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Stepping off the Trace: Florence and the Shoals

By Stephen Enzweiler

Amid the fragrant, rolling hills and scenic blue river valleys reaching across northwestern Alabama lies the small, welcoming city of Florence.

Situated on the banks of the meandering Tennessee River, it has long been a favorite destination for travelers, a stepping off point to a region abundant in natural resources, excellent in resort accommodations, restaurants, ample shopping, and enough history to last a lifetime.
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Historic Natchez Trace Parkway, stretching from near
Nashville, TN to Natchez, MS offers a relaxing, scenic
alternative when traveling to Florence and the Shoals.

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Easily accessible from several exist along the Natchez Trace Parkway, Florence is only a short drive down the road, the perfect distance for grabbing lunch, freshening up, and taking in a few sights before resuming one’s travels. The city itself emerges atop a broad ridge with a sweeping view of the Tennessee River Valley below. At once, one recognizes a big city that has become the economic powerhouse of Colbert County, but also a small city that possesses the kind of hometown charm that welcomes like an old friend and immediately puts one at ease.

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Florence's Marriott Resort Hotel offer some
of the most
comfortable and luxusious accomodations
at very affordable prices.
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Florence offers visitors a unique selection of famous attractions, including the “Father of the Blues” W.C. Handy Birthplace Museum, historic Pope’s Tavern and Museum, Funland Water Park, Kennedy-Douglas Center for the Arts, Children’s Museum of the Shoals, Indian Mound and Museum, and famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s Rosenbaum House. The city also hosts First Fridays in Florence, a growing arts and music event begun in 1995 and occurring downtown every First Friday from April through December.


 

Famous Florence residents include Pulitzer Prize winning author T.S. Stribling and famed Sun Records producer Sam Phillips, who changed music history when he discovered Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis. Former slave Dred Scott also lived in Florence, working as a stable hand at the Peter Blow Inn on Tennessee Street.

Driving only a short distance southwest, visitors come to the Muscle Shoals/Sheffield area, which boasts the historic Ritz Theater, the inviting, mile-long Tennessee Riverfront Park, and the Wilson Lock and Dam. The Shoals also boast Cypress Lakes Golf & Country Club, a luxurious resort offering a championship course, six clay tennis courts, a swimming and exercise facility, and an excellent restaurant.

Only a few miles farther lies historic Tuscumbia, home of the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, the Tennessee Valley Art Center, and Ivy Green--the birthplace of Helen Keller. The Alabama Music Hall of Fame honors the state’s musical achievers, showcases memorabilia of such artists as Tammy Wynette, Emylou Harris, Nat King Cole, Hank Williams, and many more.

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The famous black pump well, where teacher Anne Sullivan spelled w-a-t-e-r to Helen Keller for the first time.
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Ivy Green and its museum contain Keller memorabilia as well as the famous black well-pump where she spelled w-a-t-e-r- for the first time to her teacher Anne Sullivan in 1887. An excellent time to visit Ivy Green is the last week of June during the annual Helen Keller Festival.

Seven miles east of Tuscumbia is the historic LaGrange College Site Park and Pioneer Settlement. Listed on the Alabama historical register, it was once the home and world of the Chickasaw Indians, the site of Alabama’s first college, and is now a park dedicated to recreating life on LaGrange Mountain.

For more travel information on Florence and neighboring attractions, go to: www.800alabama.com or the Alabama Tourism Department, 800-ALABAMA.
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Stephen Enzweiler is author of OXFORD IN THE CIVIL WAR, available whever books are sold; steve@yall.com.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Stephen Enzweiler, "Stepping off the Trace: Florence and the Shoals " Yall, June 2009, 12.




Read a sampling of articles
by Stephen Enzweiler



A Good Author is Hard to Find
The Legacy of Mississippi Writers
The Agony and The Sweat
A Streetcar Named Tennessee
Bard of the American Iliad
The Existential Walker Percy
Richard Wright (1908-1960)
Eudora Welty
Richard Wright
Willie Morris

Ellen Gilchrist
Corinth: Still a Crossroads...
Stepping off the Trace
Mississippi Rising
Oxford Wedding
Holiday Travel
Black Holes & Bear Tales
The Old Gray Mare
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