Zack's Hamburgers

Last day of Vacation!
This is the final stop for our 3 day tour/ family vacation we took last summer in a region of North Carolina.  We mostly spent our time in Mount Airy aka Mayberry, but also squeezed in a couple of places in Charlotte.

Zack's Hamburgers was one of those places!
It has been around since 1975.

The building and sign design are super cool!  I believe they are older than 1975 though.  

These kind of angles are calling out a 1950-60 time frame.

I thought this was a fun feature to the building.  It originally had a walk-up window exposed to outside but at some point they walled in a climate controlled sitting area on the perimeter leaving the awesome angled window section in tact.

The bathrooms are located outside because originally there was no inside!  I really liked the concrete decorative wall on the left.

Here is the "Burger of Burgers"! With cheese fries!  Bonus: Crushed ice!

The outside seating area is neat too but I enjoy the luxury of air conditioning so I opted out on this atmosphere.

It was the first time any of us had been to Zack's.

 It was excellent! I would be a regular if I was a local.

4009 South Blvd

Charlotte, NC

(704)525-1720

So there you have it, 3 days and a crap ton of fun stuff squeezed in.  I didn't even post images from some of the other places we visited such as IKEA, and a few other Mount. Airy museums and shops.  While I was planning this trip I made bunches of calls to the places we wanted to go to way ahead of time for additional information.  I wanted to make sure none of them were hosting any special events like  'Moron Mondays" or just happen to be closed on the days we would be in town. Three days doesn't have much wiggle room for issues.   Luckily for us 'Moron Mondays' are only held on the sixth Tuesday of every month.

Scoops Ice Cream

For our 3 day vacation to NC with family last summer I did a lot of planning.  We did all of our Mayberry 'repeat offender' things we always enjoy doing...Walking around downtown Mt. Airy, visiting Opie's Candy Shoppe, perusing the Andy Griffith Museum, eating at Snappy Lunch, and visiting Wally's Filling Station and Courthouse... But I also seeked out a few new places for us to visit as well.  

Scoops Ice Cream was one of those new things to try out.  I don't even remember how in the world I found out about this place! 

It is so fun!  The main part is a permanently parked vintage ice cream truck.  I can't recall the different options and sundaes they offered but I am sure fun names were involved.

Lots of fun vintage quirky stuff all over the grounds.

The guy who owns Scoops is an artist who made the sitting areas and decor from old salvaged metal parts.

Decorative sculpture fountain with rubber duckies!

The owner's house is on the land.  Behind his home, into the woods along a winding path, he has a sculpture park.  Some of the sculptures are interactive and make fun noises and movements. Ice cream, art, vintage stuff...the only things missing for me are donuts and dinosaurs!

They don't have a website so here is their basic info.  They are opened seasonally...the "ice cream season" of May thru October:

Scoops Ice Cream

5091 West Pine Street

Mount Airy, NC 27030

(336) 352-3113

 I gathered some links below from a past trip we took to the area with places we visited that were un-Andy in nature.  The Bright Leaf Drive-In is gone and so is the Mt. Airy Diner though.

2006
The Derby
Bright Leaf Drive-In
Mt. Airy Diner
Eng and Chang Bunker Siamese Twins Exhibit

This is our last stop in Mount Airy but there is still one more place to hit up, so just hold it for a few more miles til we get there!

Galaxy Grocery Mart

Right next door to The Derby is Galaxy Grocery Mart.  I think it may have been at one time "Caudle's Super Market" mentioned on the Sealtest Ice Cream sign on the side of The Derby.

It has all sorts of neat old grocery store stuff that I like.  Old aisle signs and cans of Pork Brains and milk gravy...

I also liked these packages of hot dogs.

and you can't have franks with beans...

Anyone for some dessert?

 Not your kind of treat?

I have some thing much better.

Next stop, brain freeze!

The Derby

The Derby Restaurant is a place my mom and I happened to stumble on when we visited Mount Airy, NC in 2006.  It wasn't a place that was listed on the "Visit Mt. Airy" brochure at the time.  It is where the locals eat and a bit off the beaten path of town.

Photo of  The Derby circa 1947 when it was updated with a 'modern' building

We always stop in for dinner when in town. (Lunch is always at Snappy Lunch! though)

It's such a neat place.  The cute derby hat shaped building that was out in front isn't there anymore unfortunately.  It was torn down some time in the 1960's.

One of my favorite things to do while at The Derby is to get my fortune on the penny scale located in the foyer area.

Since it was over a year ago when we went to The Derby last I can't remember what my fortune was!

However, I would think the shelf life of these fortunes probably expire after a year any way.  

There is a really old Sealtest Ice Cream sign on the side of the building.  Could be from the 1947 time frame? It also mentions Caudle's Super Market which I'll bring up in the next post.

See my 2006 Derby Visit post for more pics!

The Derby is definitely the place to go to get a true feeling of small town.  It's the "Cheers" of Mount Airy sans liquor.  You'll have to hunt down some of Otis Campbell's suppliers for that! 

