Don Trowbridge: Trowbridge's (Florence, AL)

Trowbridge’s in Florence, AL is a happy place. It’s a place of cherries on top with extra whip cream, a menu of ice cream flavors readable from any seat in the house, children’s eyes lighting up to the phrase “whatever you want,” and a bowl of fresh bananas just waiting to be split. The stools and booths are a retro teal color, not because the owners are being nostalgic, but because they’ve been that color since they were installed last mid-century. Don Trowbridge remembers that era, and at 85, he still comes in every day to visit, assist, and enjoy the ice cream smiles. He grew up in this building on Court Street, once jumped off the O’Neal Bridge into the Tennessee River to impress some friends on a hot summer day, and spent years away working as a systems analyst, but ice cream and Florence always welcomed him home. He’s the fourth generation, and his daughter Pam the fifth-generation, to tend to this 104-old business, a North Alabama summer staple.