Attractions

  • The Boiler Room

    Address:
    313 North Court Street, Florence, AL, USA .

    Located in the basement of the Stricklin Building, The Boiler Room offers patrons of all ages an upscale gaming space to gather.  There is plenty of entertainment for both the young and the young at heart such as Bowling, Vintage Arcade Tables, Foosball, Skee-Ball, and more!

  • RTJ Golf Trail - The Shoals

    Address:
    990 Sunbelt Pkwy, Muscle Shoals, AL 35661 .

    The Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Muscle Shoals, located between Wheeler and Wilson dams on the Tennessee River, offers two 18-hole world class golf courses.

    -         Fighting Joe, named after General Joseph “Fighting Joe” Wheeler, opened in 2004 and is 8,092 yards long. There are four par fives, three of which measure more than 600 yards and are rated 1, 2, and 3 on the stroke index. The other par five is slightly short of 600 yards and plays to a pond-protected green with sand bunkers as the second line of defense.

    -         School Master, opened in 2005, is named after President Woodrow Wilson, aka the “schoolmaster” of politics. The more traditional par-4 course is beautifully tree-lined, rolling and keeps with the natural topography along the Tennessee River.

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  • University of North Alabama (aka UNA)

    Address:
    1 Harrison Plaza, Florence, AL 35632 .

    The University of North Alabama (UNA) is a coeducational university located in Florence, Alabama and it is the state's oldest four-year public university. It occupies a 130-acre campus in a residential section of Florence, but in close proximity to downtown and is only four blocks from The Stricklin Hotel.

    UNA was founded as LaGrange College in 1830 and was reestablished in 1872 as the first state-supported teachers' college south of the Ohio River. A year later, it became one of the nation's first coeducational colleges.

    The 2008 edition of U.s. News and World Report's America's Best Colleges ranked the university as a top-tier public university. In 2016, the university announced it had accepted an invitation to join the Division I ASUN Conference in 2018.  In 2019 UNA will become a football-only member of the FCS Big South Conference.

  • Rattlesnake Saloon

    Address:
    1292 Mt. Mills Road Tuscumbia, AL 35674 .

    Known as the watering hole under the rock, the Saloon, established in in 2009, is opened from 11:00 AM until 10:00 PM Thursday, Friday and Saturday from February – November and from 11:00 AM until 3:00 PM on Sunday (April-September only)

  • FAME Studios (Florence Alabama Music Studios)

    Address:
    603 Avalon Avenue, Muscle Shoals, Alabama 35661 .

    FAME Studios was established in 1959 above the City Drug Store in Florence, Alabama by Rick Hall. FAME has produced a large number of hit records and was instrumental in what came to be known as the Muscle Shoals Sound. It was added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage in 1997 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016. Additionally, FAME was made popular by Muscle Shoals, an award-winning documentary in 2013 that features Rick Hall, the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, and Muscle Shoals Sound.

  • Billy Reid, Clothing Designer

    Address:
    114 N Court St, Florence, AL 35630 .

    While Billy Reid may not be an actual attraction, he can often be found at his Florence store, just two blocks from The Stricklin Hotel. 

    Billy Reid (born: June 13, 1964) is an American fashion designer based in Florence, Alabama. His line includes men's, women's, accessories and eyewear. His clothing, self-described as “lived-in luxury” and "broken-in luxury", is known for its classic styles in high-quality fabrics with unusual accents and Southern influence. 

    Be sure and stop in while you're in town. 

  • Alabama Chanin

    Address:
    462 Lane Dr, Florence, AL 35630 .

    Elegant boutique featuring hand-sewn, upscale womenswear & accessories, plus home goods & a cafe.

    Natalie "Alabama" Chanin is an American fashion designer from Florence, Alabama. She is part of the zero-waste fashion movement. Her design company uses 100% organic cotton jersey fabric in their designs, which is sourced sustainably from seed to fabric. Chanin's "open source" philosophy means that patterns and techniques for her garments are openly available through books and workshops.

  • Rosenbaum House

    Address:
    601 Riverview Dr., Florence, Alabama .

    The Rosenbaum House is a single-family house designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright and built for Stanley and Mildred Rosenbaum in Florence, Alabama. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in December of 1978.

    Architecture critic Peter Blake wrote in 1960 that “during the 1930s, Wright built four structures of a beauty unexcelled in America before or since.” Three of those are Fallingwater, the Johnson Wax Administrative Building, and Taliesin West. The fourth was the Rosenbaum House. 

  • Wilson Dam

    Address:
    704 South Wilson Dam Road, Florence, AL, 35630 .

    Wilson Dam is a dam spanning the Tennessee River between Lauderdale County and Colbert County in the U.S. state of Alabama. It impounds Wilson Lake. It is one of nine Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) dams on the Tennessee River. The dam was declared a National Historic Landmark on November 13, 1966.

    The construction of Wilson Dam began in 1918, a year after the United States entered World War I. The federal government built two nitrate plants at Muscle Shoals for the making of explosives, and Wilson Dam was constructed to supply the electricity needed to power the plants. TVA acquired Wilson Dam in 1933.

  • Pope's Tavern

    Address:
    203 Hermitage Dr, Florence, AL 35630 .

    Museum of local & Civil War history in a tavern/inn used as both a Union & Confederate hospital preserves and interprets the site of the historic inn and stagecoach stop.

    During the Civil War, Andrew Jackson kicked the mud off his boots here. Homesick soldiers died in hospital beds here. Sweaty horses, stagecoaches, travelers who’d fought underbrush, pock-marked roads, and fear of assault pulled in for a night’s rest here.

