An All-American SUMMER Celebration in Mayberry - Fourth of July, Motorcycles, and More

Spend an All-American Fourth of July in Mount Airy, NC! We have many events and festivities planned all weekend, as well as on the 4th of July, and plenty of great places to stay, including hotels, bed & breakfasts, camping, cabins, vacation rental homes, and more!

INDEPENDENCE DAY PARADE AND CELEBRATION July 4, 2016 10:00 a.m. Declaration of Independence (Museum Courtyard) 11:00 a.m. Parade Immediately Following Annual Pie Eating Contest (Franklin Street)

6:30 p.m. Live Music and Food Vendors at Veteran's Park on West Lebanon Street in Mount Airy 9:00 p.m. Fireworks at Veteran's Park on West Lebanon Street in Mount Airy Call 336.786.6116 or [email protected] for more information and/or to participate.

PIE EATING CONTEST Whether you love fresh-baked apple pies or chocolate cream pies, you can get your face full of them July 4 at the 4th Annual Pie Eating Contest for Charity sponsored by Miss Angel’s Heavenly Pies in Downtown Mount Airy. “This is our 4th year and it just keeps getting bigger and better said Angela Shur, owner of Miss Angel’s Heavenly Pies. “It is a fun event for the whole family! It’s good old clean fun. We have kids from 1to 92 eating pies, laughing, enjoying the moment and helping out a great cause.” The event will be held July 4 immediately following the Mount Airy Fourth of July parade. Tentative start time for the contest is 12 noon. The contest will have five age divisions – ages 1 to 4; ages 5 to 7; ages 8 to 12; ages 13 to 17 and ages 18 and older. The youngest division will eat a turnover of their choice and will be allowed to use their hands. In the 5 to 7 age group, contestants will eat a larger turnover and the 8 to 12 will eat a smaller pie hands free. The top age group will devour full-sized nine-inch deep-dish pies of their choosing hands free. “This is going to be such a fun event,” said Mary Boyles, executive director for The Shepherd’s House, the charity which will benefit from the event. “To see people of all ages putting their faces into pies is sure to bring laughs and smiles. It is a great Fourth of July celebration!” This year we will welcome Lanie Pope, chief meteorologist at WXII, and her family to this event. She will also be our grand marshal for this year’s July 4th parade. The cost for entry is $5.00 for the 1 to 4 age group and also for the 5 to 7 age group; and $10.00 for the remaining age groups. There will be trophies for first, second and third place in each division, as well as gift cards for the top winners. No one ever goes home empty handed when it comes to an event with Miss Angel involved. There will be gift certificates from Miss Angels and gift bags for all participants. Registration for the event is open now at Miss Angel’s Heavenly Pies or the Shepherds House. Last year, the event raised almost $10,000.00 for charity. Shur hopes this year will do even better. The contest will be held on Franklin Street where there will also be hot dogs, chips, drinks and popcorn for the crowd to enjoy. Never forget there is always live music by B-Dazzle Productions. The Shepherds House will also be holding a raffle for a $1,000.00 Shopping spree and a gun package which includes a Double Tap 9mm pistol, Maverick 88 12guage shotgun and Ruger American 17HMR Bolt Action Rifle. Tickets for these two raffles are $20.00 each. You can get those tickets now by calling the Shepherds House. What a better way to celebrate an American Tradition with your family than eating a pie that is just plain Heavenly. For more information about the pie-eating contest or the raffle, call Miss Angels at 336-786-1537, or the Shepherds House at 336-786-1420.

