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Small towns are becoming as extinct as roadside lemonade stands. However, nestled in the valley of Mt. Airy, NC, is Mayberry - where penny candy and lemonade stands are still the norm.

When strolling the sidewalks of Andy Griffith’s hometown, you’re swept back to the peacefulness of the Andy Griffith Show. Mt. Airy, NC, was the inspiration for Mayberry. You’ll see some things the TV show captured. It’s like coming home again. The Atlanta Constitution is quoted as calling Mt. Airy, “America’s favorite Southern town.”

Mt. Airy Visitor’s Center is home to the largest collection of Andy Griffith memorabilia in the country. Andy Griffith’s childhood friend and Mt. Airy resident, Emmett Smith, collected the items in three impressive rooms. The collection contains everything from a Matlock suit to the chair Andy was rocked in as a baby. Andy’s accomplishments range from music and commercials to comedy and drama. Andy originally wanted to be a musician, but when he realized he could make people laugh, he stepped into comedy and we have been laughing with him ever since. He’s best known for The Andy Griffith Show and Matlock.

The Mayberry attractions are many. Floyd’s Barber Shop and the “Wall of Fame” are a must see in Mt. Airy. The walls are filled with a collection of more than 18,000 pictures of many celebrities. The barbershop has been in Mt. Airy for 50 years and boasts: “2 chairs - no waiting.”

Wally’s Service Station has been in Mt. Airy since 1937. It has been restored to a shop for Mayberry souvenirs, collectibles, coffees, candy, etc. When at Wally’s sign up for the Squad Car Tours. Cruise Mayberry in a 1962 Squad Car replica driven by “Andy” or “Goober”, who narrate the history of Mayberry and the many attractions. The cruise is as calming as a Sunday drive. You’ll be surprised at what you can find in a small town.

Displayed in front of the Andy Griffith Playhouse is a bronze statue of Andy and Opie with fishing poles. The statue was dedicated in September 2004 during Mayberry Days where Andy Griffith made a special appearance for the celebration.

The Mayberry Jail is a local re-creation of the courthouse seen in the episodes of the Andy Griffith Show. In the jail there is a checkerboard of bottle caps waiting for Andy and Barney.

Park and walk through the Emporium for a day of shopping or stop at Snappy Lunch for a pork chop sandwich and a bottle of pop. In this small town there are still trading posts, and while you cannot hitch your horse at the posts, there are still plenty of good buys. For a snack, visit Opie’s Candy Store for a variety of penny candy or the Bluebird Diner for the best ice cream in town.

In the Mayberry Motor Inn on Hwy 52 South, there’s a room dedicated to Aunt Bee. The owner began her “Aunt Bee” collection in 1990. She also holds certificates of authenticity for more than 30 of the items, such as gloves, eyeglasses, a dress, a hat and sewing materials. Aunt Bee’s Room is shown by appointment only, but visitors can enjoy a window view.

Known as “Granite City”, Mt. Airy boasts the world’s largest open-faced quarry, which covers 90 acres and ranges to depths of 8,000 feet. Many homes in the area, as well as the Wright Brother’s Memorial in nearby Kitty Hawk, are made from Mt. Airy granite.

Mayberry Days is a celebration of the Andy Griffith Show and is scheduled the last weekend of each September. It is a 3-day festival that begins Thursday and ends on Saturday. There is a parade, crafts, food, and David, “The Mayberry Deputy” Browning, Phil “Ernest T” Lee, and Allan “Floyd” Newsome, the Mayberry Days look-alikes, can be found strolling the sidewalks during the festival.

Driving 52 North toward Winston-Salem, NC, stop at Pilot Mountain State Park. Pilot Mountain was talked about as the “town” of Mt. Pilot in the show. It was the “big city” where Andy and Barney sometimes took their girls for dinner. However, it’s a mountain.

Pilot Mountain rises more than 1400 feet above the rolling countryside. There are many activities available inside the park. There are 13 hiking trails and walking them is the most exciting thing to do in the park. The view is extraordinary and will take your breath away. It could easily be renamed “God’s Country”.

Go to Mt. Airy, NC and take a ride back in time. All life should be this simple.

