dear readers,

i think that too often when it comes to travel, we think of of anywhere but our own backyards. welcome to my backyard discoveries series, where i celebrate places closer to home (and those we may take for granted).

this past friday, i spent my entire day at windmill winery (for work, so no actual wine for me) and it was beautiful – a conference in in a reconstructed barn (circa 1910, oh my goodness) if  you can believe it. as per usual, i greedily snapped a bunch of pictures and left later that evening, satisfied.

i pulled back onto the road, trying to navigate (poorly) in the light of the almost full moon. naturally, i took a wrong turn and ended up on florence’s main street.

and there it was:

true value hardware store, florence, az: while this true value has only been in the property since 1991, the building was built in 1914 as the white-mccarthy lumber store. though not always held by the same owners, it’s been a hardware store for most if its lifetime.

in between semi-panicking about being lost in the dark, stopping to take pictures of this hardware store (of all things, i can barely operate a hammer) resulted in my favorite photos from the trip.

if there’s anything i learned from all the small towns my job takes me to, it’s to – cliche alert – keep an open mind and let the place surprise you.

safe travels always,

katie

p.s. if you’d like to see more photos from my trip, check them out on my photo blog, this kat snaps.