2016 Christmas Letter Activies for the year

On January 1, 2016, Hubby and I traveled to Franklin, Tennessee, to the Thoroughbred Theater to watch the action, adventure, Sci-Fi, and fantasy movie Star Wars Force Awakens.

In February, I took several classes at the Apple store 

Stay Connected, Sketch, Draw, and Paint with iPad, Explore Apple TV, & Perfect Your Photos on Mac

On March 4, 2016, I toured the Rippavilla Plantation in Springhill, TN.

On March 8, 2016, Hubby and I traveled to Waynesboro, Lawrenceburg, Mt Pleasant, Columbia, and Spring Hill, TN. 

On April 1 & 2, I attended Mule Day and Mule Day Parade in Columbia, TN. 

On April 5, Hubby and I traveled to Red Bay, Alabama, to Tour the Tiffen Motor Plant.

On April 12, Hubby and I traveled to Elkmont, Alabama, to tour the Belle Chevre Goat Cheese Factory. 

On April 9, I attended the Walking Tour of Historic Downtown Athens, Alabama, and Earth Day in Sheffield, Alabama. 

On April 17, I attended the Athens Cemetery Stroll. 

On April 30, I attended the Stroll at Athens State University.

On April 23, Hubby and I traveled to South Pittsburg, Tennessee, for the Cornbread Festival.

On May 20 & 21, I attended the UNA Storytelling festival

May 20, That afternoon, hubby and I attended Jacob and Lindsey’s wedding rehearsal at East Florence Depot.

On May 21, Hubby and I attended the Wedding of Lindsey Smith and Jacob Hughes at Oliver’s Barn. 

On June 25, I attended the Helen Keller Festival in Tuscumbia, Alabama.

On June 28, Hubby and I traveled to Scottsboro, Stevenson, Menton, Fort Payne, and Section Alabama.

On July 23, I attended several functions of the W. C. Handy Festival.

On August 19, Hubby and I attended the Watermelon Festival in Russellville, Alabama.

On September 1, Hubby and I rode to Corinth, Mississippi, where we toured several historic sites. 

On September 5, 2016, Hubby and I traveled to Smith Lake in Cullman to attend the Sweet Tater Festival.

On September 8, I rode to Huntsville to tour the Scare Crow Trail at the Botanical Gardens. 

On September 9, Hubby and I attended a performance by Arvel Bird, a Celtic Indian.

On September 10, I attended Oka Kapassa in Tuscumbia, the British Car Show in Rogersville, and the birthday party for Joe Wheeler at the Wheeler Plantation.

On October 1, Hubby and I traveled to Centerville, Tennessee, to attend the Banana Puddin’ Festival, Car Show, and Quilt Show. 

On October 5, I traveled with a group of women from our church to 

2800 Pittsburg Church Road, Petersburg, KY, to tour the Creation Museum. We spent the night in Dry Ridge, Kentucky.

On October 6, We traveled to 1 Ark Encounter Drive, Williamstown, Ky 41097, to tour Noah’s Ark. 

On October 15, Hubby and I traveled to Nashville to take a Monterey Fall Foliage Excursion train ride. 

On October 22, I rode to Lawrenceburg to take the Mimosa Cemetery stroll. 

On November 9, Hubby traveled to Huntsville to go to NASA and Bridge Street. 

On November 12, I took the Pathway to Prayer trolley Tour in Florence, Alabama. 

On November 15, Hubby and I traveled to Nashville to tour the Opryland Hotel's three gardens decorated for the Christmas Holidays and to walk through the ICE HOUSE with carvings of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer and the Christ manger scene. 

November 24, Thanksgiving Dinner at Mike with family 

On November 26, My sister-in-law and I rode to Huntsville to walk through Christmas Tree Tinsel Trail, Madison’s Christmas Card Lane, and shop at Bridge Street.

On November 29, Hubby and I rode to Lebanon, Tennessee, to tour the town and Chad’s Winter Wonderland of Christmas Lights. We rode to Nashville to drive through Jellystone’s Dancing Christmas Lights, then on to Opry Mills for Shopping. 

On December 1, Hubby and I attended the Athens Christmas Parade.

On December 2, Hubby and I attended a prayer for Peace at Pope's Tavern and the lighting of a Christmas Tree at both Pope’s Tavern and Wilson Park.

On December 3, I attended a talk about George Colbert at the Visitors Center.

On December 5, I attended Christmas Dinner and exchanged gifts with my Church Class.

On December 7, Hubby and I attended a Christmas dinner and Christmas Program at our church.

That morning, I attended our Lady's bible Class Christmas luncheon.

On December 9, Hubby and I attended the Florence Christmas Parade.

