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!