Our state’s Granville has Mayberry, Lucy and Christmas
A Day Away By Mike Steely
The little town of Granville, Tennessee, can be found on the Cumberland River northwest of Cookeville and might be a great place to visit, especially during the Christmas season. You probably know that Mt. Airy, N.C., was the home of Andy Griffith and is known as the “Mayberry” town but there are other places across the nation that celebrate iconic television shows.
Granville is proud to call itself “Tennessee’s Mayberry Town” and it also salutes the “I Love Lucy” show.
The little town has several events during the year and, from December 5, 6, 11, 12 and 13, it hosts a “Mayberry-Lucy Christmas Dinner Theater.” The tickets are $35 a person for two plays and a delicious meal. More ticketing information can be found online at www.granvilletn.com/mayberry-christmas-dinner. There are lots of other events in December as well.
The town is lit for the holidays and has venues like Aunt Bee’s Quilt and Bake Shop, a wedding chapel, museums, an RV park, a gift shop, a bed and breakfast, a historic old school, a resort and marina, and the annual Mayberry-Lucy festival is held in April. There’s also a Farm Table Museum, the South Shops of Granville, and the Mayberry-Lucy Museum.
“We are always excited to provide information about Historic Granville. Because of our central location in Tennessee, we host numerous day trip tours during the year and are happy to help plan and coordinate our tour guests, as well as individual visitors,” said Nancy Spears, assistant to President Randall Clemons of the Granville Museum, Inc.
Taking Interstate 40 to Cookeville and then Highway 70 west to Highway 96 or 53 North to Granville is about a two-hour trip from Knoxville. There are plenty of places to stay in Cookeville and a couple of bed and breakfast places in Granville. Or you could make it a day trip if you get started early and spend only an hour or two there. You’ll find Granville online at www.granvilletn.com.
On your way to or from there you might like to stop in Monterey and view Standing Stone, the remains of an early Native American monument that may have served as a boundary marker between tribes. Originally it was a statue of a dog or wolf. In Cookeville you might like to visit the Pink Elephant off I-40 exit 286 on Willow Street. You can’t miss it.
A day or two away from home can be fun, educational and relaxing for your family.
