Rise and shine, rise and shine, there’s another beautiful day ahead for each and all fortunate enough to experience it.
It’s Mardi Gras full on here in Mobile, and we were surprised to find out that it is the oldest celebration of Mardi Gras, since 1703 some 15 years before New Orleans was even founded. Apparently Mobile was the capital of Louisiana back then.
Having been to The Big Easy for Mardi Gras, including Fat Tuesday, it sort of caught us off guard. Mobile Alabama is 145 miles from New Orleans, so when we first arrived and saw all the Mardi Gras stores and decorations and museums we had no clue and were unaware these folks eat, sleep and breathe Mardi Gras. With over 60 balls and easily 50 parades, holy toledo these folks live Mardi Gras, and with the tourists mostly down at The Big Easy, although we have noticed a fair share of tourists, the celebrations here in Mobile, well, there for the folks of Mobile, a very diverse and multi cultural city. Heck Mardi Gras starts here in November, that’s a third of the year dedicated to Carnival.
The city is old, that’s for sure, and it doesn’t take long walking around to see the age, see the history here. Of course once you get close to downtown every this or that is historic, the are markers and plaques everywhere. Mobile has done what we have found quite a few other cities do though, they put up some huge new buildings downtown so the city looks “modern” when approaching, with a presentable skyline. The truth is, most of what we have seen, most not all, pretty much everything needs a good power wash, and it makes no sense to us why they would let such historic and beautiful a city look the way it does.
We’re just off famous Dauphin Street, close enough to central downtown to hear the partying all night, and right along the parade routes, all lined with barriers and posted no parking before or after the parades, which as we have said there are so many, multiple parades every day now.
Downtown Mobile itself is pretty bland, mostly old but several new government buildings, a convention center of course, and a massively tall office building that apparently they can’t even fill since they are all but giving away office space in it. The courthouse houses a law library, always a bonus. Just a few steps away though, heading west out of downtown, the city really comes alive though with its beauty. Massive old oak trees line the roadways, they are huge, and it would take at least 3 or 4 people to hold hands and reach all the way around these trees, they are awesome.
On the downside, most of the sidewalks away from the epicenter are trash. They are buckled and torn, bumpy and shattered to pieces, whether by roots or just age, poor sidewalks are everywhere, and walking around at night it’s like an obstacle course. You could easily miss the 5 inch step up or the hole, and there are plenty of both. Another blemish is the trash blowing everywhere. We were never one to understand littering, it is so disrespectful. Like many cities, Mobile has folks sweeping up and cleaning downtown. They wear marked clothing and you see them with their dustpans and brooms here and there walking around. Unfortunately, me thinks they don’t walk too far from the hub of downtown, since most of the city reminds us of midtown Manhattan above 92nd street, which is where the cleaners there stop. There is trash everywhere, just blowing around, and we have actually seen folks walk out of a store and toss trash to the ground, toss it out their vehicle windows, and have yet to walk a block that didn’t have trash just blowing around willy nilly everywhere. So disrespectful!
Another thing we have noticed here in Mobile is that the homeless population, or at least the meandering, walking the streets folks, seem to be more on the challenged side than the addiction side. We have come to this conclusion from our interactions since pretty much every single person you walk past acknowledges you with a hello or nice day or at least a nod, it is certainly a very personable and friendly city. You see it though, the limp, the way they hold their hands, their speech, and it is not difficult to ascertain the trouble ones from the not, the non challenged ones, the trouble ones, all seem to have a look in their eyes that you can see as they assess you and any potential hustle they might work on you.
There are two main roads coming into the city from the east, highways coming across Mobile Bay. There are 4 or 5 main roads into and out of the city center to the west, and those are non stop hectic. The side streets though, that run between these major roads, that’s where the real beauty is, and we find our self constantly in awe as we come across one hidden gem after another, a tree, a house, a mansion hidden in the trees among duplexes or small, flat roofed one story houses, the architecture so old and beautiful.
We’d comment on the food but know our place since we would rather have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich than a steak and have trouble remembering to eat. Fortunately if you miss too many meals you get dizzy, so we always know when we have gone too long without eating. We will comment on the women though, they are beautiful. We have long said southern women are awesome, and Mobile is stocked full of so many varieties of beautiful women that they are commonplace here it seems. Another funny though, boots are in big time here, which makes no sense. The women, young and old, everywhere and anywhere, even behind the counter at Starbucks or at the hair salon are wearing boots up to at least their knees and many to mid thigh. We haven’t seen anything like it since the upper east side when we were in Manhattan, it really is too funny. There really is no need for them here. Little rain, and no snow for slush, half of them look like pirate boots, and it is definitely the fashion statement de jour here right now, too funny. It’s Mobile Alabama, and these ladies must be sweltering in those boots. We can’t help but giggle to our self when we see some of them.
We look forward to enjoying Mardi Gras here in Mobile as it really rocks these next few weeks, and we’ll have to see how Fat Tuesday compares to the one we spent in New Orleans. Not sure what these folks will do until November comes around again though, the only other thing they seem even remotely interested in is football. Another funny, we have never been in a state and seen so many people wearing something with the state name. The word Alabama is on everything and is everywhere, clothing, vehicles, you name it. You couldn’t swing a cat without hitting something with an A or the word Alabama on it.
Overall, in our opinion, Mobile is a very user friendly city, rich in history and diverse cultures, and although poverty is clearly visible to be rampant here, Mobile is definitely poor, you see two bedroom units renting for under $600 right intown, we just don’t know why they stopped caring for their beautiful city.
Peace