The Earle

Our next stop is the historic Earle Theatre.

The Earle Theatre is located in downtown Mount Airy (Mayberry) NC.  It's just across the street from Floyd's Barbershop and Snappy Lunch.  It originally opened in 1938.  It captured national attention it's inaugural year when it was selected to present the premiere of Shirley Temple's film "Just Around the Corner".  It was also one of just a few theatres selected to premiere 1940's "Gone With The Wind" in the southern region.  In 1958, The Earle featured their hometown boy, Andy Griffith's film, "A Face In The Crowd".  I bet that was a grand night in Mount Airy!  No rolling the sidewalks up that evening! The Earle continues to show movies along with hosting radio station WPAQ's bluegrass music program,"Merry Go Round", the second longest running live radio show in America (The Grand Ole Opry being the longest) since 1948 .

Our family has been visiting Mount Airy for several years since we are big fans of The Andy Griffith Show.  During all of our past visits the Earle Theatre wasn't open at the times we were in town.  They now have it open during the day with a small bluegrass museum (Old-Time Music Heritage Hall) in the lobby.  You can also explore the theatre section as well because movies do not start until later in the evening.  For just 6 dollars you can visit the Earle, The Siamese Twins exhibit and the Andy Griffith Museum.  You got to grab a bargain like that!

Here are just a few images from the historic theatre section:

A lovely wall sconce.

PB taking a break in one of the balcony seats.

It's a bathroom door.  But I loved it's art deco design! The women didn't get left out.  They have the same cool door design.  Though it may sound odd, I love to 'visit' bathrooms of older buildings.  A bunch of times they are not updated and have cool fixtures and tile work.  It slipped my mind to check these stalls out though!

While we were downtown we visited all of the regular spots also:  Snappy Lunch, Opie's Candy Shoppe, and Floyd's Barbershop.

While this is my second round of posting about Mayberry on MHICTY, it is certainly not that we have only been twice.
This was the last time we were able to see "Floyd" Russell Hiatt sadly.  He passed away May 3, 2016 at the age of 92.  Mr. Hiatt and his barbershop are credited as the inspiration for the character of Floyd Lawson on The Andy Griffith Show.  Mr. Hiatt used to cut Andy's hair when he was a young man.

My mom lives only a couple of hours from Mount Airy and would visit often just to see Mr. Hiatt.  He was a kind man who was always happy to see you.  The walls of the barber shop are covered in Polaroid snapshots of his visitors.

Here are our 2006 images on his wall.

Special to our family is that PB's first 'store bought' hair cut was given by Mr. Hiatt in 2009.  Before that PB was a third generation Flo-Bee user.

 We took this 'commemorative' photo of PB in 2009 with him wearing his Mayberry shirt and sitting in his Mayberry Police metal pedal car.  We gave Mr. Hiatt a print of this photo which he hung up in the barbershop.  Mr. Hiatt gave PB a 'Floyd's Barbershop' t-shirt during another visit.  Such sweet memories.

     
This is our last Andy Griffith related stop on this trip but not our last in Mayberry/Mount Airy.  But to keep the small town feeling going here are links to all of my Andy Griffith posts!

2006 Trip
Tour Mayberry!
Floyd's Barbershop
Mayberry Courthouse
Snappy Lunch
Andy Griffith TV Land Landmark


Crafty Andy Stuff
Andy Griffith Christmas Tree 2006
Andy Griffith Show Christmas Tree featured at ATOM 2015
Gutter Ball Gurus: Monroe's Funeral Palor and TV Repairs Bowling Team Shirts
Demented Decor: Old Man Rimshaw Halloween Display

Mayberry Menus
Wallpaper Paste and Moulages
Pea Patch Pocketbooks with Mr. Goss Gravy
Andy Griffith Show The Pickle Story (Jello!)
Applesauce Cake
Opies Lemonade Piedding
Nesselrode Pie
Briscoe Darling Larrapin Blueberry

We are now headed to the outskirts of Mount. Airy NC for some Blue Plate Specials!

Wally's Filling Station and The Mayberry Courthouse

Wally's Filling Station Squad Car Tours

In Mount Airy, NC (aka Mayberry) one of the highlights is to go to Wally's Filling Station and get a bottle of pop.

Also at this location is the reproduction of the Mayberry Courthouse that we used for the photos we took in the last post.

They offer squad car tours of the town which we have done several times.  The drivers have fun stories to tell about the town, TAGS and Andy Griffith while showing you the sights.

Inside the courthouse is a small scale replica of the sheriff's office and jail cells.
You are allowed to touch and take pictures of everything in it.  I also saw that it can be rented for weddings!

