FlorenceMom.com Blogs

Here are suggestions below for Valentine's Day in Florence!

Downtown Florence area:

1. Town Hall (101 W. Evans) - This is hands down the most romantic and maybe expensive of the bunch but with a rooftop bar called The Dispensary, this place is hard to beat and the food is top notch. Make sure to make a reservation! Click here, to see a detailed blog on what we ordered and pictures of Town Hall.  (Rooftop bar is only open when weather is favorable.)
2. Victors Bistro (126 W. Evans) - Located inside of the boutique hotel called Hotel Florence, you'll instantly feel like you're going to a very special place as you enter their doors. Service is excellent and the decor is beautiful. The food is always reliable with quality ingredients and they've been around Florence for many years. 
3. Flavors of India (137 E. Palmetto St) - If you love Indian food and curries, Flavors of India will not disappoint the palate that crazes spice! Everything is authentic and the food tastes amazing! For lunch, they usually have the buffet which is perfect if you want to have a variety of things. Their naan bread is usually hot and fresh. Remember if you're not used to Indian food, there is a lot of dairy in curries. If you're lactose intolerant, then you may want to check to see if your stomach can handle spice and dairy at the same time before coming here. For those who can, this place is a happy place.

For our 4th wedding anniversary, my husband surprised me with a dinner reservation at the newest restaurant in downtown Florence called Town Hall. 

Once we stepped inside Town Hall, I couldn't believe I was still in Florence. The restaurant felt modern and urban and even the people looked like they poshed up! It was a busy night and the service was still excellent. Here was what we ordered. (Pictures below.) 

This was from their specialty cocktail menu. It was mixed very well and I felt a buzz just after drinking half of it. My husband ordered a beer from their draft on tap. 

This was the fried clams appetizer that my husband and I shared before our entree. The batter was very good and extra crunchy. 

 I didn't feel like eating meat that night so I ordered the vegetable plate as my entree. It was very filling but I felt like the rice was more mushy than how I usually like it. I probably won't order this again.


My husband ordered the quail entree. The quail was fried and that wasn't stated on the menu so we were surprised. The batter was the same as the one used for the fried clams that we ordered as an appetizer. 

We shared the banana rum bread pudding as our dessert and it was fantastic. It was topped with salted caramel ice cream and was a perfect ending to our meal. 

The ambiance of Town Hall was so romantic that I would love to come back here again. Because we can't afford to eat here often, I hope that my husband will take me here for dinner again on another special occasion. 
(Waiting area inside Town Hall Restaurant)

After dinner, we climbed up the stairs to The Dispensary, a rooftop bar that is also part of the Town Hall restaurant. Once we were up there, the cool fresh wind immediately hit my face and gosh, really made me excited about entering this part of the building. The rooftop has 3 levels with plenty of room for large groups to gather. After having a conversation with a couple that we bumped into, we decided to check out the downtown view on the very top level for a few minutes before returning back home so we can relieve our babysitter early. Dinner was wonderful and the view from the rooftop bar was extraordinary, but I was starting to miss my kids after 2 hours. 

It was the best anniversary dinner I've ever had in Florence!

We had a very eventful Easter Day in Florence this year. This is my fourth Easter here since moving from California and it has been the most meaningful to me.

In the early morning, we went to family service, followed by an Easter Egg hunt at church. My toddler son had such an exciting time because he was first in line for the Easter Egg hunt since he was the youngest in the group. He couldn't stop looking at his eggs while we were driving home! 

I had a couple hours to finish my cupcakes later that morning and frosted them with green vanilla cream with some Easter decorations to bring to an amazing Easter Brunch we got invited to this year. (Here is the picture of the cupcakes that I made on Easter Day below.) 


Even though it started raining earlier that afternoon, it didn't dampen our spirits. We left the brunch party around 3pm and still had some time to relax at home and watched some TV. If we can have an Easter just like this next year, I could not ask for more. What a blessed day!

It's been exactly 3 years since we've moved to South Carolina from Southern California and it's been quite an experience for me to adjust from a different lifestyle to an unknown territory with no friends nor family nearby. The truth is, moving to a new environment and knowing nobody is difficult, AT FIRST. It'll take time and patience to find new friends and get familiar with your surroundings. If you are a new mom who just moved here from a different place as well, the first year will probably be rough but it gets BETTER! Just hang in there. I believe in the natural courses of things. Making friends is something that should come naturally when you just "clique" with the right person. But you can't meet anyone by staying at home so it does take a bit of effort.

Here are some ways I've discovered in Florence that could help you find other moms to connect with:

• Take your little one to mommy and me classes. Babies and up, you get to meet other moms/guardians who have little ones within the same age group as your own baby, toddler or child
• Join a local Mom's Group. There's been a few mom's groups that have come and go on MeetUp.com for Florence. I've also seen moms groups being created on Facebook. There is a Florence Moms Network Facebook Group with thousands of members.
• Go to story time at the Florence County Library on. S Dargan St. with your kids. Your kids will enjoy it and you will also be able to meet other moms with kids around the same age. The bonus is it's free. They have different times for different age groups for your kids. Check out the different story times by going on the event page under "Story Times".
• Go to the Ebenezer Park in West Florence with your kids. They have different slides for toddlers and bigger kids and everything is padded on the playground. Every time I go there, there is always a family or another mom there with their kid(s). 
• Take time to get to know your husband's coworkers' wives. They might have wives who share the same interests and hobbies as you. I know this can be hard though, from personal experience. 
• Get to know your neighbors. More likely than not, there is a facebook group for the subdivision you are living in. People in Florence love facebook! While there is a big divide on thoughts on making connections through social media from people living in major cities, here in Florence, most people are big on it, especially Facebook! 
• Join Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce and/or Young Professionals of Florence as a member if you are also a working mom! They have great networking events after work hours and seasonal events. To see their websites, go to the "relocating" page here.

Located about 30 minutes from West Florence, Lynches Riverpark is a great place to visit seasonally. We recently discovered that they have an Environmental Discovery Center that is located right next to the playground. They are open everyday except for Mondays. You can see the hours I listed for this place on our event page.  It is free to visit and you get to see all sorts of reptiles there. When we went to the back exit to look outside, we discovered that they have a really neat canopy trail! It looks like something from a rainforest! My toddler was too afraid to walk on it with us but my husband and I were able to take turns to go to the first platform. There were about 4 to 5 platforms! 

 (Canopy Trail that is behind the back exit of the Environmental Discovery Center at Lynches Riverpark) 

Reptiles you can see there at the Environmental Discovery Center

 They let one of their turtles roamed around for a little bit for a free show & tell on that Saturday morning. We were lucky! 

Here is how the Discovery Environmental Center building looks like.

I know the way to get here was a little spooky but when you see this building, you are going to be amazed. The architecture is wonderful. If there are any upcoming events at Lynches River County Park, it will be listed on our 'Events' page.