The Parks of Dothan – Botanical Gardens

At first glance, Dothan may seem like a boring flat city, 4 hours from any type of mountain and at least 2 hours from the beach.  However, if you know where to look, there are hidden treasures to be found!  One such treasure is the Dothan Area Botanical Gardens.

The Dothan Area Botanical Gardens is a beautiful place for a morning walk, afternoon stroll or a photo session.  We have used it for all three!  The best part is, it is FREE!  There is a brand new building on the property featuring a reception hall and bathrooms!  The later is especially important if you plan on bringing children. 

Here are some highlights from our last visit:  

The fountains are always a huge hit

The Koi pond fascinates the children! Bring the fish food!

Here are some of Schnookums 3 year pictures:

The Lily Garden

Just remember, just because your scenery is lovely doesn't mean the child will smile...

The Rose Garden is so so beautiful!

The hydrangeas are now in bloom and they are AWESOME!!!

Hope you go and enjoy!!!  This really is a beautiful garden!!

Strawberry Picking at Cottle Farms!

Hello Spring!  And what an early hello it is for this Yankee turned Southern Belle.  The idea of not only planting but also harvesting many things before Memorial day is so foreign to me it has taken a good 7 years to get used to!  Strawberries in April!  Beautiful Red Tasty Strawberries!  Yes, it is true and the best place to pick in Dothan is Cottle Farms on 231.

This farm along the highway offers gallon sized buckets of strawberries for $12 or gives you a bucket to pick your own for $10.  I suggest that if you have a few minutes that you pick your own.  I picked 3 gallons in about 45 minutes with 3 kids in tow… who did more eating than picking, as can be expected.  The advantage of picking your own is you get to choose the reddest, ripest berries!  YUMMM!!!  I ate so many after we got home that my oldest daughter chided me and told me that too many would make my tummy sick.  

So, enjoy spring and go get some Strawberries!  Also, for all you other misplaced Yankees, don’t miss the blueberry season which starts in May, not July.  Updates on that to come! 

Website Wednesday – Public Profiler, World Names

Most of my Website Wednesdays are meant to be useful.  However, this week the website is just for fun.  That is unless you are doing a genealogy project.  Public Profiler, World Names lets you enter a surname and then it shows you where in the world that name exists.  Enter Hippo for example and you will find that the U.S. has some people who go by this name.  Click on Pennsylvania where the highest concentration of the “Hippo’s” are and you will find that you can visit them in Lancaster, Blair, Berks and Bucks counties.  I found this site fascinating and worth about 15 min of my time.  Have fun!

Teach Me Time Clock Review

The Teach Me Time Clock has been a very nice addition to my daughter’s room.  We purchased it for her for Christmas and we have been very pleased with it.  This clock has both a digital and analog display so that children will learn to tell time both ways.  It is also a night light.  It has a very soft glow and my husband and I prefer it to the harsher LED night lights on the market today.

Its best feature is that it changes to a green night light at a preset time letting my daughters know it is ok to get up now.  They watch for it and often before I can get up out of bed, take care of my younger son, they are both well on their way to being dressed and ready for the day!  No more 6am wake ups!  No more, “But it was light out Mommy!”

This product was recommended to me by a very good friend and we couldn’t be happier with it!  Check out their website to read more.  There are many more features we have not explored on the clock yet but am excited to as my girls get older.  For example, you can program it to talk and tell the time and have it say the time when one of the buttons are pushed.  It can also be programed to be an alarm clock with a snooze!

Let me know what you think!

Upscale Thrift – Dothan’s Thrift Stores

My very last stop was in the very pleasant shop of Upscale Thrift.  It is right next to Gotta Have it Thrift Shop and the Sound Shop.  It is also open from 9am – 6pm Monday – Saturday.  There was more furniture and household items than children’s items or clothes.  The shop was clean and bright and I enjoyed my time talking with the owner.  Here are some pictures from my visit to give you an idea of what they have.

The children's section with a table/desk for $25! It took all I had to leave it there! I had already spent enough for one day!

Toys and the like

 

 

 

 

 

 

I did not come home with anything but enjoyed wondering around.  I also could not tell you about the prices because I am no good at non-children’s items yet.  But I encourage you to go check it out for yourself!  It is fun to wander around such places!  Here are the some more pictures:

Gotta Have It Thrift Shop – Dothan’s Thrift Stores

2200 S. Oates St.

I finished up my day of Thrifting at Gotta Have It Thrift Shop and its neighbor Upscale Thrift. (tomorrow’s post)  I have been looking for these two new shops ever since I had heard their advertisement on the radio.  They are on the west side of 231S on the same lot as the Sound Shop.  Both shop’s hours are 9am-6pm Monday-Saturday.

Gotta Have It has clothes and a children’s section, but it also has household items and very nice looking furniture.

Here is the children’s section:

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is small, but it still had some very nice clothing items.  Just about everything is priced $5 except some nice dresses and outfits which were $12.  Brands I saw included, Gap, Little Me, and Kelly’s Kids.  The shop is smallish but clean and bright.

Here is what I came home with:

They were $5 total!  My girls faces lit up like Christmas trees when I walked through the door!  What fun they have had playing with them!  Once upon a time they made horse noises but they don’t even care that they don’t anymore!  I have no idea what these would cost if I bought them at a store… do you?

The Salvation Army – Dothan’s Thrift Stores

The Salvation Army or, Good Ol’ Sally’s Boutique as my Dad used to call it.  While some cities have very nice Sally’s, Dothan’s is not so great.  It is small, though not as small as our Goodwill and doesn’t have very much in the way of good clothes for kids.  However, they are known for their furniture sales and sometimes have other very nice dish sets and house items.  The store is tidy and the lady who usually works there is very nice and pleasant.  She greets you at the door and is very good at small talk as you check out.

The store has added a Boutique area which I think is a nice idea.  It looks nice and the items are displayed in an attractive manner.

 

 

 

 

The prices are your standard $2-$4 for most clothing items.  The shoes and other items are priced as marked.  They do have a $.25 bin that is usually full of children’s clothes that they don’t feel is worth putting on a hanger.  Sometimes I can find some great things here, but I have to dig.  So, what did I find?  Here it is:

 

 

 

 

Stride Rite shoes, Land’s End long sleeve dress, Carter’s dress, Circo jeans, Gap hat, Just One Year Halloween onsie, 2 Carter’s long sleeve rompers, Carter’s brown cords.

Sally’s Price: $5

Estimated Retail Price : $129

Well, now, I had to dig for these and they don’t smell so good, so I have to wash them… but all in all, not bad.  Still, I do not stop here too often.  I hate to dig through piles to find nice clothes with no guarantee of finding any at all!