Bear with me through the following post. It is long and disorganized. I wanted to share our new home with our family and friends out there. We have been in Enterprise, AL for a few months now. I finally feel settled. The word "settled" for me means much more than having our boxes unpacked. I have met friends, I can find my way around town, I know where I like to shop and play, and I have found some of the things about this area that I love. Whenever you move to a new place it takes awhile, but I have tried to focus on the good things. Alabama has never been in my top ten places to live, but I am pleasantly surprised with this place. the community seems strong and friendly, and I am happy :)
Our humble abode. We will be renting this house for at least a year. Modest and small, but clean and in a great location. We live on the end of a road...only one house after us. We don't have traffic. We have a great park one street over. We have really nice neighbors, and we have a pool! We are happy here.
Dining Room
Our backyard pool
The kids swim every day. They have gotten really good at it. The pool has saved us during this hot sticky summer!
This is a beautiful park that is one street over from our home. It has a nice jogging trail, playgrounds, ponds, tennis courts, baseball fields, and soon to come...a splash pad.
There are many homes I drool over here. They have a lot of Southern charm. Mostly the porches are what I notice. Here are a few I took pictures of one day when I was driving around town. There are many many more...
The foliage here...need I say more?
Here are a few snapshots of our town. They are the places we frequent the most...
The Farmer's Market
Our library
the old downtown area
Several water towers everywhere
The historic Rawls Hotel on Main street
The old train depot museum
And now for some random facts and interesting things about Enterprise...
Enterprise is home to a music festival called BamaJam every year. It is held in a huge peanut field and draws about 20,000 people. They camp for a few days and listen to several country singers...big ones. Last year they had Taylor Swift, Brooks and Dunn, Alan Jackson, etc. etc. I can't name all the celebrities, but it is a big show. This year's show was canceled however, because the man that is in charge got sent to jail for some kind of fraud. Someone else is taking over the festival and it is on for next year. It should be fun.
There are churches on EVERY corner. No joke. On one street alone there are 5 baptist churches...yes, 5. That isn't counting the other types of churches on that same street. Whatever religion you seek, you can find a church for you very close. It really is the "Bible Belt" here.
We are only a one hour drive from the gulf's white sandy beaches. As you can see, the sand really is like white sugar. It is so soft! We have had fun down there about every other weekend. We like to go to Panama City, FL, and also to Destin, FL. We have seen all sorts of wildlife. The kids have seen starfish, jelly fish, sand dollars, lots of fish, and our favorite part was when a pod of dolphins came close to swim. Jake was snorkeling at the time and got to swim right with them. I was shrieking like a little school girl as I watched him from the shore. Way cool...
Kudzu is a vine that overtakes everything in it's path. It grows over trees and bushes, and old houses like a blanket. You can only see the shape of what is underneath. It was introduced from Japan in the late 1800's and has overtaken much of the Southeast ever since. It is almost impossible to get rid of, and it chokes the plants it covers to death. But, it is pretty :) This picture is a few blocks from our house on the side of the road.
There are cotton and peanut fields everywhere. This is the "peanut capital of the world". Our county (Coffee County) has the highest production of peanuts in the U.S. They have the peanut festival in November when they harvest them. It is a big deal here. I can't wait.
Cotton field
Peanut field
They love boiled peanuts here. They take fresh peanuts before they have been roasted, and boil them in a seasoned brine. You eat them soft right out of their shell. They really are delicious. I always grab a bag when I go to the Farmer's Market. They also have stand on the side of the road around town. Sometimes at home we get a whiff of boiled peanuts from a farm close by. Don't knock 'em til you try 'em!
Now I know what they mean when they say "When it rains, it pours!" It sure does. Sometimes I think our pool is going to overflow with the amount of rain that falls some days.
Everyone has a front porch. In fact, Alabama has a saying that says "Alabama, One Big Front Porch". There are wrap around porches on most of the houses with rocking chairs that actually get used :) People love to sit outside and talk to neighbors, and watch the world around them.
We can't wait for visitors!!!
