MattMobile, Alabama – to pronounce it, spend a little longer on the ‘i’ and pronounce it as an ‘e’ such as ‘peel’ but with 3 e’s, like ‘Mo-Beeele’. This town is a hidden jewel on the Gulf of Mexico and is a delight to spend some time in to explore and learn.
When we crossed the border from Canada into the United States, the lady asked where we were going, and when I replied ‘Mobile, Alabama’ she smiled and asked ‘why’ would we be going there? We replied, ‘to ride my bicycle’, and she waved us thru the border like it was the most ordinary thing to do!! We discovered that there is lots to see and do in this town and it is worth a visit in its own right!
Mobile has an air of what you would expect of a southern town. It is green and the trees appear to have been growing forever, with great chunks of moss hanging from the vines and the branches. The homes have wrap around porches that are big enough to play football on, and must be a godsend during the hot sweaty summers that we were told all about!
We were hosted by the wonderful folks at Visit Mobile and they must know this as they are the most hospitable and friendly people that you could encounter in the south! We stayed at the Hamptons Inn right downtown, and surrounded by great places to visit and learn. It looked like there were lots of other great places to stay within walking distances of the restaurants and sights as well. We think a stop to the visitors centre is a great way to start a visit to this town, as they are knowledgeable, and share their love of Mobile in a sincere, and appealing way.
We started our toursting with the Mobile Museum, a great place to learn about the history of the town, and the often rocky discussion of how slavery and freedom has changed the fortunes of this town. There was even a display of model homes of some of the ones we saw in town.
At the museum, we learned that Mobile is actually the first town in the USA to have a Mardi Gras, and it began with a group of drunks who called themselves the Cowbellians. Sounds like our kind of people. Actually, I love the claim, that they ‘taught’ New Orleans how to throw a great Mardi Gras party!! Just like at home, if you really want to see a rodeo, then head to something like the Sundre Rodeo where the atmosphere is more authentic and less commercial than say the Calgary Stampede. We now have Mobile’s Mardi Gras on our own bucket list as it sounds like a great party with a bit more of a family flair. The Carnival Museum was well worth the visit to understand the social context of the party and the royalty (not to mention the history) associated with this yearly event.
We were honoured to have a personal biking tour on some of the spots along the Dora Franklin Finley African-American Heritage Trail (DFFAAHT) regarding the African American History of the town. Did you know that the dude who invented the Super Soaker was from Mobile Alabama and he is also a NASA Engineer? The tour was a great start to our bike trip as we learned lots about the struggles for freedom found right in the town and early African American doctors and business men who helped shape Mobile into what it is today. Our personal tour guide was Karlos Finley – Dora’s brother. He is a lawyer and judge in town and is running for Circut Judge this fall. It was awesome to have someone show us around who is so clearly passionate about Mobile and preserving the history of this town. His voice is also like leather and Heather said she could have listened to him talk forever!
The sites in Mobile continued even as we started our journey north. The USS Alabama is a decommissioned USA battleship from WWII fame that sits just outside of Mobile on the Gulf. This was a a full floating war machine, and small city to house and care for 2500+ men that served on this boat. Inside the boat we found that the ship has housing, catering, barbers, cleaners, hospitals, a morgue, jails and a post office. Of course, it also has an emphasis on the ability to inflict major damage on chosen targets with the heavy artillery it could hold. The corridors are narrow, the doors are a step ‘up’ to get thru, and the ceiling is low. Surprising to me, were the hammocks for the men that are literally hung in every corner of the boat. Amazing what human ingenuity can comprehend, and build! As you can imagine Heather and I couldn’t stop saying: “you sunk my battleship.” We really need to get some new material.
Overall, Mobile has many pleasant and insightful places to spend time. We only scratched the surface of the many spaces and places that are worth a visit to this town and can’t wait to come back to dig a little deeper and eat a little more. Mardi Gras in Mobile 2019 anyone?!
