Thursday, December 8, 2011

Mayberry

Fans of The Andy Griffith Show, which ran on television 1960-68 and has been rerunning ever since, know that the Mayberry portrayed was a fictional representation of Griffith's boyhood home, Mt. Airy, North Carolina. But Mayberry does exist, and it's only 22 miles away from Mt. Airy.

Mayberry is just across the state line in Virginia, and was a postal address until 1922. Little remains beyond the Trading Post, which today is more tourist shop than a working general store.

Griffith supposedly visited the Mayberry Trading Post several times growing up, but there's little evidence that it actually influenced the naming of the fictional town. Griffith is reported as having given credit for the name to one of the show's writers. Still, it's a good place to spend a few minutes. They were cooking apple butter outdoors when we were there in October. And that's just about the best thing you can put on a buttermilk biscuit!

2 comments:

  1. One of my favorite programs still, we watch it daily :)
    Interesting that little town of Mayberry, we have a Mayberry in the next county of Franklin, complete with the police car, and general store.
    Apple butter on a buttermilk biscuit, what could be finer !
    ~Jo

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  2. I can smell that apple butter and warm biscuit from here. My grammy made the best apple butter. I have the recipe, but it just isn't as good as hers. Interesting about Mayberry.

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