Bye for now, Flo.

Love in a college town? More like I fell in love with my college town. It was love at first visit. I am so thankful that God led me to Florence, AL. I love that it is a little bit of everything; historical district, mall side, and on the water. I have enjoyed watching the area grow and flourish. Not only the town, but I love my Alma Mater, the University of North Alabama, so much. Roar Lions! I have met some great people and made some great friends in Flo. It has only been a couple of weeks since I moved my stuff out of my house and I already miss my town and my people more than anything.

I wish I would have appreciated it all of my four years like I have in the last few months while I've been doing my bucket list. All the things I did for the first time for my blog, I want to do over and over again. So I hope maybe you learn from my mistake and you start marking places off as soon as possible. I ran out of time unfortunately, I still have a few places and things on my list. I am going to conclude it as "to be continued," because I will be back! While this blog has been about Florence and the Shoals, I hope it inspires you to appreciate whatever town you are residing in. Stay curious! And stay tuned for a new blog about my adventures in Johnson City, TN!

The Train Bridge

I want to say my first time going to the train bridge was my first year at UNA. A couple of my friends and I got Miami Ice then drove over O'Neal to the train bridge. It quickly became one of my favorite spots in Florence and the first place I would take anyone visiting.

The bridge first opened in 1840. At times cars and trains both utilized the bridge. You can go to www.oldrailroadbridge.com to read more on the history.

My last sunset to watch from the train bridge before leaving. (insert sad face)

It is a great place for a jog or a walk if that suits you better. It links with TVA trails so you may run on and on. There is a group that does yoga on the bridge. Many use the bridge as a scenic background for professional pictures, as they should because it is beautiful. It is the best place to watch a sunset also!

The "Pantie Tree"

Then when you get to the end of the bridge you can look off and enjoy the view of the "pantie tree." Yes, there is a tree decorated in people's undergarments. I have no idea why this is even a thing, but it is quite interesting. So get up and go check it out! Bring a friend or dessert or both and take your friend's dessert too if you are hungry. I mean you are on a walk, you deserve a treat or two.

Hot Dog!

One place I will truly miss in Florence is Chicago Cafe. Hot dogs are basically my favorite food and Chicago Cafe has some awesome hot dogs. They have The Pizza Dog, a hot dog with marinara sauce, mozzarella cheese, and pepperonis. Then there is Da' Dirty Dog, with BBQ sauce, cheddar cheese, and grilled onions. Those two are my favorites but they have many options. They also offer sandwiches and pizza which are delicious too.

On weekends they are open until 2 or 3 in the morning when Flobama, OTR, and Wildwood are closing. Whether you are leaving the bar or decide you need a midnight snack break during your binge watching on Netflix, Chicago Cafe is where you need to go. (This is probably where the freshman fifteen comes from.)

This January, a suspicious bag left on the steps of the post office was reported to the police department. After using X-ray equipment the street was shut down and the bomb squad removed the bag with a robot. When they drove off and opened said bags, they found hot dogs...not bombs. This reached headlines and was even mentioned by Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show. So these dogs are pretty much famous.

They have a loyalty dog card, after your fifth hot dog you get one free! I actually am currently at my fourth dog so I need to make a couple more trips myself. Go start your loyalty card!

Coon Dog Cemetery & Rattlesnake Saloon

I bundled these two bucket list items together because they are out in the middle of nowhere, so if you are going to one you might as well check out the other! Rattlesnake Saloon and Coon Dog Cemetery are about forty or so minutes from Florence, but are totally worth the drive.

The day Mom, Dani, and I procrastinated packing we went to the Rosenbaum House, Bunyan's BBQ, and Coon Dog Cemetery. Key Underwood Coon Dog Memorial Graveyard is said to be the only one of it's kind in the world. Only coon dogs are buried at the cemetery. The first dog to be buried there was Troop in 1937 on Labor Day.You may still bury coon hounds there but must meet certain requirements. People come from all over to do so. I saw a headstone from New York. There are more than 185 dogs buried there today.

We noticed that on the graves that people had left pennies and we had no idea what the reasoning was behind it. There are several different superstitions as to why coins are left. There is one based on Greek Mythology that says the coins are payment and one about a murdered family that would grant wishes. With military burials, each coin has a specific meaning that is a message to the family of the deceased that they visited. It seems that it is a symbol of remembrance and respect.

I have always heard about Rattlesnake Saloon but never wanted to make the drive out there, which I regret immensely now. It was seriously the coolest place. You park and take a ride in the back of a truck down this steep trail to the saloon. I think I was expecting less cave and more restaurant, but the cave area was huge. It had a stage for the live music and lots of tables for people to sit and enjoy. They are only open Thursday-Saturday 11-10 (February-November) and Sunday 11-3 (April-September). Thursday nights they have karaoke. Friday and Saturday nights they have a band.

I guess I was just too busy living in the moment and enjoying my experience at Rattlesnake that I failed to take many pictures..so that means I have to go back soon! Take an afternoon and drive out to check out both places. You will not regret it!

