This Bucket List Destination For Sitcom Lovers Is One Of North Carolina's Best Small Towns

For fans of "The Andy Griffith Show," the town of Mayberry may feel like a real place, one they've visited countless times in reruns on television. The classic '60s sitcom has enjoyed a long life in syndication; TV Guide named it one of the all-time greatest shows, while TV Land continues to air episodes daily. Yet, despite its folksy charm, the show's setting — with its vision of idyllic, small-town American life — was entirely fictional. Mayberry was created on a studio backlot in Culver City, California, though "The Andy Griffith Show" situated it in North Carolina with excursions to places like the state capital, Raleigh.

On the show, Mayberry's exact location was initially unspecified, much like the town of Springfield on "The Simpsons." Over the course of eight seasons, however, geographical references crept into other real-life places surrounding Griffith's hometown of Mount Airy, North Carolina. In the decades since, Mount Airy has remade itself as a TV-inspired tourist destination, catering to nostalgia for "The Andy Griffith Show," its character-based humor, and the town that time forgot — Mayberry.

Here, you can visit the Andy Griffith Museum and recreated locations such as the Mayberry Courthouse, Wally's Service Station, and Floyd's City Barber Shop. You can even ride around in a vintage squad car like the kind Griffith's character, Sheriff Andy Taylor, and his bumbling deputy, Barney Fife (Don Knotts), drove. Throw in a milkshake at Walker's Soda Fountain, and you may start to feel like a guest star on "The Andy Griffith Show."

At the Andy Griffith Museum in Mount Airy, you can see memorabilia from Griffith's entire acting career, including two seersucker suits he wore as the titular lawyer on the mystery series, "Matlock." Inside the museum, there's a replica of the town's historic Earle Theatre marquee, advertising Griffith's early films, "A Face in the Crowd" and "No Time for Sergeants." The real treat for "Andy Griffith Show" fans will be the authentic costumes and series props on display. This includes a Mayberry sheriff's department uniform, Barney Fife's salt-and-pepper suit and motorcycle sidecar, and the character Goober's filling station outfit. There's even a jail cell with Otis the town drunk's apparel in it, while the doors of the Mayberry Courthouse sport the original "Sheriff" and "Justice of the Peace" signs seen on the show.

Outside the museum, you'll see a bronze statue of Andy and Opie Taylor carrying their fishing poles, as they did each episode during the show's opening sequence as Earle Hagen whistled the famous theme song. TV Land dedicated the statue in a 2004 ceremony where Griffith received a key to the city. You might feel like you've received one, too, as you pile into a '60s Ford Galaxie — which looks straight out of "The Andy Griffith Show" — for a squad car tour of Mount Airy. The tours will take you down Main Street and past landmarks like the Andy Griffith Home Place, the house where the actor grew up.

You can spend the night in the Andy Griffith Home Place, and there are more Mayberry sights to see after your squad car tour. The tour departs from Wally's Service Station— where Goober and Gomer Pyle's tow truck is parked — along with the pickup driven by the Darling family and their mountain cabin. Next door, there's a larger replica of the Mayberry Courthouse, where you can play Otis in jail or stage a photo op behind Andy's desk. Downtown, you can get your haircut at Floyd's City Barber Shop or grab a stool at Snappy Lunch or Walker's Soda Fountain. If you're looking for moonshine, the Mayberry Spirits Distillery has you covered.

Mount Airy's appeal extends beyond "The Andy Griffith Show," with other local attractions like the world's largest open-faced granite quarry — said to be visible from space. Nearby Pilot Mountain (the inspiration for Mount Pilot on the show) has a state park popular for hiking and horseback riding. To visit the same fishing hole as Andy and Opie Taylor, you would need to take a road trip from North Carolina all the way to California's Franklin Canyon Park. The show's opening sequence was shot there, but other North Carolina filming locations are in closer range, like the forest from "The Hunger Games" movies. As for Mount Airy, its connection to Andy Griffith ensures that it will live up to the TV ideal of an American small town for years to come.