Mobile, the Gateway to the Gulf

“Down in Mobile, they’re all crazy, because the Gulf Coast is the kingdom of monkeys, the land of clowns, ghosts and musicians, and Mobile is sweet lunacy’s county seat” wrote Eugene Walter in his novel The Untidy Pilgrim.  

In almost 70 years things have not changed and based on my recent experience the man was 100% accurate. It is the party city of the South. The bars, the restaurants, the open spaces and even the clothes shops have a splendid anarchy about them with wicked designs, slogans and humour.

Almost every week there is a festival of some kind and even when not, local residents will get dressed in costume and promenade the streets just for the thrill. I bear witness to this as I arrived fully three weeks before Halloween and it was Tex Mex food festival time. Needless to say, this gave rise to music, food, pop up stands and of course outrageous costumes. I was fully expecting El Vez to turn up and offer up nothing but a hound dog but unfortunately, he had left the stadium by the time I got there. No Mexican outfit? No problem, its only three weeks to Halloween so out comes the ghosts, monsters, walking pumpkins and anything resembling abnormality. As Paul Whitehouse would say “Brilliant”!

Mobile is Alabama’s third largest city and was founded in 1702 as the capital of French Louisiana, making it also the oldest city in Alabama. Contrary to popular opinion it also the original home of Mardi Gras. A festival, what else, that was established by French Catholics from the North who wanted to escape the puritanical beliefs of their elders in the northern states of the USA from Ash Wednesday in the lead up to Lent.

The first Mardi Gras, originally known as Boeuf Gras (fatted ox) was in 1703 and the following year it became de rigueur to wear a mask to the celebrations. Eight years later the first parade took place and both traditions have remained in place for over 300 years. It is the oldest official Carnival celebration in the United States and it is therefore hardly surprising that the city has maintained and indeed expanded that festival feeling to 52 weeks of the year.

Located on Mobile Bay with deep water access to the Gulf, the city has always been an important seaport playing a significant role in the slave trade and now forms part of the rich and well documented Civil Rights trail across the Southern States. During the Civil War after a ferocious battle in the bay, Mobile was captured by Union forces and served as a major port, supply depot and source of cotton which was used for export thereby raising valuable finance for their military exploits.

Mobile also has a number of attractions including the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park, the Gulf Coast Explore Science Centre, and the Mobile Museum of Art.  It has a humid subtropical climate, with hot summers and mild winters which coincidentally is ideal for festivals and parties.

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