Author’s Note: Visit Mayberry online at: www.visitmayberry.com

I have a certificate in Creative Writing and am working on another certificate. I wrote for the Young Virginians when I was a teen in Richmond, VA. I had put my writing on hold to raise my two boys and I am just now submitting articles to different resources and working on a novel.

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DID YOU KNOW THAT

According to the Mayan Calendar there is a 2,000 year old prophecy that predicts all humanity will perish on December 21st in the year 2012.

So, If you’re planning to visit, vacation, live or Teach English in Mexico, you’d better get hopping! ‘Cause time’s a wastin’ there’s only six years and three months to go for humankind!

STEP BACK IN TIME AND WATCH AS

The first rays of the sun reach across the shimmering cobalt seas of the Caribbean as a strikingly handsome young prisoner of war, arrayed in lavish plumes, adorned with gold ornaments and fine linen climbs purposefully up temple steps hewn from blocks of coral. Attendants, perhaps three on each side, ascend as well. They step up sideways, first left a few steps, then right a few more, imitating the “s-shaped” movement of a snake. Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent god must not be offended. A warm wind tumbles sand along the palm-lined beach below. Huge flames of a ceremonial fire blaze from a watchtower that all may know the gods are being appeased. The signal will be visible even far out to sea by the Spanish ships of Juan de Grijalva in years to come.

The sun is brighter now, its rays painting the outside walls of the temple in brilliant color. The temple, a resting place for the gods, is deeply carved and painted with designs and figures in the brightest shades of red and blue contrasting the bleached white coral. Shining through a precision-cut square hole in the temple wall, the sun’s golden beams bathe the temple’s main room in breath-taking brilliance before exiting the building’s front where the chief priest, a black stripe painted across his face and a polished gold mirror on his chest, basks in the ever-brightening golden glow.

Throngs chant below, in the courtyard in front of the temple. Some dance with rattles made of “ayoyote” tied around their wrists, lower legs and ankles and sing in accompaniment to ritual drums and crude metal bells while loincloth-clad musicians beat tones on beautifully carved bamboo “Tponaztlas”. The young captive warrior, his body painted blue, stumbles ever so slightly, woozy from the intoxicating balche poured into him lovingly by four beautiful maidens representing the four Chacs, or rain gods, each associated with a cardinal direction and with its own special color. For a year now the youth has consorted with them and lived a life of utmost luxury, the finest of all the culture available to him. It is now the fifth ritual month of Toxcatl. The priest, arrayed to represent a god, possibly Tezcatlipoca, a wizard and a master of black magic, now spreads his arms wide as the warrior-captive nears the top of the altar steps.

The crowd is in a frenzy now, chanting, yelling, writhing in unison like a massive wave of the sea below. In front of the stone carved altar, smoke rises from copal incense burning in pottery vessels. Suddenly, the waiting attendants seize the youth, who, beginning to come to his senses and realizing with stark foreboding what is about to happen, vainly struggles against his burly captors. Prostrating him face up on the altar with his head pointed Northward, they spread-eagle and hold his arms and legs immobile. Running rivulets of sweat now streak the blue-painted torso. The priest raises his arms in salutation to the gods and crowd before ceremonially cutting open the sacrifice’s chest with a gold-hilted sacrificial flint knife and tears out his heart as an offering. The balche does its work in deadening the pain, but it is not enough.

The crowd cannot hear the victim’s screams above their own. The priest, altar and attendants are splashed with blood as the still-beating heart is tossed down the temple steps towards the ritual-maddened crowd. Pandemonium ensues. The gods smile. They are pleased.

Such may well have been the scene quite often in Tulum, situated only about two hours south of Cancun on the coastal road headed towards Belize. The ruins here are a definite must-see during your time here. It’s heavily commercialized now and a bit of a hassle to do the trip. You’ll need a guide ($150 pesos) and you can no longer climb the ruins like I used to. Until a few years ago, you could still see the bloodstains on parts of the altar and the original paintings on the coral carved walls. Despite costs and inconveniences, it’s still an interesting site to visit. If you’re really an early bird, sea-side caba

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