Florence Alabama

Our next stop is along the Tennessee River at McFarland Park in Florence Alabama. Barges travel past every once in a while. BTW, the nearby town of Muscle Shoals was named due to the amount of mussels found in the shoals of the river. They are still collected today.

I spent the week working at a plant there. The people at the plant were very friendly and drove me past a few of the more unusual sights. One was the story of “Mountain” Tom Clark. The picture gives the story. I ended up driving over him on the way to work every day.

The Panty Tree can be seen from the shore, but to really see it well you need a boat. Apparently people throw panties in the tree from their boats or from the end of the old railroad bridge. Don’t know who started it, but it’s an interesting tradition. I saw one boat pull up. I’m not sure if they were checking it out or adding to the collection.

We had a big storm one evening. It wasn’t a tornado, but the winds were strong and knocked down branches. Our RV was near pine trees and the pine cones sounded like golf balls hitting the roof.

We spent an extra day sightseeing. I was surprised by all the things to see in the area. We tried to see the real lions that the university keeps as mascots but apparently they were at the local Walmart for “Fan Day”. Instead, we got to see the lion statues outside the very large cage. We saw a tall Indian Mound and the Singing River Sculptures made of aluminum. The local music studios have seen some amazing talent over the years (Aretha Franklin, Bob Seger, Mustang Sally, Steal Away) that they called the Muscle Shoals Sound. The sculptures highlight that heritage. The aluminum is from another local plant that has gone through multiple ownership (Reynolds, Wise Alloys, and now Constellium).

Years ago, I played Anne Sullivan in “The Miracle Worker” about Helen Keller and her teacher. Helen Keller was born in Florence Alabama and lived here all her life. We saw her home.

We visited Pope’s Tavern Museum expecting it to be a short visit since the museum is small. Turns out it has a VERY enthusiastic curator that is able to tell a story about every piece in the museum.

- The yellow bedroom was used for surgery during the Civil War. Outside the window an archeological dig found 150+ bullets along with burnt bones since the surgeons would throw bullets out the window after removing them from their patients and amputated body parts were cremated. The house is part of the ghost tour given the amount of soldiers who died here.

- The town of Florence changed hands 47 times during the Civil War. It was an important transportation point with rivers and railroad.

- The Florence Wagon Works was the 2^nd largest wagon manufacturer (Studebaker Company was the largest). The iron kettle shown here was used to scald dead hogs so hairs could be removed from the hide.

There is a bit of a mystery involving this glass pitcher. The material is not really expensive, but someone went to the trouble of repairing it using metal staples. You have to carefully drill holes into the glass before adding the staples. The pitcher actually holds water. Was it too difficult to get a new pitcher or was it a family heirloom? No one knows.

Women used to collect their hair from their hair brush or from dead relatives and create art from it. We’ve seen this before but it is always bizarre and a bit creepy!

We could easily spend another week or two in the area seeing all the sights (Frank Lloyd Wright house, more museums, dam, music studios, brewery, Joe Wheeler State Park, the lions, ruins, mysterious lights, etc.). But it is HOT and MUGGY. We’re moving on for now.