    A rare Kennedy Long Rifle, a Confederate Colonel’s uniform, a vertically strung piano-one of only four ever made.

  • Indian Mound & Museum

    Address:
    1028 S Court St, Florence, AL 35630 .

    The Indian Mound and Museum preserves the site of an ancient earthen mound built by Native Americans of the Woodland Period, approximately 2,000 years ago. The mound rises from history-43 feet high, the largest trove of ancient tools, pottery, jewelry, and pipes in Alabama and is located on the banks of the Tennessee River in Florence, Lauderdale County, and is the largest Indian mound in the Tennessee River Valley.

  • Muscle Shoals Sound Studio

    Address:
    3614 Jackson Hwy., Sheffield, Alabama .

    Muscle Shoals Sound Studio was formed in 1969 by four session musicians called The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section who had left Rick Hall's nearby FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals to create their own recording facility. The group closed the Jackson Highway studio in 1979 moving the operation to 1000 Alabama Avenue, which ceased operation in 2005 when it was sold to a record label.

    The original Muscle Shoals Sound Studio at 3614 Jackson Highway was purchased by sound engineer Noel Webster in 1999 and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 2, 2006. It was partly restored in the early 2000s and sold to the Muscle Shoals Music Foundation in 2013. The Foundation completed a major restoration and reopened in January 2017.

  • Ivy Green

    Address:
    300 N Commons St W, Tuscumbia, AL 35674 .

    Ivy Green is the name of the childhood home and birthplace of Helen Keller. The house was built in 1820 and is a simple white clapboard house. Visitors can see the Keller family's original furnishings, hundreds of personal mementos, gifts, and books from a lifetime of travels. Thousands gather for the week-long Helen Keller Festival each June, and the epic drama “The Miracle Worker" is performed at the home each June and July.

  • Wilson Park

    Address:
    223 E Tuscaloosa St Florence, Alabama 35630 .

    Wilson Park, only two blocks from The Stricklin Hotel, is the site for "Music in the Park", Easter egg hunts, Arts Alive, Handy Festival activities, the Alabama Renaissance Faire, and Christmas in the Park. It can be scheduled for special events, including weddings, by calling the Park and Recreation Central Office.

  • Natchez Trace Parkway

    Address:
    Natchez Trace Parkway Cherokee, AL 35616 .

    A 444-mile road, through Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee offers a scenic drive that commemorates the historic Old Natchez Trace and preserves sections of the original trails used by American Indians, European settlers, slave traders, soldiers, and future presidents. Today it can be enjoyed for a scenic drive, biking, hiking, horseback riding, and camping.

    The Florence-Tuscumbia, Alabama section of the Trace is 33-miles in length (milepost 341.8 – 308.9) and crosses over the Tennessee River.

  • WC Handy: Museum & Festival

    Address:
    620 W College St Florence, AL 35630 .

    Home / Museum / Library

    The rustic 1873 log cabin and birthplace of the renowned blues musician William Christopher “W.C.” Handy is now a museum and library.  Opened to the public in June 1970, it houses a large collection of Handy’s papers, sheet music, and instruments. In 1980 the Black Heritage Library was added as a separate building and the average attendance each year is around 3000.

    Festival

    What started in the early eighties by the Music Preservation Society as a few events held in Florence to honor Handy during a weekend has grown to be a ten-day long music festival during the last full week in July each year. It boasts nearly 300, mostly musical events, in parks, clubs, restaurants, churches, recreation centers, and other places throughout Northwest Alabama, known as The Shoals.

    The festival continues to pay homage to the legacy of W.C. Handy, known to the world as the “Father of the Blues.” Born on November 16, 1873, in Florence, AL, where he lived until he was 19. He composed “Beale Street Blues”, “Yellow Dog Blues”, “Memphis Blues,” and “St. Louis Blues” and later formed Handy Brothers Music, still operated today in New York.

  • Tom's Wall

    Address:
    13890 County Road 8, Florence AL 35633 .

    The largest memorial to a Native American woman, Tom Hendrix's great, great, grandmother.

    A memorial wall of stones is truly something to behold. It is the largest un-mortared rock wall in the United States and the largest memorial to a Native American woman. Each stone represents one step of Tom Hendrix great, great, grandmother’s forced journey from Alabama to Oklahoma and back. The shape, height, and width of the wall changes to represent the various obstacles she encountered and there are stones from over 120 countries that come in every size, shape, texture and unique geologic features you can imagine.

  • Natchez Trace Parkway Colbert Ferry Park on Pickwick Lake

    Address:
    Natchez Trace Parkway .

    Recreation Area includes picnic tables, boat ramp, biking and hiking trails, and public restrooms.

    Colbert's Stand - George Colbert operated a ferry across the Tennessee River from 1800 to 1819. His stand, or inn, offered travelers a warm meal and shelter during their journey on the Old Trace. Colbert looked after his own well being and once charged Andrew Jackson $75,000 to ferry his Tennessee Army across the river. The site of his stand is a short 50 yards up the path from the parking area. An additional 20-minute stroll will take you along the Old Trace to the bluff overlook and back. After a venison supper, one guest at Colbert's Stand spent the night in an outbuilding (Wilderness Haven) with "not less than 50 Indians, many of them drunk." Here and about 20 other stands along the Trace, Kaintuck riverboatmen, money-laden businessmen, Indians, and outlaws shared a spot of fellowship on a long hazardous road.