My Three... er, Four Day Roadtrip to the Twin Cities

OMG, that is truly freaky.  And awesome.

By the way, the jar of pickles on the table is from a batch of Aunt Bee's infamous kerosene pickles ( episode #43, "The Pickle Story". )

On the left side of the piano, you can see a bottle of Colonel Harvey's Indian Elixir ( episode #87 ), which turned out to be 85% alcohol.

Here's Sheriff Taylor, sitting down to one of Aunt Bee's delicious meals.... oops, that's just me!

Looks more like Otis, but the contents of those 2 glasses would be foreign to him!

I wonder if anyone in Milwaukee has recreated the Cunninghams' living room.

Brad

Breakfast is included in the price of an overnight stay at the Inn, and Marsha is truly a wonderful cook. Here you see her country sausage and scrambled eggs combo, with hash browns. The sausage is one of the best I've ever tasted, and is made by a local business. Marsha made the great banana-nut bread, called "Barney You're a Nut-bread", from a recipe in Aunt Bee's Cookbook.

Here's Opie's bedroom. I probably should have taken this picture before I went to bed.

Oh you're funny, Brad.   Ha ha ha...

Behind the house, Dave and Marsha have built an incredible recreation of Wally's Filling Station ( sorry, no Gomer or Goober that day; they both had "deputy duties" to tend to. ) 

Talk about attention to detail! They even had custom decals printed of the fictional "Acme" logo.

Before we leave Mayberry, we have to visit with Ellie Walker, Dave and Marsha's adorable little dog. She's named after Elinor Donahue's character from the first season of TAGS. 

What a neat place to stay!  Your report is terrific.

As much as I hate to leave, it's time to hit the road, so it's "so long" to Mayberry, North Carolina....

I forgot to mention that my dinner the previous evening was a pretty good burger and fries at The Cabin, a bar & grill in downtown Clear Lake.

I own a bunch of land a couple miles from Clear Lake...maybe my new calling is to build a replica of downtown Mayberry!

I am really enjoying this report,Bob!!I laughed out loud when I saw the pickles on the kitchen table-I had just seen that episode...

By 11 AM, I was westbound on US 12, heading towards the Twin Cities.  

Arriving in St. Paul MN, I followed I-494 down to Bloomington, the site of the famous Mall of America, the largest shopping mall in the US.

While there is something in the Mall that I very much wanted to see, my first priority was a round trip on Minneapolis' Hiawatha light rail line, which was the main reason for this roadtrip. Those of you who "rode" the Charlotte light rail line with me vicariously on my North Carolina trip report know of my lifelong passion for electric railways.

The light rail's southern terminal is on the ground floor level of the Mall's multi-level parking garage. The line is about twelve miles long and runs at surface level, except for one subway station ( underneath the main terminal of the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport ) and one elevated station. Here's my train about to depart for downtown Minneapolis.

NC-
I know you have been wanting to visit the Andy Griffith B & B for some time.  Did it live up to your expectations?

My boss is in complete awe of you(and so am I), she wants to know if you could stay at "The Beavers" house sometime.  TAGS anf LITB are her two favorite shows.  I have to tell you with her permission....she's a black lady.  I hope that doesn't put me under fire, but it cracks us up here and her family thinks somethings wrong with her:) because she has been known to schedule her days around these shows and has been known to watch episodes here at work on her computer.  She's addicted.

buffetbuster - Boy, did it ever meet my expectations! I had a great ( and rather surreal ) time there. Dave and Marsha Scheuermann are wonderful hosts, and I recommend an overnight visit to "Andy's house" to everyone.   www.taylorhomeinn.com       Rusty246 - Believe me, if I could find Mayfield on a road map, I'd be packing my suitcase right this moment! Leave It To Beaver is another one of my all-time favorite shows. I'm glad that you and your boss are enjoying this trip report so much. 

Leave it to Beaver?  The Andy Griffith Show??  Come on.  If I want to sleep in some iconic sitcom domiciles, I want to have some fun in the process.  In no particular order, I would love to spend the night at....

Major Margaret Houlihan's tent

Ginger and Mary Ann's hut

That funky couch inside Jeannie's bottle

TTM,

Have a little patience now. Nocarolina is just about to go downtown. Maybe he will take you to Mary Tyler Moore's apartment. It is just southwest of downtown in the Kenwood neighborhood.

The Travelin Man


Leave it to Beaver?  The Andy Griffith Show??  Come on.  If I want to sleep in some iconic sitcom domiciles, I want to have some fun in the process.  In no particular order, I would love to spend the night at....

Major Margaret Houlihan's tent

Ginger and Mary Ann's hut

That funky couch inside Jeannie's bottle

TTM - Don't forget Edith Bunker's bedroom ( when Archie's out of town, of course! ) 

::shudders::

I think I'd rather head down the block to visit Weezie Jefferson - before they a-moved on up.