Hometown Tourist

Have you heard about towns trying to generate revenue by creating "hometown tourists?" I know quite a few that have done this and my small town has been one too. They've had this thing they call "Hometown Vacation Fridays" where you meet up on Fridays and find something new in the town you hadn't seen/learned about before. SUCH a cool idea.

And so it relates to me. I've been in quite a funk lately and having a hard time being inspired to create anything - a terrible predicament when you do what I do for a living. So my sweet husband gave me an assignment last night to try and break me out of my rut. He told me to go be a tourist in our town and to take at least 10 pictures of cool things I saw.

You know what? It worked! I had such a fun time wandering around and snapping pics here and there. I know some people thought I was strange, but I didn't care! I think i took close to 100 pictures in only a 2 mile radius (LITERALLY!) from my house...including one OF my house and all the infinate boy items there seems to be laying around now that school is out for the summer! ;)

In any case, I strongly recommend it! Go - be a tourist. Enjoy all the wonderful things about your own city! You'll be glad you did! (And if you do, email me or link me here - I'd LOVE to see!)

So with that said, I'm going to tag a few people to get it started (you girls can kill me later ;)):

Nic Howard, Kelly Purkey, Molly Peckham (I wanna see Hawaii, girl!), Suzy Plantamura, Stephanie Howell and Shannon Zickel (and anyone else who wants to play along ;)).

Here are what the images are starting with the top left going clockwise, then center:
1. Andrew Carnegie Library (one of the first Carnegie Libraries and it also has an 19th Century cemetary in the front yard), 2. Statue of Santana Lass. (Shelbyville is the Saddlebred Capitol of the World and we take our horses very seriously. This statue sits at a prominent spot where Main Street splits with Washington.), 3. Antique Clock at 5th & Main. Not sure what's special about it but I think it's cool!, 4. Columns at the stunning Wakefield-Scearce Gallery (My mom was best friends with CiCi Scearce growing up), 5. Beautiful Knockout Roses, 6. The plaque marking the historical meaning of the Shelbyville Fountain (also at 5th & Main), 7. Fountain in front of Shannon's Funeral Home. Alot of my family have been buried out of here, including my grandmother., 8. A House on Main that I want one day. It will be mine (or one alot like it!), 9. Shelby County Courthouse, 10. Antique Stores on Main Street (and yes, I stood in the middle of the road to get this!), 11. Shelbyville Fountain created commemorating the Public Works., 12. Historic Home on Clay Street (one of my favorites in town. I just love the ivy!), 13.(Center) A gorgeous Southern Magnolia Bud.

And a huge thank you to KP for her guidance in showing me where to create this awesome mosaic at www.bighugelabs.com. AMAZING!