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I think you will enjoy this and might even want to visit. I go by the exit a few times every year on my trips to Winston Salem, but have never taken the time to visit. Town is just off of I-74 about 35 miles north west of WS. Mount Pilot (Pilot Mountain) state park is just 15 to 20 miles from there.
Mount Airy
That's on my to do list some day, Dan. Good story you found there.
I've probably told the story here a few times, but I can relate to the getting emotional when meeting Betty Lynn (Thelma Lou). I met her at my church maybe 10-15 years ago. She was here for a Mayberry reunion kinda thing at Oak Mountain Amphitheatre (I did not attend), and it was Sunday morning, and she was going to church like she usually did, with no fanfare or announcement. Our church is the closest one of our denomination to Oak Mountain State Park, and I guess she looked it up.
Anyway, a friend of mine was a greeter that morning, and he saw her outside as she started to walk in, and he said, "Thelma Lou." Now, he wasn't even a The Andy Griffith Show fan, but he still recognized her, and said hello. He then told her (after he had released her, and hunted her down again) she had to meet a friend of his who was the biggest The Andy Griffith Show fan he knew.
That was me.
I told her she got me through my Masters Program by watching TAGS four times a day (twice at lunch, back to back, twice at dinner, back to back), relayed how special I thought she was and the show, and "Barney's Girl" told me she had to give me a hug.
So there it was. I was hugging Barney's girl.
I don't care how dumb people think it is, it was VERY special to me. I get emotional thinking about it again. That dang show was real.
By the way, do you get the eBullet? It it the newsletter of The Andy Griffith Show Rerun Watchers Club. I love getting it, because it's so sporadic--never know when it's going to arrive, and they tell you that, and it's sorta like living in small town Mayberry--it'll get there, when it gets there. What's your hurry? You know the stories!
Thanks for the link--it was a very good article. Yes, I would love to stop in and visit. One of these days...
Was thinking of Thelma Lou yesterday as I ran across the church bulletin she signed for me 18 years ago.
Betty Lynn will be 92 on her birthday, August 29 - same day, different year than my wife. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...1b71de540c.jpg
Great read, Dan. Thanks. We used to go through Mt Airy on our way to the beach and once, on our way back home, we stopped and did the hike up Pilot Mountain. The town I grew up in, Flatwoods, Ky, was a lot like Mayberry. Everyone knew each other and looked out for each other.