First-class museums, the spirit of Mardi Gras and visions of the Old South captivate groups in this Gulf Coast port. Amtrak service connects it to New Orleans.
By Randy Mink, Senior Editor
With iron grillwork balconies and canopies of moss-bearded live oaks gracing streets and parks, Mobile strikes the first-time visitor as a double for New Orleans. At least that was my initial impression as I rode into town from the airport and took a quick walk around downtown from my base at the Battle House Hotel.
Like New Orleans, Mobile does Mardi Gras in a big way. Mobile, as the city tends to boast, held America’s first Mardi Gras celebration, which originated in 1703, one year after the city’s founding by the French. The joy generated during Mobile’s pre-Lenten festival, a weeks-long affair that starts in late January, seems to permeate life year-round in this easy-going city on Alabama’s Gulf Coast.
Mardi Gras
Even months after the 40-some Mardi Gras parades, you’ll still see strands of beads festooning trees along parade routes. One Mobile resident says, “I jokingly refer to them as our national flower.”
Besides beads and trinkets tossed out to spectators from parade floats, MoonPies are another good catch. More than three million MoonPies are thrown during the two weeks of parades. A Southern favorite, the marshmallow-filled graham cracker treats are typically coated in chocolate, vanilla or banana icing.
On New Year’s Eve, thousands converge downtown for the MoonPie Over Mobile drop, similar to the countdown in New York’s Times Square. Look up and you’ll see the mechanized, 600-pound MoonPie poised on its skyscraper perch.
If you can’t be in Mobile during Carnival season, you still can get a feel for it at the newly renovated Mobile Carnival Museum, which has videos and displays of float replicas, royal robes, crowns, scepters and historical photographs. Or take some pictures of the colorful character statues in downtown’s Mardi Gras Park. Souvenir shops sell beads, masks, trinkets and other Mardi Gras items.
National Maritime Museum of the Gulf. (Photo credit: Alabama Department of Tourism)
Museums, Restaurants and More in Mobile
Just steps from the park are the History Museum of Mobile, a replica of Colonial Fort Conde and the hands-on Exploreum Science Center. Nearby, the waterfront’s National Maritime Museum of the Gulf has more than 80 interactive exhibits relating to Mobile’s status as the nation’s 10th largest port. At the neighboring cruise terminal, you may see a Carnival Cruise Line ship ready to depart for the Caribbean or Bahamas.
You can explore the port on a tour or dinner cruise aboard the Perdido Queen paddlewheel riverboat.
Also conveniently located on the waterfront is the train station. Amtrak Mardi Gras Service connects Mobile with New Orleans and cities along Mississippi’s Gulf Coast.
From my hotel I walked over to Dauphin Street, a lively corridor with restaurants, bars and specialty shops. One day I visited several downtown eateries with Bienville Bites Food Tours, sampling small portions of regional specialties, including fried green tomatoes, beignets and bread pudding.
Three Georges Fine Southern Chocolates, a diner/soda fountain/candy shop, has been around since 1917 and in its 1866 Dauphin Street building since 1972. Southern comfort fare—gumbo, jambalaya, and muffaletta and po-boy sandwiches—is served for lunch.
USS Alabama is a prime tourist attraction in Mobile. (Randy Mink Photo)
Away from Downtown Mobile
USS ALABAMA Battleship Memorial Park features tours of a highly decorated World War II naval ship moored next to a pavilion housing military aircraft. The USS Drum, a WWII submarine, is also available for tours.
Another slice of maritime history resides at Mobile’s Africatown Heritage House. Clotilda: The Exhibition tells the story of a ship that brought 110 Africans into Mobile Bay in 1860, 52 years after the international slave trade was outlawed. Pieces of the wreck, discovered just seven years ago at the bottom of the Mobile River, are on display. Survivors of the Clotilda built the Mobile community of Africatown.
Bragg-Mitchell Mansion. (Photo credit: Alabama Department of Tourism)
Fans of antiques and architecture will want to explore Mobile’s four historic districts. Historic Oakleigh House Museum and Bragg-Mitchell Mansion, both Greek Revival showplaces open for tours, offer a window into the Old South.
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Lead photo – Dauphin Street in downtown Mobile abounds with inviting shops, bars and restaurants. (Randy Mink Photo)
