In my last post, I wrote about Mt. Airy, N.C., Andy Griffith’s hometown and the inspiration for the town of Mayberry in “The Andy Griffith Show.”  In addition to  the real and fictional locations from the show, the town pays tribute to Andy Griffith, the actor.  The Andy Griffith Playhouse and Museum houses the largest Andy Griffith collection in the world.  Don’t miss the TV Land statue out front that memorializes the opening of the show with Andy and Opie walking to the fishing hole.  If you want to spend the night, you can do so at a number of bed and breakfasts, including Andy’s actual homeplace.  Visited July 2011.

Locations:

• Andy Griffith Playhouse & Museum and TV Land statue — 218 Rockford St.
• Andy Griffith’s homeplace — 711 E. Haymore St.

If you were alive in the ’60s, then you watched “The Andy Griffith Show.”  Andy, Opie, Aunt Bee, Barney, Otis, Floyd, Gomer and Goober were part of the family for a generation of Americans.  The show premiered 51 years ago today and ran until 1968.  While Mayberry, the setting of the show, doesn’t really exist, it is based on Andy Griffith’s hometown of Mount Airy, N.C., and the town celebrates that fact with enthusiasm.  I pulled off here for a short visit because I was driving by and had an extra hour.  Little did I know that I would have so much fun that I can’t wait to go back and spend an entire day.

You can see a recreation of the courthouse, inside of which is the jail that Otis used to “sleep it off” and Andy’s sheriff’s desk (shown above).   Wally’s Service Station, where Gomer, and later Goober, worked, is next door, where you can book a tour of the town riding in a 1962 squad car, just like Barney used in the television series.

You won’t have to go far to grab a bite to eat at any number of restaurants playing off the Mayberry theme.  However, one of them existed before the series.  Snappy Lunch, located in downtown Mt. Airy, opened in 1923, is famous for its pork chop sandwich and for being mentioned on the show. Floyd’s City Barber Shop next door has also been around since before the show began.  Visited July 2011.

Locations:

• Wally’s Service Station and tours – 625 S. Main St. (the “courthouse” and other Mayberry storefronts are right next door)
• Snappy Lunch — 125 N. Main St.
• Floyd’s City Barber Shop — 129 N. Main St.

It’s been a great ride, Dodge!  Since I found out about the three Journeys Dodge was hiding across America, I’ve been in seventh heaven.  The last two weeks have been a lot of fun for a roadie like me as I’ve scoured commercials for clues, tried to identify the road trip from pictures, participated in discussion boards with others in the hunt, and, of course, wrote posts for The Off Ramp.  I’ve had a week to think about the campaign since the last car was found and have some final thoughts . . .

I thought the search in the East was great!  It was extremely difficult, but that’s OK.  Finding a vehicle you can keep for free should be a challenge.  As you know, prior to the search there was mass speculation that the Journey would be hidden in the Ticonderoga, N.Y./Shoreham, Vt. area.  Instead, it moved to nearly 400 miles away, to the southern coast of Maine.  I think that Dodge probably did punt and move from its original location, and I thought the way the company did this was very creative.  I enjoyed the Saturday night and Sunday morning slide shows revealing views along the Journey’s path.  These slides are one of the main reasons I think Maine was an alternate location.  The pictures were not high quality and had been taken in the rain; because it had been raining in the area the couple of days leading up to the search, the pictures were probably taken last minute.  However, they provided an opportunity for extra investigative work for those of us playing from home.  One thing I especially liked about the final search was that, near the end, the clues shifted offline so that only those physically in the search could find them.

Of course, on the Dodge YouTube site discussion boards there were enough sour grapes to make a lot of batches of vinegar.  Many people were upset because of the apparent move of the final location and the fact that there were no clues in the original commercial or the video clues revealed the first day of the search that alluded to where the Journey ended up.  They were upset because they missed the slide shows and continued to search for the Journey in New York, Vermont and New Hampshire long after it was clear that it was in Maine.  Then there were those who were upset because Maine is so far away from everywhere else in the eastern region of the United States.  I’m sure that would be the case no matter where it was hidden — there will be those who will always be unhappy that it wasn’t in their backyard.

As for the Midwest controversy, that remains unanswered — at least, officially.  While questions are still being asked, talk on the Dodge discussion boards has started to turn away from any of the searches and onto general car talk, and the Facebook pages demanding answers and a “re-do” in Oklahoma have never gained much momentum.

