Last weekend for the 4th of July holiday, we journeyed to my hometown of Florence, Alabama to see family and friends, and to visit some of my favorite haunts from childhood. My intention was to share some thoughts about a great little soda and sandwich shop that we always go to when we are there, but something happened as I looked at my hometown with fresh eyes…I saw so much more to share. So this is my postcard to you from Florence…and maybe you’ll just wish you were there, too!
Every small town has their local “institution” as it were, and Trowbridge’s certainly is one of those. Since 1918, kids and their adult counterparts have been coming to downtown Florence to get their Trowbridge’s fix at lunch or after school, with their families and friends, anticipating a hot dog or a sandwich and an ice cream shake, soda or sundae. You walk in the door and are immediately transported back in time because the Trowbridge family, who still run the place, haven’t changed the decor in all it’s many years of business (though it was refurbished out of necessity). Just like in the old days, you wait your turn for a table, booth or a stool at the old-fashioned soda counter, then place your order from the menu board and sip a coke while you wait. 
Since Florence is still a small southern town in many ways, you nearly always see someone you know and exchange greetings, hugs and some news. Then along comes the food. Although the hot dogs are hard to beat, my current favorite sandwich is the ham salad, and I know of no other place you can get one these days. They bake their own ham every day, grind it and mix it with mayo, pickles and peppers to make a rich spread, served on toast with 
lettuce…and it is downright delicious! I plan to try and recreate my own version of this, but I already know it won’t taste the same. Nothing is fancy here, just really good and simple southern sandwiches like egg and olive, chicken salad and peanut butter and banana—and oh yes, the hot dogs, which come topped with homemade chili—yum! Of course the main attractions are the milkshakes, sundaes and other ice cream delights including a concoction aptly named the “Oh-My-Gosh” which you’d have to see to believe, all made with Trowbridge’s own signature ice cream. In short, this is a must do and see if you are in Florence, and it’s one of those places that we hope will always be there.
After you leave Trowbridge’s, you’re going to need to walk around some to work off that milkshake, and downtown Florence is a really nice place to do it. Within about 1 1/2 square 
miles you can see a lot of interesting things, from fine antique stores to music venues, to the local retail shop of the famous clothing designer Billy Reid. Also in the downtown area is the Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts, located across the street from the lovely Wilson Park where the art festival “Arts Alive” is held every spring, and on the other side of the park is the huge Florence Public Library, housing it’s own used book store with some great finds. About two blocks north is 
the campus of the University of North Alabama, where you’ll find two mascot lions in residence at a specially built lion habitat, surrounded by a lovely tree-lined residential historic district. A few blocks to the west is the Frank Lloyd Wright-Rosenbaum House which is open to the public for tours, and the birthplace of W.C. Handy which is the epicenter of the annual W.C. Handy Music Festival at the end of this month, and a little further down the street is another locally famous eating institution in the form of Bunyan’s Bar-B-Q. Just a few short blocks to the south is the Indian Mound Museum, McFarland Park, and the Port of Florence Marina—all located along the mighty Tennessee River, which 
runs next to the town. And I’ve yet to mention the many local artists and art galleries featuring fine sculptures, paintings, and folk art, a lot of which can be seen during a big art and music street party on the first Friday of each month at an event called “First Fridays”. The renowned clothier Natalie Chanin lives and works her magic here, too, and starting this year you will begin to see huge semi-abstract recycled aluminum sculptures rising along the riverbanks celebrating the area’s music heritage and created by artist Audwin McGee, a Florence native. In fact, it is no wonder the magazine Garden and Gun chose Florence as “Best Art and Design Town” this year…I mean, even the drain covers are little works of art!
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg for this area known as the Quad-Cities, which encompasses the communities of Florence, Sheffield, Tuscumbia and Muscle Shoals. Between the four of them you can add to the list of attractions a Robert Trent Jones Golf Course, the world-famous FAME Recording Studios, Helen Keller’s birthplace Ivy Green, the Tennessee Valley Art Museum, Wilson Dam featuring one of the world’s largest lift locks, a Marriott Hotel/Spa/Conference Center with a Water Park and a River Walk, The Coon Dog Cemetery, the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, plus local farmer’s and organic food markets, boating and skiing on pristine lakes, and some of the finest fishing in the south. And honestly, the list goes on and on.
So as you can see from my postcard, my little hometown is actually pretty special. In fact, I’d recommend you visit it the next time you find yourself anywhere near North Alabama and check it out for yourself. You can read more details about the food, the people, the places and the events at these links: Garden and Gun, No’Ala Magazine, Natalie Chanin, W.C. Handy Music Festival, and Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts.
And if you do visit Florence, go to Trowbridge’s and have a hot dog and a chocolate shake for me, you hear?
bits and breadcrumbs 
Sounds like a little bit of Heaven, Betsy! Thanks for sharing it.
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Good for you! Thanks for mentioning ivy green…right around the corner from my grandmas
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Thanks for the feedback. You guys need to visit. I’ve only touched on what I could manage in a day or so…look for part 2! Jamie…where is your grandma? I’ll make it a point to drive past on the next trip!
