September 24, 2026
On September 18, Bruce’s sister spent the night at Blackberry Homestead on an air mattress in the odd room. Lola slept on the carpet next to the air mattress.
On September 19, I got up early, just after six, and headed out to water the garden. Blackberry Homestead, the entire time we were gone, suffered temps in the high 90sF and even made it over a 100F on a couple of days. (36.6C to 38.8C)
My strawberries were scorched. I lost several of my Alpine strawberries. My Florida Pearl and Honeoye strawberries had some leaf curl and browning from not having enough water. The asparagus looked great. The deep crowns put the roots into moist soil. I did lose one of my sorrel plants. The horseradish looked good other than the holes from the return of the harlequin bugs. My Thai Longhorn pepper was dead. The dead plant was full of ripe peppers and a few green ones. The leaf-legged bugs had abandoned the tomatoes and moved on to the eggplants and pepper plants. My watering disturbed them and they flew away. I also watered the bucket brigade.
While I was watering, my sister-in-law and Lola came out. Lola had to pee, then she raced around the yard after being told it was okay. My sister-in-law came over (followed by Bruce shortly after) to see the garden. She started talking to me about the garden and Bruce took over showing her around while I continued to water. Lola decided she needed to follow them instead of hanging out with me.
Bruce showed off the orchard and blueberries. I had finished watering and caught up with them while Bruce was showing off the blueberry ring. Bruce’s sister was impressed by the number of blueberry bushes we had. She and Bruce laughed at the miniature peach and nectarine. Bruce’s sister said they looked shaggy and Bruce told her we thought they looked like cousin It.
Bruce and I took his sister and Lola around to the front yard and front field to show off the figs, willows, pawpaws, pecans, the redbuds, and dogwoods. Lola had a great time running around the front field.
My sister-in-law admired the purple magnolia. Bruce went inside to get rags so she could wipe off Lola’s legs and feet before letting her in the house. Lola knew the door was there and she was ready to be on the other side. Lola was ready for water and food!
Since we were gone for almost a week, we didn’t have much food in the house. Since my sister-in-law loves brisket, we decided to go to Mitchell’s Smoked Meats. Mr. Mitchell makes some of the best BBQ we’ve had.
After one more pee stop, Lola was left behind. She looked sad because she couldn’t come with into the garage. Bruce’s sister laughed at Lola and told her, “ We are getting into a car, so you wouldn’t want to come with us.”
Before the day got blistering, we went to the Wilson Dam Waterfall. The waterfall area is cooling from a cool light mist from the water .
Then, onto Mitchell’s Smoked Meats. Bruce’s sister and I had the brisket sandwich. So goooood! Bruce had the three rib plate that he loves.
Since my father-in-law had been a Lions Club member for several decades, he had several awards. I thought if no one in the family wanted them, the awards could be donated for the Lions walk at Ivy Green. We drove through Tuscumbia to get to Ivy Green and Bruce’s sister enjoyed the views. We made it to Ivy Green and paid the entrance fee for the indoor tour. The docent knew the history of the family and the childhood stories about Helen. They may have read Helen’s book, “The Story of my Life”. We walked around the grounds and through the Lions walk. The Lions have a deep connection to Helen Keller. She called on the members to be “Knights for the Blind” in a speech made at Lions Clubs International Foundation Convention at Cedar Point, OH, in 1925. The Lions took up her call.
Bruce drove us around the Tuscumbia Spring Park and the large fountain was running.
We were hot, so our next stop was Trowbridge’s Ice Cream and Sandwich Shop. It has been in business since 1918. It has won numerous awards. Food & Wine’s local flavor for each state, Trowbridge’s pineapple and orange was the winner for Alabama. Southern Foodways Alliance (SFA) honored them with the Keeper of the Flame award. They were included on the “TrueSouth” season 9 for “The Shoals” episode. It is the best ice cream shop in Alabama and we are lucky enough to be able to make a quick trip to get their ice cream.
After eating ice cream, we decided to go see the Frank Lloyd Wright Rosenbaum House. The tour guide mentioned it is an intact Usonian house. The addition was done by Frank Lloyd Wright as part of his plan to be able to add onto a Usonian house when a family grew. Mildred Rosenbaum donated the house and everything in it to the city of Florence, AL. Most of the furniture was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright to go with the house. The dents, scratches, and scrapes are visible signs of long term use.
“ Frank Lloyd Wright Rosenbaum House – The Stanley and Mildred Rosenbaum house was completed in 1939 and is the only Frank Lloyd Wright-designed structure in the state of Alabama. It is also one of only 26 Usonian houses in the United States. The original owners lived in the house until 1999. It is constructed of cypress, glass and brick and has been meticulously restored.”
These pictures from the Frank Lloyd Wright Rosenbaum House site has much better photos than I took. They didn’t include every room, so I included some additional pictures of rooms I found interesting.
The original kitchen was smaller than the main bathroom. The tour guide joked that Frank Lloyd Wright never cooked anything in his life. Frank based his kitchen ideas on railroad dining room kitchens. The kitchen in the extension was a bigger kitchen and the original kitchen was turned into a wet bar.
The tour was fun and informative.
Then we went back to Blackberry Homestead to let Lola out of the house. She was happy to see Bruce’s sister and us. We played with her and she has a marvelous time. Lola loves chasing the ball and playing tug with it.
When it was time for supper, my sister-in-law was interested in Mexican. We took her to Senor Tequila. We had a good time and when we got home, Lola was happy to see us.
We all went to bed early so Bruce’s sister wouldn’t be tired on her drive home. In the morning, she was gone with Lola before we could get up and steal Lola.
I am glad she was able to change her route to stop by to visit with us. It added an extra 4 hours to her travel time. From our house, the drive was 10 hours and 30 minutes plus time for stops. She did get a good break in between travel days.
