Hell-O-Ween

Remember the Clint Eastwood movie High Plains Drifter where he renames a town Hell?  That was a movie town, this one is in MI.

 Although the town is unincorporated, and it does not have a Post Office, it does get its own place on the map and a special postal stamp.

 

Grace, I'm willing to bet there is no Hell mural in Perth.

Not many images.  That is because there is not very much in Hell.  Hell is a little village with 2 saloons and a gift shop, a small creek, and if you blink you may miss it.  Entering from the west there are no signs except a small green roadside sign.  Entering from the east you'll see the little demon mural and a few other Hell items.

So we had some food, fun, and a beer in Hell and it has been a bit of fun posting this bit of nonsense, but if you believe in the real eternal Hell that is a completely serious subject.  It is a place I do not want to spend eternity, and hope all who read my blog at least think about the real one.  At the same I hope you can have some fun about Hell, Michigan and Intercourse, PA and perhaps other small villages with funny names.

On another note I wonder how or why the Reformation was started on Halloween.  Happy 500.

A Visit to Mayberry, U.S.A.

In reference to photos, no, what follow are digital images.  I did not take a camera on this trip.  All images courtesy of my now defunct Lumix LF-1.

Perhaps the most famous filling station in the United States. This is the original Wally's Service Station as it was (except for the location of the pumps) when Andy lived in Mt. Airy.  The gasoline pumps were relocated next to the sidewalk when the road was widened and paved.  Those who watch the program may recall the original road was a dirt road and the pumps were farther away from the building.

The original Walker's Drug Store

Walker's is still in business, but no longer a drug store. It is a nice place to eat and take a break.  We had some milk shakes and sundaes there during our visit.

Mrs. M tried to convince me to get a haircut at Floyd's.  Maybe next visit. 

These are some pictures, pencil drawings, and water colors on the wall of the Andy Griffith Museum.  It is quite a nice place to visit if you like all things Andy, Barney, Mayberry, and all else about the show. The big photo is of Skippy's.  Same as it was when Andy was a boy complete with the original sign.  I thought I had a version of a photo of the store ready for this post, but I do not. Skippy's is known for their wonderfully delicious pork chop sandwich.  They were so good I had to eat 2 of them along with good old Southern sweet iced tea.

One of several typewriters used on the show.  There was one show I watched just last week where Barney was to be typing on an Underwood desk size typewriter. He was typing by using the spacebar only.  The audio had no clack!  I don't know why the producers did not catch that. On another episode Andy was using a Royal 10.  I did not see either of those typewriters during our visit. Only this Royal and an older KMG.

Although Moonshine ice cream was not part of the show, moonshine was often featured.  The ice cream was fine, but the 'shine I had later at the hotel was better.  I can't say it was better than Franklin County Virgina's finest (of which I always had plenty of when I lived there), but it was smooth and good.

You may recognize this from my previous post.  Otis Campbell occupied this room quite often. Mr.s M had me visit the cell so she could get some digital images of me in it.

One of my favorite bluegrass musicians is James Easer and the Easter Brothers.  The shop was closed when we were there so I did not get to meet Mr. Easter who still mans his shop as of when we were there.

I could not resist getting a Monday Mural for Grace of Perth Daily Photo even if all I could find is this old Coke advertisement.

Mrs. M in the squad car.  This is one of the 5 used on the show.  Replica really.  The ones on the show were on load from Ford and after each new one the old one went back to Ford. 

The Andy Griffith Show is one of Mrs. M's favorite reruns. We both grew up with it (and are the same age as Opie). It is one of those old that never gets old programs.  In a way we need more Andys, Barnys, Opies, Gomers, Goobers, and the rest of the gang. A simpler time. A make-believe time.

We spent 3 days in Mt. Airy.  Mt. Airy is a friendly town with plenty to see and do. In a way a tourist town without all the money grabbing clip-joints. Did you ever visit a tourist town where ALL the parking is FREE‽

Sorry for the non-consistent upper case letters in the typecast. I recently received this fully functional and types fine Hermes Rocked on Ebay.  Well,
another Ebay story for later. After I repaired it and adjusted the upper case stops I typed my daily journal on it and decided to do the typecast. The upper case still needs a bit of work.  The set screws are on order from Mc-Master-Carr.  Other than minor repairs this typewriter is in very good and clean condition. 

Notice my hyphen-period mistakes in the typecast?  Notice the keyboard?

Sometimes I like getting typewriters with shop stickers on them.  When the stickers are on the sides it is much nicer than when they mess-up the ribbon/type bar cover or front of the typewriter.

A Bit of History

These are some of the many wind turbines we saw driving through Ohio.

These are so interesting and peaceful as they perform their rotary ballet with a slight swish... ... swish ... ... as long as the wind blows. Not much wind is required. 

A sampling of Richard's machines.  Mrs. M. was especially interested in how the Columbia worked.  Richard kindly explained.

No visit would be complete without a group photo.  Luckily the fellow in the middle who very seldom gets in front of the lens, did not break Mrs. M's camera. Image courtesy of one of Richard's students.

On the way back to Florida from Ohio I stopped for a short stay in...

A book full of history.  It arrived in the mail today.  Image courtesy of my new-to-me digital imager.  I managed to find a really nice used Olympus OM-D E-M10 with a complement of 4 lenses.  Now I'm doing u4/3 imaging.  Quite nice since I have a huge complement of 35mm lenses that will fit the body, and they all render much better images than the M.Zuiko, Panasonic, or Leica (Panasonic rebranded so the price can be inflated) lenses.

When we were in Iowa a few years ago our hotel was just down the street from a pair of the turbines. It was quite a relaxing experience to sit there and watch them spin.  Like a child I did need to lay on my back on the ground and watch up at one of them until the guard made his round and spied me inside the fence.  He was quite polite though and we sat outside at the pic-nic table talking about the turbines for about half an hour.

Mrs. is not real keen to the turbines though.  The birds fly into them and get killed.  She's a bird watcher.  Good though.  That was my excuse to buy the Stylus 1, about a 400mm lens that can also go to about 1200mm (35mm equiv) and a constant f2.8.  Great imager for the money because I cannot afford a Sony RX-10-III.

On our way back to Florida from Ohio we took a side trip and I got to go to jail.

More later.