Perhaps this is what Dodge had hoped would happen all along — that people would eventually move on to other things.  Or, Dodge may have been trying to avoid the “Streisand effect,” something public relations professionals have known about long before the Internet — bringing more attention to a problem by addressing it.  I agree that Dodge didn’t need to make an announcement on the nightly news — why bring the problem to the attention of millions who never heard about it in the first place?  However, I still think a posting on the discussion board where people were talking about it would have gone a long way in the goodwill category.

Finally, this was a marketing campaign, so how did it measure up?  Several  bloggers have expressed their opinions:

• Blogs on AdWeek and Business Insider talk about how risky stunts like this campaign can be.
• A marketing blog outlines the many things Dodge could’ve done to improve the marketing value of the campaign.
• Another marketing blog asks the question: “Awesome campaign regardless or too big of an oops?”

At the end of the day, I would judge the Journey contest a success . . .  IF the campaign’s objective was awareness.   The campaign certainly created a lot of buzz, both good and bad.  I think the campaign was also successful at getting people into the “World Wide World,” as stated in the commercial.  I read numerous accounts on the discussion boards of people traveling across country to participate in the searches or making it a family outing.

Will all of this translate into car sales though?  Hmmmmm — that may be a stretch.  I think it’s more likely to help out Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, because millions of people following the final search (which was the longest and probably had the most people watching) were exposed to some beautiful scenery they may not have known existed. For that, and the most fun I’ve had in a long time, I say “Thanks, Dodge.”

As our attention turned to last weekend’s search for a free Dodge Journey hidden somewhere in the East, it turned away from the controversy stemming from the Midwest search.  Now it’s back again.

You may recall that within hours of Brad Neidy finding the Journey in Oklahoma’s Black Kettle National Grassland, rumors started swirling about whether he had inside information.  Neidy is a troop commander for the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, which assisted crews filming the “clue” commercial.  The discussion boards on Dodge’s YouTube site were ablaze with accusations of a conspiracy.  It didn’t help matters that Dodge went four days before releasing even the smallest statement — that Neidy had declined the Journey and that the the contest rules were being reviewed.  Since then, many on the discussion boards have been stating that Dodge should “re-do” the Midwest search.  A Facebook page even started to that effect.  It doesn’t look like that will happen.

According to the blog, Automotive.com, Chrysler’s marketing communication officer, Eileen Wunderlich, had this response to inquiries:

“Dodge will not re-hide the second vehicle.  I don’t yet have any updates at this time, other than to say that there is no need to change the program rules.” [link added by The Off Ramp]

This information is just now starting to be circulated, probably because the people discussing the topic temporarily shifted their focus to the final search in the East and are just now returning to what has been called the “Great Midwest Cheat,” and — oh, yeah — neither Chrysler, nor Dodge, have actually issued an official statement about this.  Oh, Dodge — tsk, tsk, tsk . . .  you apparently didn’t take the free PR advice I gave you.

It’s unfortunate that the people who took part in the three searches, from their armchairs or on foot, are learning about Dodge’s decision from someone other than the company.  A quick Google search of “Dodge Journey midwest controversy” results in a list of websites, discussion boards and blogs, The Off Ramp included.  I find it telling that as soon as the East Coast search was completed, my post from last week on Neidy declining his Journey rose once more to the top of the “most read posts” on this site.  People are looking for information and they are talking about the lack of it, and, for the most part, they are people who already have a vested interest in the company, if for no other reason because they were following the contest.  I foresee that, as this news becomes more widespread, people will get even more upset than they were when this controversy started.

As for Neidy, many of those on the Dodge discussion boards have seen his action of declining the Journey as an admission of guilt.  However, Captain Chris West, public affairs officer for the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, reportedly told Automotive.com that that was definitely not the case.  The blog reports that West declared the rumors of Neidy’s prior knowledge of the Journey’s location as “bogus.”   West said he had spoken to Neidy and that, in the wake of the controversy, Neidy decided to decline the prize to as not to shed a negative light on the highway patrol: “I have known Brad Neidy for a long time, and no one is questioning his integrity.”

Now it’s your turn, Dodge.  You said in last week’s statement that you would “provide updates soon.”  We’d like to hear from you.

