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If you’ve ever seen the 1998 romantic drama Hope Floats, then you may know just a little about Smithville, Texas. While our beloved Birdee unwittingly falls in love with her close high school friend Justin, we were busy doing the same with Smithville. In the movie, the chemistry between co-stars Sandra Bullock and Harry Connick Jr. is undeniable, and so is the sparkle of Birdee’s tiny hometown. Smithville, a real-life location on the outskirts of Texas Hill Country, may be home to only 4,000 people but it’s packed the kind of special small-town charm you can’t find just anywhere....

Hope Floats is the perfect guilty pleasure movie—it’s heartbreaking, heartwarming, funny, and romantic, frequently all at the same time. The film follows Birdee Pruitt (Sandra Bullock) who very publicly discovers her marriage is over. With few options, she heads home to Smithville, Texas, with her young daughter Bernice (Mae Whitman) in tow to move back in with her mother (Gena Rowlands). While Birdee isn’t particularly happy to be back in Smithville, her high school beau, Justin (Harry Connick, Jr....

It’s a moment most girls dream of, but just seconds after she was crowned her high school’s homecoming queen, Juleydi Franco Ramos gave up her tiara. Onlookers watched the senior at Crossville High School in Crossville, Alabama, remove the coveted crown and place it on the head of fellow classmate and first alternate Lilliana Pahaumba Roque. Roque, who has cerebral palsy and spends most of her time in a wheelchair, is described as “always smiling” and “one of the most inspiring students” at the DeKalb County school....

Since the pandemic has kept most of us home far more than we were in the “before times,” many of us are investing in our homes. We’re taking on DIY projects to repaint the bedroom, to create a more functional home office, and many are investing in higher quality appliances since we are cooking at home so much more these days. Did you buy a new grill during the pandemic? Are you still a grilling rookie?...

Hold onto your chicken strips, y’all—Chick-fil-A is kicking off 2020 with a rare menu shakeup. The Atlanta-based chicken chain recently announced that it will start testing a “modified menu” that’s “a little bit simpler and a whole lot spicier” at some Charlotte-area and Arizona restaurants beginning on January 13. As such, Chick-fil-A will be removing six popular items to make for room for Spicy Chick-n-Strips, the Grilled Spicy Deluxe Sandwich, and the Spicy Chick-n-Strips Biscuit at select locations....

In his seven years as a therapy dog, Duke made a huge “pawprint” at Children’s of Alabama in Birmingham. When the time came for the Great Dane to retire last week, Child Life Specialists hosted a party for him and his handler to honor and thank them for their volunteer service. Duke and Carol Ritter became a Hand in Paw Therapy Team in 2015. According to a news release from Hand in Paw, the team made hundreds of therapeutic visits throughout their seven years, including visits at The Exceptional Foundation, Glenwood Inc, and UAB’s Emergency Room....

In recent weeks amid the coronavirus pandemic, Dolly Parton has taken much action to help her Tennessee community and country at large in so many ways. Her beloved theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, Dollywood, has given local first responders and staff at East Tennessee Children’s Hospital protective supplies. The country star also committed $1 million to help advance coronavirus research at Vanderbilt Medical Center. The Book Lady has also started a weekly video series reading books to children....

Ben and Erin Napier are doing all they can to protect their Christmas tree from their curious 17-month-old daughter, Mae. Erin recently shared a photo of the family’s precarious tree-toddler situation via an Instagram story. The photo—set to the tune of “Eye of the Tiger”—shows little Mae gazing longingly at the beautifully decorated Christmas tree from behind a makeshift barrier comprised of a pet gate and two dining chairs. “Y’all pray for this tree,” Erin wrote....

All it takes to turn around a bad mood? “Blame it all on my roots / I showed up in boots…” As country music fans know, Garth Brooks’ 1990 smash hit “Friends in Low Places” is an uplifting jolt of communal misery, the end-all, be-all, last-call, howl-it-to-the-rafters at 1 a.m. on a Tuesday night tune. Simply put, there’s no song quite like it. Now, as the music community mourns the death of the song’s co-writer, Dewayne Blackwell (songwriter Earl Bud Lee also shares writing credits with Blackwell), Brooks is sharing just how much of an impact Blackwell had on his life....

A helicopter ride wasn’t Ima Black’s first choice for her 100th birthday celebration, but the Navy said a flight with the Blue Angels was too dangerous. That’s also what they said about a submarine ride (her other suggestion), The Florida Times-Union reports. But being the widow of the Navy’s first Master Chief Petty Officer comes with some sway. So last week, two months after she turned 100, Ima was treated to a helicopter ride around her husband’s namesake ship, the USS Delbert D....

