Mount Airy, North Carolina under normal circumstances wouldn't be a place that you go out of your way to find.
Its population is about 10,000, it's not super close to any other attractions, the drive is pretty uneventful, and it's barely inside North Carolina from the Virginia line, so ordinarily there would be no reason to stop by.
But, driving to North Carolina to visit two new stadiums, Mount Airy was perfect to kill a little time before arriving at Kannapolis.
Our first stop for food as we moved down I-81 and we saw a billboard for "best Bar-BQ in Virginia".
We needed gas anyway, so the stop was Smiley's in Raphine, Virginia and it proved to be memorable if not great food.
Smiley's is located in the corner of a convenience store and literally had two tables in front of where you ordered.
When I ordered, the gentleman who took my order had oxygen hooked up to him, which I didn't think anything about- Until I saw him cooking our food and it hit me- This guy is hooked up to oxygen and that line has to run somewhere, so what if a spark hits the oxygen?
It made me a bit uneasy and I walked to a door that was a bit open and behind it was an almost empty sports bar with plenty of tables and televisions.
Now we had a place to eat and with only a few truckers playing these very large slot machines, it was more than quiet for our meal.
I had ordered a small cheeseburger and some loaded fries, which literally proved to be a mixed bag since it was given in a brown paper bag.
The fries were terrific with pulled pork, melted cheese, and hot peppers and I really liked those a lot but the burger was cold and undercooked to the point that after a bite or two, I just threw the rest away.
I figured complaining wasn't worth the effort and besides it would just give Ollie the oxygen guy another chance to blow us all up again!
Then for about five minutes, it seemed like the whole place was going to be picked up and flown to Oz as the metal roof made such a racket with a sudden thunderstorm.
It only lasted five minutes and by the time we left the building, only a few puddles proved there was even a storm as the humidity dried everything up!
Earlier on the drive, we stopped at a few flea markets/antique malls including the one terrific one that touts itself as the largest in the nation, Factory Antique Mall, outside Staunton, Virginia.
I saw some neat items but nothing for the collection, although I did find a piece of Fiestaware for Cherie's Christmas (let's keep that a secret).
We had planned on a Mount Airy stop but the slow side roads once off the interstate slowed us down a bit and it was pretty clear that with most places in the tourist area closing at five o'clock, we were going to have to target one place to look and that was going to be all in "Mayberry".
The choice was the Mayberry Antique Mall, which is on the main tourist strip, so we were able to see shops like Floyd's Barber Shop, Snappy Lunch, and Walker's Ice Cream Shop which are based on the Andy Griffith Show.
The Griffith show is so big in Mount Airy because Andy Griffith was born and raised there and even though Griffith denied this, is thought to be the basis for Mayberry.
The Mayberry Antique Mall was two levels and bigger than I thought it would be and I found two things for collections.
One of those things I bought for Rachel's Partridge Family collection, is a 45 record with its original dust sleeve.
I remember when I was a kid and I rarely even kept the dust sleeve, so finding one from 1970 was pretty rare, at least I think so anyway.
However, the other item was for me, and it was something that I'd never seen before, yet I didn't really collect.
I've always loved items from defunct leagues but I've never really collected any items from the North American Soccer League.
In the late '70s and '80s, commemorative Coke bottles for championship teams were often manufactured and depending on where you are, can be fairly easy to find.
Even on this trip, I saw many North Carolina, N.C. State bottles from their 1982 and 83 title teams among many others but when I saw this bottle, I had to have it.
It was a bigger bottle than the standard bottle, it was Dr.Pepper rather than the usual Coke, and it was painted white rather than clear.
I paid more than I would ever expected for an NASL item but not exorbitant at $12 and it was just something I wanted with the cool Roughneck logo.
The Tulsa Roughnecks would win the NASL in 1983, one year before the league would go under, and to this day (if you consider the NASL a major league), the Roughnecks are the smallest market to win a major league title and are the only pro team to win a pro title from Oklahoma.
When I was paying for the bottle and record, I had to be original.
I asked the cashier a question that I was wondering about (wondering in my own sardonic way of course) "Does anyone ever come here and ask about the Ken Berry statue or where's the Ken Berry stuff?"
The cashier looked at me very puzzled and said "Why no sir, you are the first person to ask that".
This is exactly the reaction I had hoped for.
Ken Berry was the star of Mayberry RFD, a spinoff of the Griffith show, that ran after Andy Griffith had taken his show off the air, featured most of the supporting characters of the Griffith show, and was part of the 1971 CBS mass canceling of their rural-based lineup.
And I would wager that no one comes to Mount Airy, North Carolina looking for Ken Berry or Mayberry RFD...
After leaving the Mayberry Antique Mall, the other stores were closed but we walked through the main street and there were a few other similar stores, which (among other reasons) makes a Mount Airy return one that I would love to make again to see the other sites.
The remaining stores catered to Andy Griffith fans with shops based on the show such as Snappy Lunch, Floyd's Barber Shop, Opie's Candy Store, Snappy Lunch, and Walker's Soda Fountain.
It's too bad we got there too late for these shops because they would have been fun to see.
I did get a few pictures of the Andy and Opie statue that was donated by the TV Land network a few years back and is located outside the Andy Griffith Museum and Theatre before we left town.
I'd love to take Cherie there some time as I think she would really enjoy it, assuming she could get through the travel to get there.
It's about ninety minutes from Mount Airy to Kannapolis and the two-year-old home of the former Intimidators, now the Cannonballers awaited.
Parking wasn't super easy to find around the downtown stadium but it could be found and they are building some high-rise condos beyond right field so people living there could watch the game from their balcony.
The Cannonballers employees were very nice and helpful as we entered, asked questions, and took pictures of the field.
The surrounding area does have some stores, shopping, etc. and Kannapolis has one of those rules that forces businesses to conform to their downtown design and feel so that the new buildings blend into the existing buildings rather than standing out.
All and all, while I thought Kannapolis's new park was visually nice, it had the feel of quite a few new parks that use a retro look yet the feeling is more sterile and corporate than the feeling of an older stadium.
I do think it is a substantial improvement over their old hotbox but there weren't that many fans in the seats, although it was a Tuesday night, and the promised around-the-ballpark "happenings" were a mixed bag as some areas looked to be doing well but others a block had many empty storefronts.
We drove an hour or so to spend the night with the Parrish family in Waxhaw outside of Charlotte to conclude our day.
I'll be back at another time for my visit to the other new park in North Carolina, Fayetteville, and the day and night ending the trip.
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