On December 10, Hubby and I attended Dickens of a Christmas from 9-12, and from 2-4 PM, we attended the Leipers Fork Parade.

On December 11, I took my granddaughter's pictures for graduation.

December 12-14: Hubby and I spent a couple of days in Gulf Shores. We rode to Theodore to walk through the Christmas lights at the Bellingrath Gardens. We spent a few hours on the beach, watching a miniature train show and walking through Heritage Park.

December 17, My granddaughter Hannah Hughes will graduate from UNA on 12/17/2016 at 2:30 PM with a degree in Elementary Education.

December 24, We will have  Christmas with the kids and grandkids. 

December 19-24: Hubby is taking off for Christmas Vacation.

On December 25, My middle son will be celebrating his 47th birthday.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 

Governor Robert Burns Lindsay and daughter Maud McKnight Lindsey Historic Markers

Maud Lindsey's home as it looks today

 Governor Robert Burns Lindsey July 4, 1824-Feb 13, 1902 

A native of Lochmaben, Scotland, Robert Burns Lindsey was Alabama's only foreign-born governor. He immigrated to North Carolina in 1844 and relocated to Tuscumboa in 1849, where he worked as a teacher and read law, obtaining admittance to the Alabama Bar in 1852. The following year, residents of Franklin County elected him to the Alabama House of Representatives. In 1854, Lindsay married Sarah Miller Winston, sister to John Anthony Winston, who served as governor from 1853 to 1857. the couple had nine children, four of whom survived to adulthood, among them educator and author Maud McKnight Lindsey (see other side). 

In 857, Lindsay won the election to the Alabama Senate. In 1861, he joined Colonel Philp D. Roddey's Fourth Alabama Cavalry, CSA. At war's end, voters returned him to the Alabama Senate. In 1870, Lindsey became the first Democrat elected governor of Alabama since the end of the Civil War. His turbulent two-year there in office amidst Reconstruction was beset by economic and political difficulties, compounded by the failure of a state-supported railroad venture. Declining to run for reelection in 1872, Lindsey returned to Tuscumbia, where he continued a limited law practice, hampered by ill health, until his death. 

Sponsored by the Maud Lindsay Study Club and The Colbert County Historical Landmarks Foundation Alabama Historical Association 2022.

Maud McKnight Lindsay
May 13, 1874-May 30, 1941

International educator and author Maud Lindsay was born at this home, then a frame structure in 1874. She was the daughter of Governor Robert B. Lindsay (see other side) and Sarah M. Winston Lindsey. 

In 1898, after working in a private kindergarten in Tuscumbia, "Mis Maud" crossed social barriers and established Alabama's first free kindergarten program in the working-class cotton mill district of East Florence. 

She remained the teacher and principal of the school for more than four decades. In 1900, Milton Bradley Company published Lindsay's first book. Mother Stories. She subsequently authored sixteen additional works, many of which reflected her childhood experiences in Alabama. Although she had no formal higher education, Lindsay became a sought-after speaker.

She lectured on the art of storytelling at New York University. Rebuffing many offers to teach elsewhere, including an invitation from renowned Italian educator Maria Montessori, Lindsey chose to remain in Alabama. Her childhood friend Helen Keller described her as "one of the truly progressive women of the southland and an example of Alabama's true wealth and greatness." Lindsay was inducted into the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame in 1995. 

Maud Lindsey Kindergarten Florence, Alabama 

Maud McKnight Lindsey 
The Florence Free Kindergarten 

2024 May 20, 21, 29, Sites we took AVA

Ava in a Space Suite 

 2024 May 20, Monday, Trip to Space and Rocket Center 

Today, we rode to Huntsville to the Space and Rocket museum 

We took Ava, she loves museums.

We saw Science on Orbit, Space Craze, Your mission begins here, Huntsville Rocket City, Home of USA Redstone Arsenal. There were games to play, rides, space shuttle, rockets, helicopters, planes, and pictures of every astronaut that has flown in a rocket or shuttle. There was a lot of construction going on, and a lot of the area visitors were not allowed to enter.

Ava got inside one of the modules where you have to lie down with your feet propped above your head. We looked inside “Ch-47D Chinook Helicopter. Two soldiers were guarding the shuttle(they were statues)

We saw Saturn’s Brain and Saturn’s steering. There were several school groups, and we met a family from Sweden.  

 

We ate lunch at Culvert in Madison.

We were going to Cracker Barrel but got caught by a train, so we turned around and went to Culvert. 

Hubby and I shared a three-piece, hand-cut, hand-battered fried cod meal with onion rings and Coleslaw.  We ordered the flavor of the day yogurt Snickers swirl.

We ordered a kid’s chicken fingers meal with fries and a drink for Ava.

She also ordered one scoop of chocolate yogurt but was brought the Snickers Swirl, which she would not try.