We have been to "Mayberry" several times and really love it.  Every year the town has Mayberry Days with guests from the show (this year has 'Leon' Clint Howard! among others).  They also have a bunch of fun activities during the festival. One is a trivia contest for kids appropriately called "Mayberry Minute Men".  PB would win, hands down.  There is a porkchop eating contests, Aunt Bee bake sale, a checkers tournament, apple peeling contest, pie eating contest, a parade down main street....lots of fun and believe it are not... cosplay! Mayberry cosplay...Ernest T. Basses, Briscoe Darlings, and tons of Barney Fifes!  Unfortunately, we haven't been able to ever make it due to the 'Days' are during school time and Mt. Airy is more than 12 hours away.  It does seem like a bunch of fun though.  It would be nice to be around 'our kind of people'. Folks who would get it when we say stuff like "I remember that about your mother." or "I'm just high spirited is all."

Here are a couple of posts from our 2006 trip:

Tour Mayberry
  The Mayberry Courthouse

The next post brings us to downtown Mt. Airy!

Sanka

Andy Griffith Sanka Coffee Sponsor Spot

As I have mentioned in the past several posts, we took a trip to Mount Airy (Mayberry) North Carolina last summer and stayed in Andy Griffith's Homeplace.  

We certainly took the opportunity to take a bunch of themed and staged photos while there.  The last post was color images of my mom and I posing in the kitchen.  This set is black and white images inspired by the Sanka Sponsor spots from The Andy Griffith Show.

"Sanka coffee is made from a whole blend of rich flavorful coffees..."

"Sanka Coffee is still 97 percent caffeine free. So you can drink as much as you want, any time you want!"

"Sanka Coffee in the nice to hold jar.  Coffee for folks who looove good coffee!"

"Outstandingly good coffee!"

"I appreciate it and Good Night!"

Mr. Potato Set and PB&J

The next set of photos we did were at the Mayberry Jail in Mount Airy.  They have a reproduction courthouse, jail, and Wally's Service Station in town.

We based the themes around a couple of favorite episodes.

Aunt Bee The Warden

Episode 23 Season 2

 I love the part in this episode when Barney is "rehabilitating" the prisoners with craft kits. He gives them the options of: leather craft set, metal working set, wood carving set, or a Mr. Potato set.

Here we are saying "I'll take the Mr. Potato set."

*********

Opie and The Spoiled Kid
Season 3 Episode 21

"This is the last stop on the road of crime.  A man confined to prison is a man who has given up his liberty.  No more carefree hours, no more doing what ever you want when ever you want... No more peanut butter and jelly sandwiches."

"It is definitely no fun when that iron door clangs shut on you."

I made a few simple props for these photos.  The Sanka jar and Mr. Potato sets are printed images attached to thick paper.  I wanted to put the Mr. Potato images on boxes so they would look more three dimensional but couldn't find enough in the right size.  

The PB and J stuff is partly props as well. I didn't want to bring an actual loaf of bread and have it get smashed on the trip.  The loaf of Wonder bread is an empty bread bag that I stuffed with plastic grocery store bags and fluffed up loaf-like.  The slice of bread is from PB's fake food toys but it looks real even when not shown in black and white.  I covered the peanut butter jar with a printout of a vintage peanut butter label.  The jelly didn't work out as well as I would have liked.  I could not find a vintage good image of a jelly label anywhere.  I had to go with a new jar of jelly made in Italy because it had the best looking label.
 I really spent a bunch of time thinking out everything and planning for these photos.  As you can tell, since I am blabbing on and on about labels and what not.

Bonus! We wore our Andy Griffith Show Monroe's Funeral Parlor and TV Repair Bowling shirts while hanging around town!

Next up are more images from Wally's and the Mayberry Courthouse in Mount Airy NC.

Cookin' in the Kitchen

As I mentioned in the previous post, we stayed in Andy Griffith's Homeplace located in Mount Airy (Mayberry) North Carolina last summer.  

Besides the awesomeness of staying in the house, it also has a super cute kitchen!  And vintage oven!

So of course there must be staged photos! With aprons! With baked goods! With my hair fixed!

My mom and I baked a cake in the oven for the occasion! 

I brought along one of my vintage Mirro bunt pans and a cake mix in a bag.  It's the craziest thing but so perfect for this situation.  It's complete cake batter sold in a foil pouch, no refrigerator needed, I happened to find it at Winn Dixie.  I wanted to bake something but didn't want to deal with traveling with eggs and various other perishables.  And the best part is the cake is super good!  I also brought some powdered sugar to sprinkle on top.

  

But first we have to sift the powdered sugar!

My mom and I posing with our Andy home baked cake.  My mom is wearing a vintage dress and a vintage necklace that was a wardrobe piece from The Mary Tyler Moore show!

And look!  While flipping through all of those old magazines in Andy's house I found an ad for Mirro pans!  The one I used is the bunt pan next to the electric skillet.

Another neat thing that came out of this little photo shot is I used the photos of myself as kind of a resume' to get involved with the Apron Strings museum show.

The museum liked my photos so much they asked me to pose again to be used as part of the display.  That lead to my being the featured collector and co-curating the entire show!

See more on that below:
Apron Strings~Ties To Past Part I
Apron Strings~ Ties To Past Part II
Apron Strings~ Ties To Past Part III

More Andy vacation trip coming up!