Mount Airy AKA Mayberry!

On Thursday morning, I drove back to Raven Knob Boy Scout Camp and picked up Mark so we could spend the morning together exploring Mount Airy.  Mount Airy is the town that the fictional town of Mayberry was based on.  Mayberry was the town in the Andy Griffith show. That TV show ran from October 1960 to 1968.  It is still shown in reruns on some channels.

Before we hit the town, Mark wanted to show me the climbing tower.  He said he would try to climb it again and get some photos because the view was wonderful

We found a nice parking spot across from the post office.

We found out later, that the post office is made from local granite.   There is a lot of local granite!

Main street

Checking out what there is to see

I think community clocks are a wonderful thing

This building is the visitor's center. It was very informative.  She told us about a lot of things to go check out and see.

This did not photo well, but it is private Sasquatch!

This is a car similar to the police cars they rode in for the show.  This one gives tours around the town.  We opted not to take the tour this time. Maybe next time.

This clothing factory closed in 2007.  The city bought the property and they are bringing it up. They have not decided what will be developed, a hotel, maybe a distillery are on the table

Being goofy

More local granite

It looks like they keep this sign painted all except the bottle.   Not sure why.  At one time Coca Cola was bottled in Mount Airy. Not sure if it is anymore though.

After we visited Opie's Candy Shop, we stopped by Snappy Lunch for a quick bite!

We did not buy any chocolate candy at Opie's. Just too Hot!

They do not have plates, the sandwiches come wrapped in waxed paper. No fries, chips, and no pickles. I missed the pickles!

Information about Snappy Lunch!
Burgers are still 2 bucks.  Chips are extra and so are drinks.  Our lunch of 2 burgers, 2 bags of chips and two drinks came to 7.64. No credit or debit accepted.

The open faced granite quarry.  It was very impressive. Massive amounts of granite!

Information Bit:

World's Largest Open Faced Granite Quarry

This quarry covers around 90 acres. It's a mile long, and has been in operation since 1889. Geological mapping shows the total mass to cover 7 x 4 miles, 6,000 to 8,000 feet deep. It's said that granite will be harvested here for hundreds to thousands of years. Granite from this quarry was used to build the National WWII Memorial in Washington, DC, among other monuments and buildings, and there's a church at the entrance to the quarry that was built with granite from it. The quarry can be seen by astronauts from space.

This church is at the entrance of the granite quarry. It is a Presbyterian church.

It was time to get Mark back to camp, I needed time to drive home in the daylight.

Traffic was not fun. Drivers in the left lane going under the speed limit. I pulled off at a rest area as I was getting too frustrated with it all!  I am so happy I did! I pulled it, tried to get myself calm and a car pulled up in the spot next to mine.  Out came three rolly polly 6 week old Australian Shepherd puppies. I asked if I could pet them,  Their care taker said that would be great, they need to know people.  I got to pet them, she asked if I could hold one while she put two of them back, as she could handle two at a time into their travel crates. SURE! I handed her the puppy when she was done. But she was not done! THREE more puppies came out of the car!  and I got to hold and cuddle one while she put two away and asked if I could keep holding that pup while she got the parents out and walked a little.  This pup was so snuggly. She gave kisses, the smell of puppy breath! I was LOVING it .  One other lady walked up and asked it they were for sale. Um, no not yet the care taker said.   After she left, I looked at the care taker and said I would worry about the puppies if you were selling them at a random rest stop.  She laughed.  It was a wonderful way to get calm for the rest of the drive home.     Even though traffic was still no fun, I got to pet and cuddle puppies!    I made it home before it got dark and before I ran out of gas!