Named “Ivy Green,” this Southern estate was home to Helen Keller, a young girl who was struck deaf and blind after suffering an illness when she was 2 years old.Īnother worthy stop in the area is the Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts, which hosts a wide variety of rotating art exhibits, programs, and activities. Just down the road in Tuscumbia, the Helen Keller Birthplace Museum pays homage to one of the most impressive and uplifting human beings ever to walk this earth. Tours take roughly 45 minutes, and the guides are a wealth of information about not only the Usonian style of architecture but on the history of the Rosenbaums themselves. The home is open daily for tours, and the interior decor remains nearly the same as it was when the Rosenbaums raised their family there. Built in 1939 for newlyweds Stanley and Mildred Rosenbaum, the Rosenbaum House is the only home designed by the famous architect in Alabama and is the only Usonian-style home in the entire Southeast that is open to the public. I nearly lost my mind when I discovered that Florence, Alabama, was home to a Frank Lloyd Wright “ Usonian” home. Rosenbaum House – Florence, AL (Photo Credit: Heide Brandes) Florence & Tuscumbia, Alabama Tours of Muscle Shoals Sound Studio take place every hour on the half-hour from 10:30 a.m. In 2013, the studio was bought up by the Muscle Shoals Music Foundation. The Rolling Stones stopped in as well, recording their hits “Brown Sugar,” “Wild Horses,” and “You Got To Move” at the studio. They opened the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in 1969, becoming the only recording studio owned by session musicians. The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section (also known as “The Swampers”) originated in the Fame Studio and became famous for playing funky backup to such artists as Etta James, Wilson Pickett, and Aretha Franklin. The recordings and the big names never stopped, and today, you can tour FAME, which was placed on the National Register of Landmarks. The FAME Recording Studio opened in 1959 and made the “Muscle Shoals sound” famous by recording such greats as Etta James, Clarence Carter, Otis Redding, and The Osmonds. Founded in 1923 along the Tennessee River, Muscle Shoals became famous for “Muscle Shoals music” thanks to the historic and famous Fame Studios and Muscle Shoals Sound Studio. My road trip through these adorable country towns started in Florence, Alabama and the Muscle Shoals region. For one week, I was hosted by Nashville’s Big Back Yard to explore the area and discover what many travelers never take the time to do.įrom Leipers Fork, Tennessee, to the historic music mecca of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, here are seven adorable country towns to experience in Nashville’s Big Back Yard. However, aside from Leipers Fork (now famous for being the second home to such celebrities as Justin Timberlake, Nicole Kidman and her country star husband Keith Urban, and even Justin Beiber), most of these tiny towns don’t show up on road trip radars. They each have distinct personalities, darling little downtown areas, over-the-top hospitality, and are all nestled in the outdoor splendor of Tennessee. These 12 towns are the heart of the southern and western part of rural Tennessee, tiny communities that are often overlooked by the country glam of Nashville or the outdoorsy mecca of Knoxville. Anchored by 100 miles of the Natchez Trace Parkway, Nashville’s Big Back Yard is made up of 12 connected communities with populations under 5,000. The relaxing float was exactly what I needed after days of exploring a handful of the 12 rural towns that make up “ Nashville’s Big Back Yard,” a new tourism push that highlights the region. In addition to hosting guests at the hotel, which was named one of “Six Great Places to Stay in Tennessee,” the Dumonts also rent and lead kayak tours of the scenic river through the hotel. The couple bought the architectural gem in 2007, and Michael’s background as a developer helped the couple restore the building to its current boutique hotel status. Our guide this day was Michael Dumont, a Rhode Island native who, along with his wife Kathy, purchased the old Commodore Hotel in the heart of Linden. While not as impressive as the massive Tennessee River, the Buffalo River is Tennessee’s longest tributary of the Duck River, weaving 125 miles along the rolling hills of central Tennessee. On a clear April day, the lazy Buffalo River near Linden, Tennessee, was even lazier in the warm sunshine, its steady current breezily pushing our kayaks along the green-covered shores.Īlong the banks, a couple of fat cows startled as we floated on by, and the indignant squawk of blue herons punctured the vast quiet of this rural Tennessee landscape.
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