When I visited lovely Florence, Alabama last week, I had a wonderful time driving around town with my Mother and two of her sisters. A few days ago, I showed you photos of the Lion habitat at the
University of North Alabama. If you missed that roaring good time, click
HERE to see it.
As we took our leisurely drive through the hills of Florence, I was reminded of one of my favorite lines from the Brit -Com, "Keeping Up Appearances" when Hyacinth said the day was,
"Completely conducive to contemplating cozy charismatic country cottages.
First we drove through the charming old downtown, which wasn't so old looking anymore. Spiffed up with a hip college crowd hanging around, it's the home to Internationally celebrated designer,
Billy Reid.
The houses in the downtown area were charming and friendly looking. Simple bungalows . . .
large front porches for rocking and swinging . . .
and plenty of beautiful shade trees to beat the late summer heat!
This yellow house looked so pretty with all the white chairs, rockers and swing. I can imagine it's a popular place to be in the afternoons and evenings when the lightening bugs come out.
W.C. Handy, the Father of the Blues stood proudly in the park where the festival named after him takes place every July.
The beautiful public library sits across from the park, making it easy for families to picnic, then take in story time.
Florence High School, which is part of the City School System, has just been ranked in the top 10% of high schools in the nation and in the top 5% in the state. FHS has an
Academy of Fine Arts where among other things, students can learn recording art skills in partnership with world renownedÂ
FAME Studios. The school has undergone several major recent additions, one being this Freshmen Center, which houses all the joyful, sweet ninth graders. (The others get to go there too.)
Back through the pretty downtown area once again, past churches, shopping, theaters and top-rated restaurants.
Back to my Aunt's house for her delicious homemade peach cobbler. Mmmmm. That's the perfect end to my lovely day in Florence.
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