Well, that was an exciting 29 hours, Dodge!  In fact, it’s been an exciting Journey ever since I first saw that Route 66 sign on the commercial announcing the search for three Dodge Journeys hidden across the United States and, as the commercial said, “If you can find one, you can have one.”  By the time the final search came to the East, the momentum had reached a fever pitch.

The last Journey was found in a barn attached to a vacation property in Tenants Harbor, Maine.  It’s WAYYYYY out there!  It’s pretty much on a peninsula about halfway up the southern Maine coast.  The path there began nearly 500 miles earlier in Albany, N.Y.  That was the first of five video clues that were revealed one hour apart on the Dodge YouTube site.  The rest of the video clues led to Saratoga Springs, Lake George, Chestertown, and Schroon Lake, respectively.  (For summaries of each of the video clues, start here.)  Of course, those of us who had been deciphering the clues from the original commercial already knew the Journey was going to take that path.  In fact, we knew it was going to go even further east because of a photo Dodge released the night before the search officially began showing the ferry that crosses from Fort Ticonderoga to Vermont and a shot of the ferry landing in Vermont that appeared in the original commercial.  This is where it got interesting . . .

If you were to follow the road from the landing, Route 74, you would soon see an intersection that was also seen in the first video clue of the day (Route 74/73 and Route 22A).  At that location, there was a sign posted on a pole that read: “This isn’t the end.  It’s only the beginning.  We can’t wait to share where we went next.  The journey is within 350 miles from here.”  The clues continued with two slide shows at 6 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. Sunday showing places the Journey had passed on the way to its final destination.  Judging from the discussion on the Dodge YouTube site since the search ended, it appears a lot of people didn’t see these additional clues, which took searchers as far as Portland, Maine.  The final slide was a picture of the Time and Temperature Building there, except the word “CALL” appeared where the time and temperature usually does.  While this was part of an advertising campaign unrelated to the Dodge search, it actually led to the next round of clues.

Eventually the cameraman who was live at the location displayed a sign with a phone number.  It lacked an area code, but Maine only has one.  At this point, the contest left the armchair searchers behind and focused only on those who were physically in the hunt.  The phone number reached a recording that hinted at Red’s Eats in Wiscasset (of course, my good friend and fellow roadie, Sarah YO Cote, had figured that out much earlier when the cameraman ate a unique looking lobster roll for lunch).  When searchers got to Red’s, the “specials” sign in the window read “Life’s a journey, not a destination” along with a phone number.  And so it went — phone numbers leading to businesses with more clues, eventually leading nearly 80 miles further northeast to Rockland, Maine, where the final clue was in the window of a real estate office — a picture of the vacation property about 12 miles away.  You can see the location of clues from beginning to end here.

The first person to reach it was a young mother named Melissa.  Originally from Illinois, she recently moved to Virginia for her husband’s military assignment and made the trek by herself sleeping little, sometimes in her car on the side of the road.  Kudos to her!  She has been sharing her story on the Dodge YouTube site discussion board and it’s been an interesting one to read.

And so this journey comes to an end.  I do have some final thoughts about the East Coast search and the campaign in general, but I’ll save that for another post . . .

Dodge has identified the final location as being in Tenants Harbor.  We’ll recap the journey, as soon as Dodge does!

(The following post from Sunday, Sept. 25 has been updated with links and new site identifications:)

Looks like I ended my last post a couple of slides too soon.   The slide show providing us clues to the location of the Dodge Journey ended 100 minutes after it started, and the closing slide was the Time and Temperature Building in downtown Portland, Maine.  Its famous rooftop sign is now being using as an advertisement urging people to “CALL JOE,” a local attorney.

Meanwhile, a few things have been happening inside the barn/stable where the Journey is parked:  the cameraman fed some chickens (which occasionally come by to cluck), he ate a lobster roll (missed that, but my good friend and fellow roadie Sarah YO Cote was on top of it), he posted a life preserver, and the time clock has been replaced with what appears to be a phone number.  I wasn’t able to find the number, however — at least not using the Maine area code.

