Wally's

No trip to Mayberry is complete without a stop at Wally's Filling Station known really as Tour Mayberry Squad Car Tours.  We have done the official Squad Car Tours a couple of times in the past and they are a lot of fun.  Also on the premises are several neat areas for photos ops: The Darlings cabin, Wally's, a downtown storefront, various vehicles, and the Mayberry Court House with a complete interior replica.

Goober says "hey", but he also says in episode "TV or Not TV" (S05E23):
"I've been deputized a couple of times too.  Did you know that?  Just during emergencies.  Every Halloween I'm in charge of guarding the cannon in the park.  Kids are always filling it full of orange peelin's, and potaters and rotten tomaters...things like that.  It's real disrespectful."

Ever since I've been in charge of guarding that cannon they ain't even as much as got a grape in it."

Goober happened to be off duty!

Orange peelin's!

Ha!



We also took the opportunity to take a grainy, blurry black and white picture inside the courthouse.

We love coming up with and staging photo set ups.  Here are a few more along with past visits to Wally's and the Courthouse :

Jail Cell Photos 2016
Wall'ys Filling Station 2016
Mayberry Courthouse 2006

Andy Griffith Museum 2018

The The Andy Griffith Museum in Mount Airy, NC hosts the meet and greet for Betty Lynn (Thelma Lou of the Andy Griffith Show) that we attended in June. I have been to the museum many times in the past.  It was certainly interesting to view but in one big way it always miffed me.  You weren't allowed to take pictures...even with the flash off.  Well recently they did a massive renovation to the space adding many new artifacts and beautifully crafted vignettes. ..and now allow flashless photography!!!!
The above and below photos are in the entryway of the museum made to look like downtown Mount Airy Storefronts.  The first few displays are items from Andy's early days.

You can't get much earlier than this. 
On display is a rocking chair made by Andy's dad for his mom to rock baby Andy in.

Next is a facade of The Earle Theatre.  On the "screen" is a digital presentation of Andy's theater productions and artifacts in the window displays.

Behind the Mount Airy town area is the TAGS section, first featuring 
an officer costume shirt from the show.

and Deputy Badge ..."pointed and silver".

Off to the left are downtown Mayberry store front facades.

An area with some of Don Knott's costumes. 

The old "Salt and Pepper"...."just perfect for the dip."

A suit worn by Gomer and then Goober in later episodes.

  Barney:"This is a plain clothes operation."
 Gomer:" I've got a brown suit that is pretty plain.  This brown suit was a tiny white thread running through it...it might not be plain enough."

Goober's classic look.
You know Goober takes off on Cary Grant.
"Judy, Judy, Judy!"

The court house with the original set of door plaques from the show.

Floyd's Barbershop store front.  

 It's clever they put one of Barney's election posters in the window here.

Barney: "What do you mean you don't think you can put up my poster?"
Floyd: "Oh..I never put up posters in my window Barney.  It spoils the decor."
Barney: "A mud slide couldn't spoil that decor."

Of course this poster is from Return to Mayberry (the 1986 movie) not from the original 1960 series episodes.

Next is a jail cell display featuring costume pieces for Otis Campbell.  It's even got the little jail cell window up top as part of the display!

Two sets of keys from the show.  One normal set (left) with it's teeth still in place and another one where Cousin Virgil polished them off.

Directly across from the jail cell (clever!) is the courthouse desk.  The desk has several show props.  Barney's chair from the show is on the left and has been bronzed.  Also cleverly this is the backside of the courthouse doors.

"This mechanically perfect, RJ300 motorcycle, that's official Army nomenclature, is as of now an official part of the Mayberry Sheriff's Department rolling stock.
Check Point Chickie!"

Outside is a vintage motorcycle side car like one from the episode, "Barney's Sidecar" season 4.  Folks are allowed to climb in it for photo ops.  The sidecar used to be in the building and had a helmet for the complete look.  But the helmet is now gone, I guess other folks feel like how Barney and his mother did about not liking people wearing their hats.

 "
Floyd:"Did you ever see what is written in the cement outside the shop out there?"

A reference to episode "The Case of the Punch in the Nose" from season 5. Only I think it's actually Emma Lawrence.

Also at the museum are artifacts from Andy Griffith's early comedy routines, Matlock, and a horrible crappy country music video he was in later in life.

Visit!
Andy Griffith Museum
218 Rockford St
Mount Airy, NC 27030
336-786-1604

My Mayberry Look

I thought I would kinda show off my neat-o hair style and make-up that I did to meet Betty Lynn.  However my glasses have a glare so my make-up is hard to see.  The glasses I am wearing are the new ones I got for winning the Pumpkin Decorating Contest from a local branch eyeglasses store.  I have been a bit obsessed lately with learning vintage hair styling and this 'do' has been by far my favorite.  I accomplished it using a curling iron, bobby pins, and hair spray.  My red lipstick is Sephora cream lip stain 01.  My mom gave it to me years ago, so I am not sure if it's still available.  My necklace belonged to my grandmother.

