From our last anchorage on the river (YAY) at mile marker 64, we cruised all the way to Mobile, mile marker 00. Mobile Harbor is one of the largest in the country. The number of barges, huge ships, even Navy ships, was astonishing. Large docks to handle the big boats, huge cranes and lifts for the boats. We came into the harbor on Sunday, and there was still plenty of traffic, albeit less than on a weekday.
On November 7, we tied off at a very high, very rough wall at the Mobile Convention Center. There were no amenities, i.e. electricity or water, and the charge was $50 for the privilege of docking there. We put out almost every fender board, fender, ball that we own – the boat got ‘waked’ a bit, mostly from small go fast boats, not the big commercial ships.
Being there at the Convention Center put us in a great spot to explore downtown Mobile. We found the town to be charming. Every person we encountered was friendly. Downtown reminded us somewhat of New Orleans, with the wrought iron balconies all over. It also reminded us of Savannah, with some lovely squares with big live oak trees, benches, and sculptures. In addition, much in the way different cities have had contests where an animal or other symbol of the place is painted and put in public places, in Mobile, we saw several large representations of an oyster shell decorated and on a stand in the park. Cool!
That evening, we strolled up Dauphin Street, taking in the sights. One woman had recommended the Crockmiers Restaurant for dinner. We stopped there, ordered a drink and appetizers. Charming place, with lots of dark wood. Another advantage was that from our seat on the street, we had a great vantage point to watch people! Dan said it was almost as good as our favorite spot on Green Street in Key West…Our waitress was very sweet, and I asked her if she’d always lived in Mobile. She said she had, except for 3 years when she lived on Long Island! What a different place than Mobile! She had gone to help a friend who needed her for while – that’s when being young and brave comes in handy! But, as soon as she could, she came back home to Mobile.
We strolled around until dark, with me taking pictures of pretty architecture and one huge and beautiful church. There was one place, Wet Willies, that sounded pretty lively – too much for us, but fun to observe. Near there was a big parking lot, and there were 10-12 people riding electric scooters all over the parking lot just for fun.
We stopped at a friendly bar called Alchemy. Dan sampled a different Jamiesons and the bartender whipped up a sweet cocktail for me. Yumm! When I asked the bartender if he had always lived in Mobile, he said he had except for a few years when he wandered. But, he’s back home and doesn’t see any reason to leave. We had a discussion with him about the city – seems there are lots of businesses starting up. We noticed that, even though there were quite a few empty storefronts downtown, a goodly number of them are in various stages of renovation. The bartender told us that the huge company Airbus is planning to build a big plant there, and has been buying up lots of land. So, the energy level in the town has inched up a notch because of the changes coming.
At our last stop for the evening, a bar/restaurant, we had one last drink and a light supper. On the walk back to the boat, we saw a place on the corner that looked interesting. At first, we thought it was an ice cream place, but it turned out to be a daiquiri bar! They had what looked like 15 different flavors. Cool.
We decided to have one more fabulous meal in Mobile for breakfast. We picked the Red Slipper, since it had been recommended by a couple of the folks we encountered on Sunday. The Red Slipper did not disappoint! Unfortunately, Dan didn’t feel like eating much, so he just had some fruit and some potatoes. Gena, however, was ready for a real southern breakfast! Two eggs, bacon, biscuit, and a slice of fried green tomatoes! YUMMMM!
Thank you, Mobile – we could have spent more time there, but time marches on!
No comments:
Post a Comment