The photos from today’s slide show can be found here, although I noticed a couple were missing.  I’ve been able to identify more since the first time around (and also corrected some):

• Unidentified road (presumably Route 4A)
• Reflection of pine trees on the hood of the car (that’s something you don’t see often in New England!)
• More unidentified road
• Hominy Pot historical marker, Route 11, Crockett Corner, N.H.
• I-89, sign for exit Route 13 (Clinton Street, Concord)
• I-89, sign for I-93 junction and exit for 3A
• Sign for end of I-89, Concord, N.H.
• Intersection of Water and Hall streets, Concord, N.H.
• I-393 bridge crossing the Merrimack River, east of Concord, N.H.
• I-393, sign for exit 3 (Route 106)
• Old car out for a spin, unidentified location
• Road sign for routes 4/9/202 (Dover Road), east of Concord, N.H.
• Johnson’s Seafood and Steak, Routes 4, east of Concord, N.H.
• Piece Time Puzzles barn, Route 4, Northwood, N.H.
• Junction 152 sign, Route 4, Northwood, N.H.
• Welcome to Northwood and Antique Alley sign, Route 4, Northwood, N.H.
• View from Route 4 right before crossing the Alexander Scammell Bridge, west of Durham, N.H.
• Alexander Scammell Bridge over the Bellamy River, Route 4
• Not sure what this is (perhaps a cover for road salt?), but it can be clearly seen using Google Earth; Shattuck Way, just past General Sullivan Bridge, Route 4, Portsmouth, N.H.
• Unidentified (perhaps same area?)
• Market Square, Route 4, Portsmouth, N.H.
• Corner of State and Pleasant Streets, Portsmouth, N.H.

Note:  The following Portsmouth locations don’t seem to go in a logical order

• Memorial Bridge, Route 1, Portsmouth, N.H.
• Prescott Park, Marcy Street, Portsmouth, N.H.
• Unidentified statue/fountain (Prescott Park?) — UPDATE: Prescott Park location confirmed
• Unidentified bronze relief — UPDATE:  This is located on the base of the statue in Prescott Park
• Memorial Bridge dedication plaque, Route 1, Portsmouth, N.H.
• USS Albacore, Albacore Park, Market Street, Portsmouth, N.H.
• Most likely another shot of Memorial Bridge, Portsmouth, N.H.

Note:  The location of most of the following are unidentified, but we can assume they are on Route 1)

• Welcome to Maine sign (location identified)
• Organic Nurseries Home and Garden Center (location unidentified)
• “Welcome, come as you are” sign (location unidentified)
•  “Shawshank Prison” car, Woods for Goods, Route 1, York, Maine
• Unidentified
• Unidentified
• Old gas pumps (Seashore Trolley Museum? Wells Auto Museum?)
• Old bus, train, trolley car (Seahorse Trolley Museum?)
• Seashore Trolley Museum, Route 1, Kinnebunkport
• Unidentified dock
• Moose crossing  (unidentified location, although I’m sure there can’t be many — geez!)
• Barnards Tavern sign (unidentified location, though it should be easy)
• Time and Temperature Building, downtown Portland, Maine

The Dodge Journey has left New Hampshire and entered Maine.  I’m going to make this post short, since we have clearly identified several places along the way and most of them are in the Portsmouth, N.H., Kittery, Maine, area:

The Journey took the Little Bay Bridge (UPDATE: it has since been identified as similar-looking Alexander Scammell Bridge) heading into Portsmouth, N.H., and then took either the Memorial Bridge or Sarah Mildred Long Bridge (they both look the same to me) over to Kittery, the state’s oldest incorporated town.  We also saw scenes from Prescott Park in Portsmouth, and the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (UPDATE: this was an incorrect location; a submarine pictured in the slide show was also pictured on the website for the shipyard, but is in a different location — or is a different submarine altogether).

A “Welcome to Maine” sign was followed by another sign (this one wooden) that said, “Welcome, come as you are” and an old car with the lettering “Shawshank Prison.”  Although the 1994 movie “Shawshank Remption” was shot mostly in Ohio, the setting was supposed to be Maine, and, following the release of the movie, a state-of-the-art prison was built in Haven.  While this city is on Route 1, which appears to be the road the Journey is taking, it seems to far away at this point (UPDATE: The car was in York).  As I post this, the route has taken us to the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport.

View this post for more recent information.