So, hubby ate hers, and we bought her a chocolate yogurt 

They also forgot our coleslaw, and hubby had to go to the counter to get one. They were out of coleslaw upfront 

I guess they didn’t want to go to the back to find more

I think they had a new employee. Everyone was ready for bed that night. 

Ava and the Space Shuttle 

2024 May 21, today we took Ava to Muscles Shoals Municipal Court Building, Spring Park and Tuscumbia Train Depot  

To see the TVA display and display about Muscle Shoals.

We saw cicadas covering all their Crapes Myrtle’s.

Inside, I met a worker for the City of Muscle Shoals, and we talked about the history of the area. He told me there were graves of American Indians with stone markers, and you cannot read the names. He said there were graves all over the shoals that were unclaimed and destroyed. He said I had worked here for years before I took the time to read all the history here. He said when I was growing up, I didn’t care much for history, but he knew a lot about the area. He said that once, he and another worker had to fix the sewage off the cliffs he supervised. Someone else went over the cliffs. He said that he found old bottles dating back to the 1800s. He gave one to him and said I am going back to collect the rest.

Upon entering the Municipal building, you will see a Chandler four or five archways leading to and inside the museum area. 

Inside the Museum, we saw Welcome to “Pathways…A Walk through the History of Muscle Shoals.”

Explore these exhibits and learn about a city that is rich in history.

See original artifacts from the real estate boom when Henry Ford said he would “employ one million workers and build a city 75 miles wide” to the times when Muscle Shoals was known as “The Hit Hit Recording Capital of the World.”

Muscle Shoals has now become one of the most progressive cities in Alabama and a city thousands call home.

Ava and Hubby at  Muscles Shoals Municipal Court Building

History of FAME Recording Studios and its owner Rick Hall. 

A light pole with street signs of Wilson Dam Highway and Sheridan AVE. 

Cases full of the History of Muscle Shoals, the first Mayor of Muscle Shoals, George Lewis McBride, and his wife Susie. 

Pictures of President Roosevelt and his wife, Elenor, hang on the walls.  

Lots of information about the building of the TVA Wilson Dam. We walked outside, and the Crape Myrtles were covered in Cicadas. 

Ava in the Little Red Caboose 

After we left Muscle Shoals, we went to Tuscumbia Train Depot. 

Paid five dollars each to go inside 

The curator told us the history of the depot.

They had the original carriage that Helen Keller rode in as a child 

We walked around outside, looking at all the train cars. 

Next, we rode to Spring Park. 

The water was turned off going to the waterfall

So there was no fresh water entering the spring 

There were a few ducks and geese in the water 

It was lunchtime, so we rode back to Florence and ate lunch at Crackers Barrel.

Ava ordered Confetti pancakes with bacon.

Ava ordered confetti pancakes with bacon and a doctor pepper to drink 

I ordered grilled chicken fingers with pinto beans, a slice of onion, cornbread, chow chow, and iced tea 

Hubby ordered steak, eggs, and hash browns with biscuits and iced tea to drink

Hubby bought two large chocolate chunk candy bars 

2024 May 29, Wednesday McFarland Park took AVA 

Today, we rode to McFarland Park to let Ava play on the playground 

I listen to bird sounds 

We got our B12 shots and paid the utilities 

We rode to Sheffield to pick up our monthly check

We rode to Champy’s for lunch

Hubby and I split a Catfish meal

Of 4 pieces of Catfish fries, hush puppies, and coleslaw 

Ava ordered a 2 piece of chicken finger meal with fries 

We rode to Aldies for a few groceries 

Then we headed home 

Catfish, fries, slaw, onion and Hushpuppy

Ava at Champy's 

2023 Dec 9, Dickens of Christmas Yall Come!

Making Smores

 We walked downtown Tuscumbia, stopping to make smores while we were eating William and his girlfriend came by. 

The carriage being pulled by Clyde's

Took pictures of the carriages being pulled by Clyde’s Horses. We saw several characters from Dickens, Christmas Carrol, and Santa Claus. We stopped to pet the Lama, sheep, Zebra, goats, and Camel. 

Dickens Characters

Petting Zoo

We also went to the Tennessee Valley Art Museum Christmas Mart. Lots of beautiful handmade items for sale. Hubby sat in the car while I toured Ivy Green. 

Ivy Green Birth Home of Helen Keller

Christmas at Ivy Green

Helen Keller and her teacher, Anne Sullivan

I was told the history of Helen Keller and her home, Ivy Green.  We also bought some candy(5 packages receep cups) and an upside umbrella for it was raining and we didn't want to get wet.

We finished the day with lunch at Whataburgers. A hamburger with fries and soda. 

Whataburger with french fries.