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What a great job that you did! We love our customers! Thanks, -Jay Trowbridge
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You’re most welcome, Jay…and deserving I might add! 🙂
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I have eaten at Trowbridge’s Ice Cream Shop each of the few times I have passed thru Florence. You brought back the wonderful memories of the homemade chicken salad (my favorite) and the Oh My Gosh, which may be the very best sundae I’ve ever eaten. Don Trowbridge and his crew make it a fun place to visit. I am from New Orleans & Breaux Bridge LA, so I know great food when I find it.
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Thank you for your comment, James. It really is a fun place to visit and I have to go every single time that I’m in Florence, which is about every other month! The trip isn’t complete until I have my Trowbridge’s fix!
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I agree with my son, Jay. Great job. Business was started by my Grandfather (Paul) in 1918. We have never paid for advertising but relied on “word-of-mouth”
to spread the word, just as you have done… Thanks so much.
Don Trowbridge
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It’s my great pleasure, Don! Florence wouldn’t be Florence without Trowbridge’s, as anyone who lives there would agree. Kudos to your entire family for not messing with a good thing and allowing it to stay the great place it has always been. I’ll be stopping by again weekend after next when I visit my mom…my husband has to have a hot dog and a chocolate shake every time we come to Florence, as you can see from the picture above! 🙂
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Trowbridges has great food and a nostalgic environment. It is definately one of Florence’s claim to fame.
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I totally agree, Jeanette! Thanks for visiting and for your comment!
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We had lunch there today. Our son and his family were visiting from Murfreesboro, TN and my granddaughter selected Trowbridge’s. My mother went with us, so we had four generations sharing our memories and making new ones.
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That’s very cool, Linda. Trowbridge’s does have multi-generational appeal…it brings out the kid in all of us!
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I was raised on food from Trowbridges. I left Florence in 1966 and now live in Atlanta but I have returned over and over and each time I think of Florence I start to think of Trowbridges. I have been known in recent years to order 2 hot dogs, a pimento cheese, a chicken salad all at one sitting and finish them off with a couple of cokes. Knowing I probably won’t be back soon, I really load up on those great sandwiches. I’m returning in June for a Coffee High reunion and you can bet your fortune that I’ll be in a booth at Trowbridges munching behind a huge stack of sandwiches.
Jim
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I feel the same way, Jim. I usually restrain myself and get the ham salad, but sometime have to go for broke and get a hot dog and some ice cream, too! And of course no one can eat just ONE hot dog at Trowbridges, you have to have two of those!
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My husband and I grew up in Florence and now live in Huntsville, AL. We always love our trips over to Florence and can’t imagine a trip home without a stop at Trowbridges. I remember when the new Coffee High School was being built, the old Coffee had to have split classes between morning and afternoon. Trowbridge did a huge business taking care of the AM and PM students lunch hour not to mention the regular everyday lunchtime customers. Trowbridge is must anytime you visit the Shoals area. Not a better soda anywhere!
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Anne, I remember the lunchtime runs from school to Trowbridges and back. In those days you could get 2 hot dogs and a chocolate sundae all for forty seven cents. Makes my mouth water even today. Dr. Delbert Archibald was the principal and used to watch the door to see that the Trowbridges crowd got back on time.
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Wow. that is a memory. Jim, for some reason when I replied to Anne, it looks like it may have removed this comment, if that’s the case I apologize. Sometimes WordPress does things that make no sense. It wasn’t intentional! ~BB
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Hi Anne! I think so many people from Florence connect memories of their childhood hand in hand with memories of going to Trowbridge’s, and of course I do, too. What I think is so great now is that the place has remained so timeless and has such universal appeal, it never goes out of style. I love that new generations are “discovering” it every day, and may it continue on for decades!
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I went to school with Don Trowbridge from the third grade until high school graduation! He was and still is a good friend and has kept his Dad’s “Creamery,” just as enjoyable as it always has been. I live in another North Alabama town now, but still crave those “Trowbridge’s” hot dogs and a bottled Coke from time to time so we drive over often! There still is an old table there with a lot of initials carved in the top by kids from the 50’s. Mine may be one of them! I heard some of my favorite recordings from that era for the first time on the juke box there! That was the place to carry your girlfriend. Also, I had a cousin who worked for Don’s Dad back then when they made their own ice cream and one night, while waiting for the cousin to finish the night’s work, I was invited inside after closing and sat in the back booth as Mr. Trowbridge ate some fried frog legs. He offered me one and that was my first cuisine of that sort. In fact, I’ve never eaten a frog leg since even though I enjoyed it, but have eaten my weight of those hot dogs, chicken salad and ice cream! Keep it going Don!
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I’m loving hearing all of these great memories of Trowbridge’s, and hope Don and Jay are tuning in to read and feel all this love! Thanks, Lee, for stopping by and for sharing your memories.:) I have to say, I’m okay with frog legs NOT being on their menu!
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