Gettin' Our Kicks: Chapter 40 – Day 43 Boone to Floyd, VA

July 17, 2015

Back on the BRP for yet another great day of riding…

Around lunchtime we headed off of the BRP to go back in time a little bit and pay a visit to Mayberry, the fictitious town made famous by Andy Griffith in The Andy Griffith Show  from the 1960’s.

The TV show also started the career of Ron Howard, who went on to become somewhat of a Hollywood celebrity. 

Mayberry was based on Andy Griffith’s hometown of Mount Airy, NC. Mount Airy has several business’s on it’s main street that are tributes to the old television show and their hometown celebrity, Andy Griffith. It is a fun stop and not far off of the BRP.

Main Street Mayberry (Mount Airy, NC)

Floyd's Barber Shop played a central role in the Mayberry

An early 1960's Police Car provides tours around town

 

After lunch in Mount Airy we headed back to the BRP on onward to Floyd, VA, where we were to meet up with my buddy Jim Ford at the Pine Tavern Lodge.

Jim owns and operates The Riders Workshop and provides some superb real world riding instruction while guiding small groups of 4 or 5 through the back roads (Invisible Roads as Jim calls them) of the Appalachian Mountains. I have ridden with Jim on many occasions, both formal workshops and personal private tours. It is always a great pleasure to ride along with him. I suspected that Judith would 

--> certainly enjoy the experience as well.

We were not going to do a Workshop, but rather do a tour of the Blue Ridge Plateau for two days.

We were all staying at the Pine Tavern Lodge in Floyd, VA, a lodge originally built in 1927 and recently purchased by Dave and Robin. They have brought the Lodge back to it’s former self over the past nine months and it is a delightful place to stay – not to mention the great tavern and restaurant. Dave and Robin are super good hosts, as well as their good friend Reed, who owns the tavern and restaurant. This place is a gem!

After Jim and I had our reunion hugs we met the other two companions for the tour, Paul and Treavor, and got to know each other at The Red Chair Society, over a beer or two. The Red Chair Society is a circle of red outdoor chairs where all the cool people go to drink, smoke cigars and tell tall tails.

After the tall tails worked up our appetites we went off for a magnificent Southern dinner of fried chicken, pulled pork, and all the proper fixin’s.

We capped of the night with some very nice wine from Paul’s Virginia winery.