Get ur motor runnin' for Mobile, Alabama
Mobile, Alabama was founded in 1702 by Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville whose brother Jean-Baptiste established New Orleans 16 years later. D’Iberville died suddenly in 1706, probably from yellow fever, having survived numerous adventures and naval battles in Canada and the Caribbean.
The French word Mobile means portable and the colonial city was a natural port that allowed goods from the Gulf Coast to be easily transported to Europe. The city was the first colonial capital of French Louisiana. It is still a major Southern port.
Traveling from New Orleans to Mobile takes only a couple of hours via I-10 over wetlands that don’t look very different from those D’Iberville might have encountered while exploring. Those tranquil shallow waterways are rich habitat for abundant seafood and wildlife.
I decided to first tour Mobile Botanical Gardens where there is always something abloom. Mobile has two major gardens, the other being Bellingrath Gardens, set on some of the country’s most biologically rich soil, according to E.O. Wilson, a Harvard biologist, in what was once a private estate.
Before Europeans’ arrival, the land was a vast longleaf pine forest. Reforested pines continue to scent the air through the seasons.
The right time to visit is really spring since brightly colored azaleas and rhododendrons start blooming as early as March. The gardens showcase azalea hybrids either created in Mobile or those especially well suited to its climate. In addition, the garden hosts the largest collection of Satsuki azaleas in the United States and an extensive collection of historic Southern Indica azaleas. Bottom line, the pink, purple and magenta blossoms have to be mind-blowing. Benches are strategically placed along walking paths to take in the splendor.
If you read my piece about Avery Island, those gardens exhibit many of the same Japanese influences, from plants to statuary, and a koi pond with 20-year-old carp! Horticulturalist Kosaku Sawada immigrated from Japan in the early 1900s and hybridized camellias, which have attained fame among plant lovers.
It was pretty hot in August, so after trodding around the shaded gardens, I headed for a place I knew would be much cooler, the Conde-Charlotte Museum House, built in 1822, thankfully renovated with air-conditioning. Rapping the door-knocker, I was welcomed inside by two Colonial Dames. (Dames are American women descended from an ancestor who settled in a colony before 1776.) They were very enthusiastic about the history of the house, which was built on the Mobile River in 1822, later turned into a jail, then restored to a private home in 1845. A set of shackles and lead knuckles had been unearthed from beneath the living room floor and showcased to prove its sordid history.
Although the furniture is not original to the house, each room is representative of a time period. In the first salon, a portrait of King George III of Great Britain and Ireland (1760-1820) who is remembered for marrying Princess Charlotte who bore him 15 children, yet still managed to get involved with myriad military conflicts, but ultimately went mad. He is remembered fondly in this historic room that features a mahogany desk with secret compartments - don’t they all? - and quill pen and ink set to write a multitude of letters.
The American dining room exhibits Sheraton neoclassic style furnishings (1790-1820)
from the Federal period, including a chaperone mirror to keep an eye on mischievous behavior on the courting couch; china similar to the set owned by First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln; a lovely gasolier chantelier; and a coal burning stove - messy indeed. My guide explained prisms lent much desired light to rooms darkened by heavy drapes.
In the antebellum room, we discovered a bust of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and portrait of the Confederacy's first secretary of war, Leroy Pope Walker, otherwise known as Old Hatchet-face.
I was told Mobile never had plantations; those were further north. French who purchased land for $2/acre attempted to grow grapes and olives in Selma, but the soil isn’t right. (Too rich, methinks.) “Demopolis failed,” the guide opined though it was 200 years ago.
Upstairs, is a trundle bed and a mattress stuffed with dried Spanish moss, supported by tightened manilla ropes. Thus, born the adage, “Sleep tight.” Also, a shallow communal bathtub where children were bathed eldest to youngest. Again, the maxim, “Don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater.” Anyway, lots of interesting stuff, but I needed to cut the tour short and run off in time to grab lunch.
I headed for the legendary roadhouse, the Dew Drop Inn, on Old Shell Road, said to be Mobile’s oldest restaurant and winner of the 2022 NAPPIE Award, for crab & corn bisque, but they were locking the doors as I arrived! Undaunted, I reversed direction back to the lively downtown to visit Wintzell’s Oyster House, which was still very busy at 3 p.m.
My server offered so many choices for a shrimp po-boy from boiled to fried to blackened, I had to pause to reflect. She did not ask, however, whether dressed or undressed as any New Orleans establishment would, but there were purple onions, pickle slices and lettuce to top it off. In addition to fried green tomatoes, fried dill pickles and award-winning seafood gumbo, what-cha-ma-call-its also appear on the menu.
I cruised up and down Government Street, Dauphin Street and St. Louis Street and was pleased to find a large number of trendy, upscale bars, restaurants and entertainment spots. Mobile is not just historical but also a lively modern city. I marveled at the stately Greek revival and Queen Anne homes as well as the charming Creole cottages.
Barton Academy, built in 1836, was the first public school in Alabama. A $4.2 million-dollar renovation put it back into use as an elementary school. Mardi Gras in Mobile predates New Orleans’ celebration, having begun in 1703. There’s a small Carnival museum on Government Street to learn more about it.
I could totally live in Mobile, which is close to pristine beaches and Dauphin Island that has its own historic fort and bird sanctuary. Sandhill cranes, among America’s rarest and most endangered birds, are known to migrate through Alabama in the winter months.
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