Time Management - 0, Bucket List - 3

Finals and graduation really had me busy the past couple of weeks so I have not been able to blog, but I have knocked some items off my list. One day last week my mom came up to help me start packing, but instead we spent our time adventuring with my friend, Dani. It was totally worth it though!

Our first stop was the Frank Lloyd Wright Rosenbaum House. This house was built for the Rosenbaum family in 1939. Wright designed hundreds of structures, but the Rosenbaum House is the only Wright design open to the public in the southeastern region of the United States. He even designed all the furniture for his structures!

The home was originally 1,540 square feet but had 1,084 square feet added in 1948 when the couple had four sons. The addition included a bigger kitchen for Mrs. Rosenbaum and a dormitory for the boys.

The Rosenbaums were the only occupants and owners of the home until 1999 when the city took over the home for restoration. It took two years to complete before they could reopen the house as a museum to the public. It is now open Tuesday-Saturday 10-4 and Sunday 1-4! There is an admission fee, $8 Adults and $5 Seniors and Students.

After our tour of the Rosenbaum House, we were starving. So we headed down the road to Bunyan's BBQ! This was another item on my bucket list. I have always heard great things about Bunyan's but had never been. While hotdogs are my favorite food, I went with a BBQ sandwich. It was delicious! You can order family meals. You can also get their famous slaw by the gallon. They are open Monday-Saturday 10-5!

We actually also went to Coondog Cemetery but you can read about that one in my next post!

Shoot the Cannon at River Bottom Grille, Check!

River Bottom Grille has always been one of my favorite restaurants in Florence. It is a floating restaurant located under O'Neal Bridge. I have been many times but didn't know about the cannon at sunset until I saw it on someone's Snapchat story awhile back. It was immediately put on my To-Do list.

Ryan lives on one of the boats in the marina. He comes to RBG every evening right at sunset and asks if anyone would like to fire the cannon with him. (I made sure our server told him when he arrived that he already had takers!) He came and got us from our table, we followed him to get the cannon and the mallets then out to the dock we went!

As Ryan was setting up the cannon, I asked how he got started doing this. He was in a yacht club and while traveling he noticed a tradition that was honored in many places where they would take the flag down at sunset and fire a cannon. Ryan talked the owner of RBG into getting a cannon and he shoots it off every evening!

The cannon is a 10 gauge signal, or salute, cannon. You have to put the wooden mallet up to the firing pin then hit the wooden mallet with a rubber mallet. And ear muffs are a must. Not to brag, but Ryan said many people miss on the first try or don't hit it hard enough and I got it right the first swing! Okay, I am bragging a little bit.

He gives you the shell after firing the cannon. You can either keep it or when you leave RBG you can sign it and they will hang it up for all to see! This was such a cool experience and a well kept secret! Even if you are not firing the cannon, it is still fun just to be there for the tradition. RBG even has a special at sunset when the cannon is fired on their Sunset Salute drink!

Dessert: The Most Important Meal of the Day

If you have a sweet tooth, Florence has your fix! Miami Ice and Trowbridge's are two of my favorites. And I finally marked Frios off my bucket list. I mean is there anything better than a frozen treat on a southern hot day? I think not.

If you are a shaved ice type of person, Miami Ice has the BEST. They have 91 flavors, 9 toppings, and 85 combinations (sweet, sour, and fruity). The options are endless. My personal fave is the Charlie Sheen (cheese cake, tiger blood, marshmallow, and pop rocks), also referred to as "Crack in a Cup." My second favorite would be the Catalina Wine Mixer (pina colada, strawberrry, and cream). They are open 12pm-10pm Sunday-Thursday and 12pm-11pm Friday and Saturday!

Trowbridge's was opened by Paul Trowbridge in 1918 (two years away from celebrating their centennial anniversary!!). He actually developed his own ice cream recipe, orange pineapple. They used to make the ice cream in house, but they sold their recipe to Purity and now they serve that brand. They have about 18 different flavors! You can get it in a cone, dish, half pint, whole pint...They have malts, shakes, sundaes, and ice cream soda. Trowbridge's has a dessert called 'Oh My Gosh', it is a brownie topped with ice cream, caramel, whipped cream, and a cherry. It is also a sandwich shop, the chicken salad is fantastic. They are open 9am-5pm Monday-Saturday, so if you make it in time for breakfast get a ham biscuit! Check out all the old photos inside too!

Now checked off the bucket list, I got a pop from Frios! They are a newer business to downtown Florence located inside Court Street Market. They have both creamy and fruity flavors. I really had a hard time choosing from blueberry lemonade, blueberry cheesecake, and banana pudding. I went with banana pudding, I have no regrets! Their hours are Monday-Saturday 11am-6pm.

As the semester is coming to an end and you are loaded down with projects, papers, and finals remember this quote from an unknown author, "Stressed spelled backwards is desserts. Coincidence? I think not!" So consider taking a break. As Tom and Donna from Parks and Rec would say, "treat yo' self!"