Mayberry. Home to fictional characters Sheriff Andy Taylor, Deputy Barney, Aunt Bee and others and backdrop for the 1960s classic television series The Andy Griffith Show. Monday was the kick-off for an all-week celebration of Mayberry Days in Mt. Airy, N.C., which was the home of the late Andy Griffith. Griffith’s co-star on Matlock, Daniel Roebuck (Cliff) will also be there for his first Mayberry Days and the annual festival will also honor the late Betty Lynn., who played Barney Fife’s love interest, Thelma Lou.
However, the town of Mt. Airy prides itself on being the "real-life Mayberry” with plenty of year-round Andy Griffith attractions. Visitors can relive some heavily nostalgic laid-back days as seen on the show, complete with a squad car tour, a visit to Andy’s childhood home or Floyd’s Barber Shop.
Mt. Airy Offers Visitors a Chance to Escape to A More Relaxing Era
After a 45-minute tour around the charming Mayberry-esque town inside a replica squad car, fans might want to stop the Mayberry Motor Inn and check out Aunt Bee's room. Frances Bavier, who played Aunt Bee, has a room dedicated to her at this motel where certificates of authenticity exist for more than 30 of her belongings from gloves to glasses. And don’t forget to have a picture taken in front of the Mayberry Squad Car or Emmett’s Truck. Andy Griffith’s childhood home, Andy’s Homeplace, is now a bed and breakfast filled with antiques and wrapped in '30s and '40s decor.
Floyd's City Barber Shop is a '50s-style barber shop. According to the visitmayberry.com website "the shop is both a fully-functioning barber shop and tourist draw. Stop by and meet Bill, son of original owner Russell Hiatt." Hiatt was the real-life Floyd the Barber, in the "real-life" Mayberry, cutting hair until he was 90 years old! Over seven decades of cutting hair, Hiatt amassed "more than 30,000 photographs" on is Wall of Fame!
In the season one episode of The Andy Griffith Show titled Andy the Matchmaker, Andy suggests he and Barney head to the Snappy Lunch for a bite to eat. Yes, fans can actually head to the Snappy Lunch, which is known for its pork chop sandwich, a "boneless, tenderized loin chop dipped in sweet-mile batter and fried until golden crisp.” Of course, no trip would be complete without a walk through the Andy Griffith Museum where hundreds and hundreds of items were collected by Andy's childhood friend Emmett Forrest. Several items from Don Knotts and Betty Lynn can be seen at the museum, along with the iconic signs from the courthouse that read "Sheriff" and "Justice of the Peace," and costumes worn by cast on the show when portraying Otis Campbell, Charlotte Darlin’, Goober, and Barney Fife.