So as previously stated we are in Florence for a week due to weather, so we, along with Mark and Debbie on Meant to Be, decided to take advantage of the loaner car and we headed over to the Visitors Center. There we met Linda, the Manager and the person who literally knows all there is to know about Florence and Muscle Shoals, Alabama. With pamphlets in hand, we started out to see what the area has to offer. Who’da thought this little corner of north west Alabama is so very rich in history, especially music history.
Since it was not raining that day we figured the adventure should start at the Coon Dog Cemetery, about 45 minutes away. Wow! That place is beautiful and is so well respected and cared for. There are over 185 Coon Dogs buried there and it is said that people and coon dogs come from all over the country to pay respects during elaborate processions and burial ceremonies. It was started in 1937 when Key Underwood buried his faithful friend and hunting partner of 15 years, Troop. He picked this spot, a grassy meadow in the deep, thick wilderness of Freedom Hills as it was Troop’s favorite spot and a small hunting camp where the hunters gathered before starting out to hunt. He was approached by other hunters with requests to bury their faithful hunting partners there as well, and so began the official site of the Coon Dog Cemetery. Key said, “When I buried Troop I had no intention of establishing a coon dog cemetery, I merely wanted to do something special for my coon dog”. Key was also asked by a woman from California, of course from California, why he didn’t allow other dogs in the cemetery. Key responded, “you must not know much about coon hunters and their dogs if you think we would contaminate this burial place with poodles and lap dogs.” Well said. There are three requirements that have to be met before a dog qualifies to be buried in the cemetery: The owner must claim their dog is an authentic coon dog; A witness must declare the deceased is a coon dog; and a member of the Key Underwood Coon Dog Cemetery Memorial Graveyard, Inc. must be allowed to view the coonhound and declare it as such.
There are a lot of different headstones, from carved wood, to stone to elaborate engravings to simple rocks noting the past lives of these well loved partners.
The next day, which was rainy, we started out to the Florence Indian Mound and Museum, a short 10 minutes from the marina. The Florence Indian Mound is the largest of it’s kind in the Tennessee Valley Region. The museum has Native American artifacts dating back thousands of years. It was fascinating.
From the Indian Mound we headed to the W.C. Handy Home and Museum. WC. Handy is respected as the Father of the Blues. Handy was born in a small cabin in Florence, Alabama on November 16, 1873. He was a musician, conductor and author and became famous for his blues compositions such as “Memphis Blues” and “St. Louis Blues”. The museum houses memorabilia, instruments; his trumpet and piano; personal papers, and original sheet music.
This instrument is called Deagan Organ Chime. The chimes are shaken and are arranged like a keyboard with the naturals in the lower row and the sharps in the upper row. There were only about 150 of these made at a cost of $650.00 in 1901, which was quite a sum at that time. There are only 3 left today. The sound is reminiscent of church bells and wind chimes.
From there we went to Ivy Green, the birthplace and home of Helen Keller. Helen Keller was born on June 27, 1880 and at the young age of 19 months was left blind and deaf by an illness.
The pump where Anne Sullivan tapped out the alphabet into Helen’s hand…water. By that night Helen had learned 30 words and her whole world opened up. Her silence was broken, and she went on to dedicate her life to improving the conditions of people with disabilities around the world. Helen Keller was also the first blind and deaf person to graduate from college.
That was a very long day of sightseeing so we found a local pizza parlor and tucked into some really good pizzas and very cold beer and seltzers.
The next day Michael and I headed out to the the FAME, (originally Florence Alabama Music Enterprise), music studio for a tour. This studio opened in 1962 and was the start of the “The Muscle Shoals Sound”, which is made up of blues, jazz, rhythm, soul and country. This was the first successful professional recording studio in Alabama and is the longest continually operating recording studio in the world. Recording artists like Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Duane Allman, Otis Redding and a very long list of others who got their start at this studio. They were recording later that day.
Our next stop was the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio. In 1969, this studio was started by 4 guys who were the house band at the FAME Studio, known as the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, later known as the Swampers. After a falling out over a contract dispute locking them in to only being able to perform with artists who are recording at FAME, the 4 headed across town to start this studio. The Muscle Shoals Sound Studio was in this location for 9 years when they moved to another location because the landlord would not sell them the building. They were in the other location from 1979 to 2005, when they parted ways. In 2013 the owner finally sold the building to the Muscle Shoals Music Foundation, who have renovated the studio, most of which really has not changed over the many years since the studio moved out, with the goal of establishing a music museum in the historic building. It reopened as a finished tourist attraction on January 9, 2017. The studio is back to a working recording studio at night which still does have a huge influence on music recording with artists like Cher, the Rolling Stones, Paul Simon, Canned Heat, Rod Stewart, Art Garfunkel, Bob Seger, Cat Stevens, Lynard Skynyrd, most recently, Chris Stapleton, and on and on. The bathroom is where Keith Richards put the finishing touches on Wild Horses.
We head out tomorrow, early before the next set of rain storms, to Aqua Marina in Iuka Mississippi where we will be for a couple of weeks. We are taking the opportunity to take our upper helm seats to a guy in Memphis, TN to recover them as they are pretty well worn as part of getting THIS is what possibly ready to sell at the end of this journey. That decision is still up in the air… Check back in a few weeks to see what we discover in Iuka. Love to all Gina and Mike
