[The show, set in the fictional North Carolina town of Mayberry, was originally meant to take place] just somewhere in the South, ... But I wanted it to be in the Old North State.

I love my State, because her people have been good and kind to me, and because her sky is above my home, as it will be above my grave.

....mountains. They stand at every view, like a mother offering a blanket in which to wrap everyday life and shelter it from useless. dreads. In june they are walls of white rhodendron blossom. In autumn the forests set themselves afflame with color. Even winter has its icy charms.

Barbecue is the third rail of North Carolina politics.

North Carolina was where you could have Thanksgiving and feel like it was Thanksgiving.

This tradition is a very important part of the North Carolina heritage,