Mount Airy, North Carolina: Andy Griffith Museum

It was only $3 dollars to get into the Andy Griffith Museum and also see the display for the original Siamese twins, Chang and Eng. I was disappointed for several reasons. The main one is that you are not allowed to take pictures inside the museum, just in the lobby. Who wants to see Sheriff Taylor's desk, and not be able to take a picture of it? The majority of the museum was just copies of pictures or letters that were signed, which was cool, but honestly, how much of that kind of stuff can you see? There weren't a lot of actual props on display. It was definitely a museum of Andy Griffith, not so much The Andy Griffith Show.

There was practically nothing on Opie or Aunt Bea.

The Siamese exhibit was lackluster as well. It was interesting, but it seemed like there should have been more...

The Andy Griffith Museum is in an old house in Mt. Airy, and not only has many exhibits about Andy Griffith and The Andy Griffith Show, but also a room about Chang and Eng, the original Siamese Twins, who lived nearby. The pork chop sandwiches at the Snappy Lunch come highly recommended.

We just passed through Mount Airy, and there is Andy Griffith stuff everywhere. There's even an Aunt Bea's restaurant with home cookin' and barbeque. The town boasts of its own Barney Fife look-a-like, who models for their brochures and attends Andy Griffith-related events. The Mount Airy Visitors Center claims the world's largest collection of Andy Griffith memorabilia. The collection itself is not as interesting as the town's quirky obsession.

In addition to Andy Griffith, the famous Siamese twins, Chang and Eng, settled in Surry County. The Mt. Airy Visitors Center has a small display case on them. The Siamese twins are buried in nearby White Plains.

Snappy Lunch on Main Street serves a famous pork chop sandwich with chili, coleslaw, and mustard. It's a treat to eat lunch there and get your picture taken with the owner holding up a fried pork chop. And the sandwich is great. There are several large photographs on the walls documenting Oprah Winfrey's visit to Snappy Lunch.

I heard about the Andy Griffith Museum on the radio. The world's largest collection of memorabilia of Andy Griffith (the man not the show), in Mt. Airy North Carolina. I think they have it in the Visitor's center in town.