Mayberry RFD

We had a good night’s sleep at our Air BnB, but there was no coffee to be found. A quick visit to the local Starbucks and we were off on a six hour drive to our next destination, Mount Airy North Carolina.

On the road again…

We drove through the most beautiful vistas. However, there weren’t many safe places to pull over and take pictures. This spot was pretty, but not nearly as majestic a scene as we encountered previously.

A safe place.

Just like that, a mere six hours later, we rolled into our next stop, Mount Airy North Carolina. We will be playing at a brewery here later tonight. We procured this gig through a musician friend and really knew nothing about the area. Turns out, this is Andy Griffith’s hometown. Yup, essentially this is Mayberry.

Mayberry RFD. A town preserved in amber.

I don’t think the boy himself worked here.

From what I’ve read, textiles, more specifically socks, were one of the chief local exports. More recently wine (shock horror) and the highly impressive World’s Largest Open Face Granite Quarry.

A good representation.

I had in my notes to have a famous fried pork sandwich from Snappy’s Lunch, a place Andy himself used to frequent. There were two problems. One: we couldn’t seem to find it although the town center was barely a 1/8 mile long. Second: there would be no beer there, so that idea was abandoned.

We ducked down an alleyway to find the “Loaded Goat”.

This goat seems to make poor decisions.

Speaking of bad decisions, This trip’s food consisted of 85% french fries. Vacation is all about food for us, but from the time we left Baltimore, we just seemed to be grabbing a burger or something fried. I’m not proud.

Pulled Pork Sandwich and Tots for Jeff.

Fried Green Tomato Sandwich for the lady.

We strolled down the main drag after our cholesterol laden lunch.

Of course he found a music store.

For all your Radio Flyer needs.

For the sweet tooth.

There seems to be a duel meaning to this.

Freeze! You’re under arrest!

Oh, the reason we couldn’t find Snappy’s? It was right behind us.

It was time to get settled into our next Air BnB. This was by far, the most pricey location we stayed at. Most likely due to the scarcity of homes. However, it was just beautiful.

The house was unassuming.

Bright and airy living room.

The owner is also a touring musician.

Beautifully appointed room.

Meticulously clean bathroom.

Nice details everywhere.

Cute accsesories.

Jeff didn’t enjoy the paint scheme on the closet door.

We freshened up and trucked on over to the Thirsty Souls Brewery. This was so brand new, they did’t have proper signage out yet. The place was super cool.

A recently converted garage space houses the brewery.

It was a little to chilly to open the bay by the loungers.

What’s happening.

Beautiful patina on brick walls.

Yours truly, curated the perfect song list.

To say the founders of this brewery were interesting would be the most major of understatements. This beautiful couple immigrated from Slovakia. They are both physicians. He runs sleep studies and she works for a teaching hospital. They are parents, she teaches yoga and oh, they run a working farm. Even with all this, they decided to open a freaking brewery! We had such a wonderful time getting to know Maria and Jan, and their wonderful friends.

Not a great photo of any one of us. Oh well.

We had a good night’s sleep, then it was time wash, rinse and repeat. Another six hours on the road to Atlanta Georgia. No BnB this time though, tonight we’d be slumming with friends.

A Georgian home.

We met our hosts up in Massachusetts when they lived there for a time. They have two adorable children.

We booted this one out of his own room. Sorry, Charlie.

I have no idea what we were doing here.

Tonight’s show would be in another old factory that had been reclaimed.

Tannery Row

This place was huuuuge! It was hard to take a panoramic photo. The main dining area could easily hold over 1,000 people. There was another, smaller space as well.

Just a portion of the room.

This gig had several challenges. It was way too big for an acoustic duo. The bar wasn’t even within view of the stage and oh, the world series was on this ginormous TV screen behind us.

You guys like music?

An artful shot during a commercial. Thanks, Carl.

We got through the night just fine, plus we had the pleasure of meeting up with friends and family in the area. It just wasn’t ideal.

In the morning we shared coffee and homemade banana bread while watching a bit of Spiderman with Charlie. As we said our goodbyes we asked if there was one quick thing we should see or do before leaving Atlanta. They suggested the Ponce City Market.

Yup, another factory.

This one formerly housed Sears and Roebuck up until 1987. It’s two million square feet of indoor/outdoor commercial space.

It’s a bit raw above, but swanky stores throughout.

Our friends suggested this as a great place for lunch and a view of the city.

On the roooof.

This young man gave us the deets about the place on the way up. He just played on his phone on the way down.

It’s getting colorful in here.

Yup. So far as I’ve seen.

So, up on this roof top you’ll find a fully functioning mini-amusement park.

Put Put.

The grandest view.

A whirly thing that whips kids around.

So you have to pay to get up on the roof, but that goes directly towards lunch, if you choose to have it, at Nine Mile Station.

This place was hip.

Formidable beer selection, but why do I need to know what’s next? Just tell me what you have.

This beer is one of those on the “right now” list.

I take back my french fry lament from earlier. I forgot about this delightful, semi-healthy meal.

Caesar Salad with Succulent Grilled Shrimp.

Smoked Turkey, Tomato Jam, Pesto, Young Pecorino Panini.

We really enjoyed our lunch. Everything was tasty and well presented. If it had been a just smidgen warmer we would have dined outside. I can see that this place would really be hoppin’ in the summer.