The dress I am wearing is a fairly new purchase from a local vintage clothing store.  It is a handmade 1950s house dress and only cost 12 bucks!  I super love it.  It is really comfortable and I could see why one would wear it to clean the house back in the day.  It has a white and red odd pattern on a black background.  I am not sure what the shapes are suppose to be?  I have been calling it straw bundles.

This photo is a bit washed out and blurry but it kinda shows the curl action I have going on the left side of my face...kinda.
Creating this 'do' was about 45 minutes of work.  The day after sleeping on it I tried my best to salvage parts for our last day in Mayberry but it certainly was not as awesome looking as the first day.

  Trying to figure out pin curls, wet sets, and styling has been a little side hobby of mine the past month. You would think I would have learned all of this in my early 20s when I was into swing dancing but back then I always either put one of those Aunt Jemima bandannas on my head (hello profile photo to the right!) or do some french twist faux victory rolls.  "Real" hairstyles are much more time consuming and a bit frustrating, since I am still trying to figure this out.  I have been taking photos of my more successful dos, which will one day serve as my "before" photos as I hope to (fingers crossed) improve.
If you are interested in vintage hair styles browse my pinterest board: Hair Color, Cuts, and Chattels.  It's where I keep all of my inspiration and favorite tutes.

Betty Lynn

Exiting News!  Mr. Husband Sir and I got to meet Betty Lynn, "Thelma Lou" (or "Thelmer Lou" as Gomer called her) from The Andy Griffith Show!
Born August 29, 1926



She makes an appearance every third Friday at The Andy Griffith Museum in Mount Airy, NC (now her home).
We have been trying to make it up there to meet her for years, but could never work it out with PB's school/summer obligations and Mr. Husband's work stuff.  Even going on June 15 meant only 2/3 of us could go.  PB would not be able to make it, however he gave Mr. Husband Sir and I his blessing to travel without him. 

In the building Betty Lynn signs autographs there is an entire display case with memorabilia from her life sans TAGS (The Andy Griffith Show).  

Although the display case is small it holds some amazing artifacts, corresponding photos. and information.
When she was 18 in 1944,  she joined the USO, singing and entertaining American soldiers in China, India, and Burma.  On display are her government issued uniform, trunk, and gun.

During the late 1940s through the 1950s, Betty Lynn costarred in various movies alongside others such as Bette Davis, Loretta Young, and Maureen O'Hara.  There are many original lobby cards from her movies in the display case and on the wall behind her autograph area.

 Off to the left is a Shirley Temple doll along with a photo of little Betty Lynn holding it from the mid 1930s.  The outfit the doll is wearing was sewn by her mother.  The yellow dance outfit was also made by Betty Lynn's mother for a recital when Betty was 14.  In the foreground are original designed and painted tiles for nursery rooms by Betty Lynn.  In 1952 she marketed and sold them to several major department stores in Los Angeles.

Our autograph from Betty Lynn.  (It has PB's real name, but I removed it for posting on here.)

We got in line about a hour before she arrived, which was a good thing.  We were about 25th in line and by the time we saw and met her, the line of fans was out the door waiting, well over 100 people!

She was so sweet and took her time talking with us.  I super 1950s fixed up my hair and make up just to meet her.  She was so complimentary telling me how pretty I was and she loved my lipstick and on and on.  I was star struck and humbled by her kind words.  Mr. Husband asked her if she thought Thelma Lou knew about Barney and Juanita and she burst out laughing!   She then said she bet she did, it was such a small town.  We told her how much we love the show and watch it.  She said she does too and still laughs at it's comedy.
As many know, Mr. Husband Sir, PB, and I are massive TAGS fans.  This is our first time meeting a cast member and will remain such a highlight for us!

Here is a link with dates so you too can
Meet Betty Lynn!

Coming up in the next set of posts are highlights from our entire trip to Mount Airy, NC.
At this point in a post I would give a bunch of links to past related posts.  However
I have far too many that are about TAGS or Mount Airy (Mayberry) so I "tagged" most all of the posts with the label "Mayberry" as seen below to the left.  

Happy Wienie Day!

Who doesn't love a good wienie?  Since today is National Hot Dog Day I thought I would share my favorite wienie skewering-roasting apparatus,
The Wienie Wheel!

I bought the Wienie Wheel (on ebay) as a separate piece for use with my Nesco!

It's a ponged wheel that attaches to the rotisserie rod and hence rotates the doggies, roasting them inside and out!  It's fun to use, watch, and makes "zestful" dogs!

But it's not just for wieners!  Use it for shish kabobs or other foods that require wheel action too!

