Into the Woods

Allen, at Mayberry’s Ground Zero — Snappy Lunch in Mount Airy. We did not eat a fried pork chop sandwich.

It’s not often that I get visitors from San Francisco. They get the full tour of Mayberry country. Allen Matthews, a former colleague at the San Francisco Chronicle, was here last weekend. He was in North Carolina on a business trip to Charlotte and came up to Mayberry country. We made a wide loop — Claudville, Virginia; Mount Airy, North Carolina; Laurel Fork, Virginia; and Floyd, Virginia.

Allen says that I have quite a few readers in the Chronicle newsroom. So these Allen pictures are for y’all.

A country breakfast at the Cafe of Claudville

The counter at the Cafe of Claudville

Concrete casting for yard art is a big business in Mount Airy

Downtown Mount Airy

At the Marshall homeplace, Laurel Fork, Virginia. The Marshalls were neighbors of my great uncle Barney Dalton. This house was built by my great-grandfather, Henry Clay Dalton.

Floyd, Virginia — now a center of country music and hippy culture. For you San Francisco types, Floyd is a little like Bolinas.

Not sure you can cook up to San Francisco standards? Then make ’em cook for themselves.

Update: The Winston-Salem Journal has a story today about the Earle theater. Note that grants now help keep the theater operating.