The second slide show featuring clues to the hidden Dodge Journey in the East began promptly at 9 a.m. on Dodge’s YouTube site.  Here’s the route, I’ve been able to make out so far:

The Journey continued on Route 4A to Potter Place, where the road ends, and turned west onto Route 11, passing a historical marker for Hominy Pot near the intersection of Route 114 in Crockett Corner, before hopping on I-89 south and taking it to Concord, where the highway ends.  Picking up Route 3A (thanks Sarah!), the path headed south toward Manchester, UPDATE:  After I-89 ended, the Journey headed east on I-93 and I-393, eventually heading west again on routes 4/9/202, passing the home of  Piece Time Puzzles, a red barn with the word “puzzle” spelled out in shingles on the roof, on the way to Northwood.  The “Welcome to Northwood” sign refers to the city’s “Antique Alley,” mostly likely a reference to one of the “blackboard clues” provided on the live shot yesterday.

The Journey is now on a low bridge over a large body of water — perhaps Little Bay east of Durham?  More to come . . .

The search for the Dodge Journey hidden in the East has presumably gone on all night.  With the prize not claimed yet, a new slideshow with clues is set to start any minute on the Dodge YouTube site.  The slides from last night have been posted on Dodge’s Facebook page.  Here’s where we’ve been:

• Could be anything!
• Fort Ticonderoga Ferry, Route 74, Ticonderoga, N.Y.
• Lake Champlain
• Larrabees Point Ferry Landing, Route 74, Shoreham, Vt.
• Fish gallery sign (I believe for Norton’s Gallery, which is located on 22A) on Route 74/73, Shoreham, Vt.
• Routes 74/73 and 22A, Shoreham, Vt.
• Woodcarving sign (I believe this is also for Norton’s Gallery; I think this sign and the fish sign above are relatively new, because they do not display on Google Earth), Route 73, Shoreham, Vt.
• Generic landscape
• Horse crossing sign, Route 73, Orwell, Vt.
• Town Hall, Route 73, Orwell, Vt.
• Generic landscape
• Generic landscape
• Sudbury Congregational Church, Route 30/73, Sudbury, Vt.
• Routes 7/73, Brandon, Vt.
• Routes 7/73, Brandon, Vt.
• New England Maple Museum, Route 7, Pittsford, Vt.
• Welcome to Killington, Route 4, Killington, Vt.
• Mendon Killington sign, Route 4, Killington, Vt.
• Green Mountains (?), Route 4, Killington, Vt.
• Green Mountains (?), Route 4, Killington, Vt.
• Sign for Back Behind Saloon Restaurant, Routes 4/100, Killington, Vt. (near Bridgewater)
• Routes 4/100, Killington, Vt. (near Bridgewater)
• Beaver Valley USA, Route 4, Bridgewater Corners, Vt.?
• Bridgewater Park sign, Route 4, Bridgewater, Vt.
• Lincoln Covered B ridge, Route 4, West Woodstock, Vt.
• Fletcher Hill Road on other side of Lincoln Covered Bridge, Route 4, West Woodstock, Vt.
• Lincoln Covered Bridge, Route 4, West Woodstock, Vt.
• Solomon Woodward woolen mill (I previously incorrectly identified this as a grist mill that is located in the same area), Woodstock, Vt.  Note: I  am not sure of the address of the mill; I believe the path of the Journey diverted from Route 4 temporarily, crossed the Lincoln Bridge and turned left on  Fletcher Road, where I think the mill is located.
• Routes 106/12, Route 4, Woodstock, Vt. (these three routes briefly converge in Woodstock)
• Routes 12/4, Woodstock, Vt.
• Generic landscape
• Route 4, Taftsville, Vt.
• Unidentified sign
• Unidentified bear statues
• Quechee Gorge, Quechee, Vt.
• Quechee Gorge, Quechee, Vt.
• I-89, Lebanon exit, Lebanon,N.H.
• Mascoma Lake, Route 4/4A, Lebanon, N.H.
• The Baited Hook restaurant, Route 4A, Lebanon, N.H.
• Enfield Shaker Village, Route 4A, Enfield, N.H.
• Route 4A, somewhere on the way to Potter Place, where the road ends, Vermont

I’m guessing the path will either turn east on Route 11 and possibly head into Maine, or turn right and head south to Massachusetts — could even be making one big circle . . .

If I have time later, I will come back and provide links to some of these places; I’ll and also try to refine or confirm any unidentified locations.  In the meantime, there are some links available in last night’s posts:  The Slide Show and Go East, Young Man