Mount Airy NC and the Mayberry Days Festival

After about three weeks of procrastination, I finally decided that it was time to get started on this rather overdue trip report. Late last month, I made yet another roadtrip down to Mount Airy, North Carolina, both to visit relatives and to attend the 20th annual Mayberry Days Festival. Mount Airy is Andy Griffith's home town, and the inspiration for the fictional Mayberry on The Andy Griffith Show. For the past two decades, the town has held this festival to celebrate Andy's career and the show itself. As many times as I've been to Mount Airy over the years, I'd never been to the festival, so I figured that this was as good a year as any to change that. Unfortunately, unlike last May's NC roadtrip, this trip didn't yield very much in the way of roadfood-type eateries. Due to some less-than-brilliant planning on my part, I ended up eating quite a few meals in chain restaurants; in most of those cases, though, the chains were small regional and local operations. Also, since I'm a creature of habit, a number of the meals were identical to ones that I posted photos of in my NC trip report from May, so I didn't bother taking pictures of those meals.  

Just as I did back in May, I started the trip with breakfast at the Round the Clock restaurant on US 30 in Schererville IN. I ordered my usual at RTC: scrambled eggs, sausage patties, American fries and white toast. As you can see from this photo, I managed to get on the road somewhat earlier than I did the previous trip.

Looking at this photo, you'd never guess that, until the mid 1960s, this desolate stretch of two lane road was the primary route connecting Chicago with Indianapolis and Cincinnati. It's the former US 41 / US 52 that was replaced by a four-lane bypass around 1965. By the early '70s, the then-new I-65 had stolen most of the traffic from the bypass.

Passing through Fowler IN on eastbound US 52, I was greeted by these three smiling faces at the Senesac facility.

This faded old Mail Pouch Tobacco sign is located in downtown Otterbein, just a short distance from Hwy. 52.

On the northwest side of Indianapolis ( Lafayette Ave. ) is the Roadfood-reviewed Nick's Chili Parlor, which is an Indy institution. I stopped here for lunch #1...

Here's the aforementioned lunch #1: a chili dog with onions; it was pretty good. I would've ordered more, but I had other plans for lunch #2 ( sorry about the blurry picture. )

Driving south on Meridian St. towards downtown Indianapolis...

... and arriving at the site of lunch #2, Skyline Chili on E. Washington St. Back in mid-May, I participated in the RF Cincinnati Chili Crawl, in which we ate at six different Cincy chili parlors, deliberately excluding the Skyline and Gold Star chains. Camp Washington was, IMO, the best of the six, but I still prefer Skyline over any other.

There's really no need for me to look at the menu; I know just what I want.

Here we go... a small five-way with oyster crackers and sweet tea. Ordinarily I'd get a medium-size five-way, but, after all, this was lunch #2.

This is a very long trip, so far. I like it. Thumbs up. Keep it coming.

I've always wanted to try a Skyline 5-Way....one of these days I will

This is downtown Rushville IN, where US 52 turns in a southernly direction. Rushville is the hometown of beloved Chicago children's TV host, the late Frazier Thomas ( Garfield Goose and Friends, Bozo's Circus. )

About twenty miles past Rushville, the terrain begins to change from wide open farmland to the hills of beautiful Whitewater Valley.

Great picture of the five way. Every once in a while I have to get in the car and drive out to Columbus, Ohio to get a fix of 3 way skyline chili, cheese on the side and extra crackers. Usually two or three different visits with an equal number of stops at Graeters.

 I also like the way you can really get a taste of what the areas are like when you do your trip reports. The town of Rushville and the next two photos of the road you're on really brings out the road aspect of the trip. Love reading them. 

Allan

Many thanks, Allan. I guess that my love of the open road is pretty apparent, huh? No interstates, though... there's only so many exit signs and Flying J truck stops that you can look at before massive boredom sets in.

Shortly after winding down into Whitewater Valley comes one my favorite places to visit, the restored 1800s canal town of Metamora IN.

Roughly ten miles past Metamora is the town of Brookville, the county seat of Franklin County.

This restaurant, on 52 in Mound Haven IN, is currently called Kenzie's On The Mounds, but until a few years ago was known simply as The Mounds ( different owner. ) I had dinner there about five years ago; good fried chicken and an especially tasty thousand island dressing of their own making. I have no idea what the food's like under the new owner, but I intend to check it out one of these days.  

Shortly after passing through Mound Haven, I crossed the state line into Ohio. This photo was taken on Harrison Ave. ( old US 52 ) in Cheviot, one of Cincinnati's western suburbs.

Approaching downtown Cincinnati, Harrison Ave. crosses over the huge CSX railroad yard on the Western Hills Viaduct, a massive bi-level structure that dates back to the Depression.                  www.cincinnati-transit.net/westernhills.html

Central Parkway, on which I was driving southbound towards downtown Cincy, has a secret far beneath its pavement; approximately two miles of never-used subway tunnel. This double-track tunnel, complete with station platforms, was built in the 1920s as part of a planned rapid transit system for the Queen City. Unfortunately, the coming of the Depression in 1929 put an end to the project, and the tunnel, which has never had a single foot of rail laid in it, has sat there abandoned and empty ever since. Well, maybe not completely empty. Rumor has it that rats the size of water buffalos inhabit the tunnel, but of course, that's never been proven...          www.cincinnati-transit.net/subway.html

That water-buffalo-rat bit sounds like the beginning of a great Halloween story.  :)