If you need some extra wiener-ness grill up these past posts:

Wiener Crown Roast

Hot Dog Spaghetti Monsters

Mummy Dogs

Mr. Twit's Beard Food: Hot Dog Laden

Wiener Buns

Wieners In Sauce

Nesco Rotisserie Grill Oven

Check out our gorgeous Nesco rotisserie oven, with original instruction booklet! 
It's a mini oven, rotisserie, broiler, grill, stove stop griddle and so much more when you buy all of the optional accessories!

We searched for quite a while on ebay to find it.  It cost only 25 bucks but almost triple that for shipping.  It's amazing, and big, and heavy.  We were looking to replace our modern toaster oven for something more period appropriate for our kitchen.  One day while at the Salvation Army I came across a 1950s "Super Chef  Broiler-Rotisserie-Fryer" (similar to the Nesco) with a very shock giving electric cord attached. Who knew if it worked even if the electrifying cord was replaced. But I liked it's look, very toaster oven-ish yet stylish!  So months of searching on ebay for something similar with all the pieces and in excellent condition and price finally lead us to this Nesco.

It was sold by the grandson of a lady who was the original owner and had kept it in pristine shape.   The seller had drastically underestimated the shipping price in the listing and had it for only 25 bucks.  But as he was getting it boxed and packed for shipping the price increased and increased.  He even offered to end the transaction if we didn't want an oven that the shipping cost more than the item did.  We still wanted it though.  The seller even paid an extra 10 bucks for extra care shipping.  However that didn't matter, the oven arrived with a ding in the side of the box so bad it caused the top griddle metal tray to be warped and somewhere between California and Florida the front left foot went missing.  I have just been using a plastic bottle cap until I can make friends with someone with a 3D printer.


We use the Nesco several times a week, it's a great tater tot baker!   When the Nesco is in downtime though it serves as a dance hall for the Potato head posse!

This ad for the Roto-Broil shows some of the wonderful cooking/baking options that the Nesco can also perform, as a serving suggestion!

A super fun optional accessory, up next!

Happy Birthday, you big Dummy!

"This is the big one, honey, I'm coming to join ya!"

Mr. Husband Sir, PB, and I love Sanford and Son.  For Mr. Husband's birthday this year I decided to coordinate him a Sanford and Son themed party!

But you may have noticed it says "Stanford and Son" on the sign.  This is because PB calls Mr. Husband Sir "Stan" and I thought it would be a fun play on words for the sign.

Behold the vast empire!

Miscellaneous treasures, antiques, collectibles, what-nots, doodads, and just plain junk!

That ceramic squirrel used to belong to the mayor of El Segundo!

A Little Lamont miniature junk truck loaded with bits of scrap. 

"We could have a little pork and beans now and a little zucchini later. Or a little zucchini now and a little pork and beans later. Or if you like the pork and beans, you can have them and I'll take the zucchini or I can take the pork and beans and you the zucchini so what will it be? Zucchini or pork and beans?"

Even after massive house decluttering and off loading a ton of stuff this past year, I was surprised I still had a decent amount of items that I could use as "junk" decor.  That should have been kinda expected though when most everything we own came from a thrift store/junk shop already.

A vintage mini model of a burial vault that I included in the decor as a reference to the "Coffins For Sale" episode.  I have mentioned a time or two that Mr. Husband Sir used to work for a funeral parlor and was given these kind of "goodies" when they were outdated or discovered in the back of the basement.

 I liked that our ''junk'' is all items that could have been found in a 1970s junk yard/shop, since most everything is from 1940-60.

Fred is always picking up his fancy threads at Phil's Fashion Box.  I got Mr. Husband some fancy black socks and had them "gift wrapped"!

 One of the ongoing jokes on Sanford and Son involved Fred always telling Ester he was going to shove her face in some dough in order to make various gorilla baked goods. So I shoved Ester's face (a laminated print) in some dough and make a gorilla cake!
The cake is a box mix but to give it a gorilla-look I covered it in chow mien noodle fur!

I served Ester Gorilla Face cake with a glass of sparkling grape juice and called it Grapipple.

On the windows I had cut outs of Fred and Ester's face with funny sayings on them.  A few quotes were: "You're the heathenest!", "You old fish eyed fool!",  "Ain't nothing uglier than a 90 year old white woman." and "Beans and Disease to you!".

Our Watts Photobooth:

Stanford and Son and 10 across 'yo lip!

Watch it sucka!

Afterwards, we wore our 70s Sanford attire to Chuck E. Cheese for pizza and games (our birthday tradition).  Well, PB didn't wear his actually.  He's getting to that age of being "embarrassed" to dress like a fruitcake in public, but not yet embarrassed to be around his family that are dressed like fruitcakes!  

Odabo Jack!