We Made it to Mayberry.

Not long after we got married, Daddy sent me a link to a travelsite mentioning that you can stay in Andy Griffith's childhood home in Mount Airy, NC. Living, as I do, with Mr. Mayberry, I filed this information away to use as soon as I could.

"As soon as I could" ended up being "for Jeremy's 37th birthday gift." The boys and I took him to Mount Airy for the day and nite of September 13th. 

I don't know why it surprised us that there's not much to do in the town that inspired Mayberry. Still, we managed to have a full day that included eating at the Snappy Lunch (Jeremy loved the porkchop sandwich, a chili-covered concoction which kinda makes me sick just to think about), touring the Andy Griffith Museum (perhaps overpriced at $3 per person), visiting Wally's Service Station, and taking Aunt Bea's Barbecue to a picnic at Pilot Mountain State Park. After that, we let the boys play in the same backyard where Andy did as a kid, and then, the boys in bed, Jeremy and I watched some football that included UK getting the losing end of horrific officiating in its game (that they won, though the score doesn't reflect it) against Florida. 

Sunday morning, we ate pimento cheese and bacon biscuits from Biscuitville (Yes. I'm serious.) while watching "Andy Griffith" episodes in Andy Griffith's home before heading home to Canton. In fact, that scenario provided one of my favorite moments from the trip - in this video, you can see Jones whistling - as he does in Pavlovian fashion whenever he hears the A.G. theme song. When he's bobbing his head just before sitting down, he's whistling, too. I just didn't have the camera in a good position to catch that. 

The other favorite memory involves Jones in the Mount Airy Tractor Toyland. I'm guessing this place used to be an actual tractor shop, but now it's just a shop filled with tractor toys, including one that caught Jones's eye. It was a battery-powered John Deere, sitting in the window of the shop. The elderly couple who owned the store said he could sit on it.  He played for probably ten minutes, while Jeremy and I tried to talk ourselves out of buying the $330 machine for his second birthday present, even though every impulse in both of us wanted to take it home with us.

Ultimately, sensible heads prevailed.  It'll be up to Santa to make our buddy's dream come true.

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend.