tip and photos to submit!

While not directly in Mount Airy, another interesting sight can be found in nearby Thurmond, North Carolina. Along a country road is a trio of Baptist churches that look like Russian nesting dolls. The smallest church was the original. When the congregation outgrew it, a larger church was built on the land next door but the original building was kept for church activities. As the congregation grew, a third church was built larger than the second, with the two earlier buildings again not demolished. The end result is a novel sight.

Regular readers know that I have posted about Hillbilly Hot Dogs, a fine eating establishment in Lesage, West Virginia on the route between Cincinnati and Mount Airy that would definitely qualify as a roadside attraction.

 

There is one more attraction not far from LeSage that reminds one of Otis. A life-size pink elephant in Barboursville, West Virginia!