Get Your Motor Running

The following rides all start at the parking lot for the Andy Griffith Playhouse/And Griffith Museum, at 218 Rockford Street, Mount Airy, NC 27030. ORCHARD GAP RIDE Turn left out of the parking lot of the Andy Griffith Playhouse. Turn on the 1st road to the left past the Playhouse. At the 1st stoplight, turn right onto Pine Street/Highway 89. Go to the 3rd stoplight and turn left. Travel the twisty road until it dead ends onto the Blue Ridge Parkway. Turn left onto the Blue Ridge Parkway traveling south. Exit at the Highway 52 south exit and travel back to Mount Airy. At the Highway 52/601 intersection, turn left onto Highway 601/Rockford Street and travel back to the Andy Griffith Playhouse. SCENIC BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY RIDE (approximately 50 miles) Turn right out of the Andy Griffith Playhouse parking lot. Travel to the intersection of Highway 601/52. Turn right onto 52 North to the Blue Ridge Parkway. Travel south on the Parkway to the Highway 89 intersection. Turn onto Highway 89 toward Mount Airy. Travel Highway 89 back to the Andy Griffith Playhouse parking lot on your left. PILOT MOUNTAIN STATE PARK RIDE (approximately 35 miles) Turn right out of the Andy Griffith Playhouse parking lot. Travel to the intersection of Highway 601 and Highway 52. Turn left onto Highway 52 South to the exit for the Pilot Mountain State Park. Travel up the twisty road tot he top for scenery second to none! Travel back to Mount Airy on Highway 52 North and take a right at the Highway 52/89 intersection onto Highway 89/Rockford Street and head back to the Andy Griffith Playhouse. LOVER'S LEAP RIDE (approximately 75 miles) Turn left out of the Andy Griffith Playhouse parking lot. Turn left at the first street, Graves Street. At the first stoplight, turn right onto Pine Street. Continue on this road past the Virginia state like to the stop sign (several miles). Turn left at the stop sign toward Stuart, Virginia. Go straight under the stoplight in Stuart to the next stop sign. Turn left onto Highway 58. Stay on Highway 58 for several miles. You will pass Lover's Leap. Continue to the Blue Ridge Parkway intersection. Travel south on the parkway to the Highway 52 intersection to Mount Airy. Travel Highway 52 South to the 52/601 intersection. Take a left onto Highway 601/Rockford Street back to the Andy Griffith Playhouse. MAYBERRY RIDE This 50-mile route is one of the most popular rides to take a step back to a simpler time and enjoy a variety of roads, scenery and stops along the way. Stop 1 - The Andy Griffith Playhouse Directions to Stop 2 - Leaving the Andy Griffith Playhouse, take a right out of the parking lot on to South Rockford Street, travel 0.9 miles to Highway 52. Take a left onto Highway 52 South and go 10.5 miles to Exit 134 (Highway 268). Neighbors/Citgo will be on the right at Exit 134. Get yourself a bottle of pop and gas up! - Distance to Stop 2: 11.4 miles Stop 2 - Neighbors/Citgo (Pilot Mountain) Directions to Stop 3 - Leaving Neighbors/Citgo, take a right on Highway 268 in front of Neighbors traveling 9.7 miles to Copeland School Road. Take a left on Copeland School Road traveling 2.8 miles to Old Rockford Road. Travel 3.2 miles on Rockford Road to the stop sign. Rockford General Store will be located across the street from the stop sign. Step inside and speak to Paul and Carolyn. Drink a root beer or Nehi Peach and enjoy a variety of old timey candies as well as their new grill. - Distance to Stop 3: 15.7 miles Stop 3 - Rockford General Store Directions to Stop 4 - Leaving Rockford General Store, travel north on Rockford Road 5.7 miles to stop sign. Go straight through stop sign 3.4 miles to Highway 601. Take a right on Highway 601 traveling 9.1 miles to stop light at Highway 52. Take a left at the light onto Highway 52 North and travel 1.8 miles to Goobers-52 located on the right just past Mayberry Mall. Stop 4 – Aunt Bea’s Directions to Stop 5 (Final Destination) - Leaving Aunt Bea’s Restaurant, take a right Onto Hwy 52 North traveling 0.8 miles to Starlite Road. Take a right onto Starlite Road 0.2 miles to stop sign. Take a right at the stop sign onto West Lebanon Street traveling 1 mile to stop light. Take a right at the stop light onto North Main Street traveling 0.2 miles bearing right onto North Main Street. Continue traveling 0.5 miles through downtown until you see the Municipal Building on the right. Take a right into the driveway just past the Municipal Building to enter the parking lot located behind the Municipal Building. Distance to Stop 5 is 2.9 Miles

BEAT THE HEAT

Summer is great, but some days are just too hot. Never fear. There are some great ways to eat the heat in and around Mount Airy. - Check out the Greenway trail, which follows the Ararat River and Lovill's Creek, with the new expansion opening soon. River access all along the trails, and a great place for nature viewing, bird watching, walking, jogging, riding bikes, kayaking, tubing, wading, fishing, or just sitting and enjoying the beautiful riverside scenery! Riverside Park is a great place to start this trail and they have restrooms, picnic shelters, a playground, and a skateboard park! - Cool off with some delicious ice-cream. We have several great options depending on where you are when your sweet tooth strikes. Try Scoops Ice Cream and Such, with a stroll in the sculpture garden/nature walk in the woods after you get your ice cream. Aunt Bea's has great ice cream as well. Miss Angel's Heavenly Pies in Downtown Mount Airy has an ice cream parlor next door with 21+ ice cream case featuring ice cream made with local moonshine and whiskey, including an ice cream made with their own peaches from their orchard and Mayberry Spirits Moonshine! - Make a splash! Many local hotels have great pools, including indoor pools at Comfort Inn, Hampton Inn, and Holiday Inn Express, and outdoor pools at Quality Inn, Knight's Inn, and Mayberry Motor Inn. We also have the Homeplace Pool just outside of Mount Airy with a large waterslide, a sloped entry for children, a HUGE pool, rope swing, diving area, arcade, and snack bar as well as camping and miniature golf on Friday and Saturday nights. Beechnut Park just outside of Mount Airy has a large pool and camping. Reeves Community Center, just a couple of blocks away from downtown, has an outdoor and indoor pool and welcomes visitors. Get out there and have some summer fun!