What Happened to MayBerry?

Have you ever been to downtown Mt. Airy?  It's the picturesque town Mayberry RFD aka "The Andy Griffith Show" was modeled after.   Right down the road from Pilot Mountain.  Sugarbear says it's "Pa's Mountain".  

Mayberry was rich with good folks!  Can't you picture Barney and Thelma Lou grabbing a soda at Snappy Diner?  Or Andy getting a haircut at Floyd's Barber Shop?  I sure can.  The last time I went to downtown Mt. Airy there actually WAS a Snappy Diner and Floyd's. 

Anyway, if there's a rerun on TV, I'm watching it.  I grew up with Opie. I giggled when Opie got in trouble.  He didn't have to worry about gang violence in Mayberry. He had to worry about riding his bike on the wrong side of the street. Or hitting a baseball in the neighbor's yard.  Don't you wish we could live that now?  

How many times did Barney misfire? Or Otis Campbell get drunk?  More times than you could shake a stick at (as my mama use to say)!

I loved seeing Aunt Bea be so meticulous and ladylike.  We never saw Sarah...the telephone operator...so who knows if she was ladylike or not!  But hey it was Mayberry...of course, she was!

And let's not forget Goober.  Don't  you wish you could find a mechanic like that now?  Simple.  Friendly.  And trusting.  Sometimes too much!

My oh my...Andy was the kind of guy your mama dreamed her little girl would marry.  A pure gentleman with a big heart.  I never can remember seeing an episode that explained what happened to Opie's mama.  If you do, comment on this  post.


Those of you in NC know exactly what place I'm talking about.  Those were the good old days.   

When I was a kid watching "The Andy Griffith Show"...you didn't see boys with pants at their knees, or combs in their hair, or talking all thuggery.  If you did, they were in jail or just getting out.   Or being slapped around by a Grandma who wouldn't put up with that crap.  Come on...you know what I mean!

Those were the days.  So what happened to that simple little American town  where everybody knew everyone and helped out whenever necessary?  Mayberry wasn't the only one like that.  Alot of towns, like Williamston, Robersonville, Hamilton, etc, remind me of Mayberry.  They all were proud to have a "Sheriff Taylor" who carried a gun but didn't bother to put the bullet in it because...people just won't so mean back then.  Don't get me wrong.  There were some mean people.  Just not like today. 

Those were the days.  So why do I keep asking, "What happened to Mayberry?"  Here's why.  Because now I know why Gomer never hit it off with the gals Sheriff Andy and Barney tried to set him up with!

"Gomer Pyle" actor Jim Nabors weds longtime male partner

 SEATTLE (Reuters) - American actor Jim Nabors, the star of 1960s television comedy "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.," married his longtime male partner at a Seattle hotel this month.

http://movies.yahoo.com/news/gomer-pyle-actor-jim-nabors-weds-longtime-male-030017129.html