We always enjoy learning insider trivia about the Bush family, whether it’s their cherished traditions or getting a glimpse of one of the love letters George Sr. Sent Barbara Bush During World War II. Now, thanks to a recent segment on the TODAY show, we’ve learned another fascinating piece of intel about this famous family. As Jenna Bush Hager opened up to co-host Willie Geist, her secret service nickname growing up during her father George W....

Memphis is known for its music and barbecue, but certainly not whiskey. But Alex Castle, master distiller of Old Dominick, seeks to change that. She’s making a name for the city and herself as the first female master distiller in Tennessee after Prohibition. But it wasn’t the spirit that first attracted her to the industry. “In high school, I decided to study chemical engineering, because I’d fallen in love with chemistry, physics and higher level math....

Museums and libraries across the South and worldwide are helping people in desperate need of entertainment. Thanks to the New York Academy of Medicine’s Color Our Collections initiative, over 100 museums and libraries are offering coloring pages to download for free. The Color Our Collections initiative actually started back in 2016, but as people find themselves staying home to stay safe during the coronavirus pandemic, the project is becoming a lifeline for bored adults and children alike....

Oysters are synonymous with the state of Louisiana. In fact, Louisiana is the number one producer of oysters in the nation, producing about one-third of the country’s oysters. Pick any restaurant, and you’re likely to find fresh Gulf oysters served raw on the half-shell, fried up in a po’boy, or charbroiled for Oysters Rockefeller. Outside of being a dinner table staple, oysters also play an important role in maintaining the balance of marine ecosystems and coastal habitats....

If there’s one thing we love more than fresh blooms, it’s being able to pick them ourselves. At Lavender in Bloom in Georgetown, Kentucky, you can do just that: pick your own bunches of intoxicating lavender. The family-run operation located an hour outside of Louisville opened in 2018 as the first commercial lavender farm in Kentucky. Today, Lavender in Bloom boasts 2,000 plants in 11 varieties with shades of purple, pink, and even white....

It is often said that trends are like clockwork, circling back time and time again. That sentiment couldn’t be more true, especially when it comes to the resurgence of analog, as predicted by Pinterest. Even in today’s world of screens and swipes, there is nothing like a classic timekeeper. Whether you’re designing an outfit or a room, a clock is a quintessential, sophisticated detail. When asked why analog is resurfacing, Atlanta interior designer Steve McKenzie says, “There’s a familiarity [with a clock] to childhood and days gone by....

Your dress is zipped, lipstick applied, and hair sprayed—now there’s just one thing left to do: perfume. Something about spritzing your signature scent gives just the finishing touch needed to grab your purse and whisk away, leaving behind a delicate cloud of airy and fresh, or perhaps robust and spicy, aromas. Yes, something about that spritz makes you feel just a touch glamorous. Like Audrey Hepburn, donning cat-eye sunnies and strolling down a cobblestone street; or Elizabeth Taylor, dripping in diamonds and clutching a martini....

Making cookies without chocolate is like going to the beach on a cloudy day. You could do it, but why would you? I’ll admit, sprinkle-topped sugar cookies look pretty, gingersnaps smell great, and lemon bars are great for a crowd, but if a cookie doesn’t contain chocolate, I’m not interested. Throw in some chips, at least! Which is why these Fudgy Flourless Chocolate-Pecan cookies caught my attention. They meet all my cookie requirements: they are rich, have a great texture, and are so chocolatey it’s ridiculous....

If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it’s probably a duck. At least that’s what the leaders of the Outer Banks’s northernmost community must have been thinking when deciding on a name for their newly incorporated town in 2002. At the time, duck hunting was big time in the bordering Currituck and Albemare Sounds. The abundance of waterfowl in the area gave inspiration for the town’s unusual name, and Duck has stuck ever since....

One of the things Ian Atherton had on his bucket list for his April vacation in Florida was to catch a shark. But in the end, Mother Nature had much cooler plans for the British tourist. On April 9, Atherton went on a half-day shark fishing trip with Capt. Jon Cangianella of Fin & Fly Fishing Charters in Cocoa Beach, Florida. According to Florida Today, Cangianella took him a few miles off of Port Canaveral to a spot in where the water is about 35-feet-deep and released a chunk of bluefish to attract sharks....