October18- 20, 2024

After straightening up the Airbnb and bidding farewell to the rest of our group, we hit the road for the six-hour drive to Spanish Fort, our home for the next three nights.  We’ve spent quite a bit of time traveling many sections of the I-10, including at least three full runs from either coast all the way across.  This would be one more to add to the scorecard.  We’ve stayed in this area many times as well, this time choosing Yohana Maria’s Place Airbnb in Spanish Fort, the city east across the bay from Mobile. 

Along the way as we sped west on the interstate, we witnessed mile after mile of fallen debris by the roadside, the aftermath of Hurricane Helene which passed through on its way to devastate parts of North Carolina.  Right around check-in time we arrive at Maria’s place found the space a bit cramped but perfectly acceptable given our other available options.  A few years ago, we stayed at the Best Western near here, but multiple nights had us leaning towards the Airbnb. 

Around dinner time and after surveying nearby options, we decided to check out Beef O’Bradys, a unpretentious sports bar franchise established in 1985 with 150 locations, 26 of those company-owned and operated.  This would turn out to be a good choice as Joanna started with a Goat Island Blood Orange Berliner Weiss while I thoroughly enjoyed a Bulleit Old Fashioned.  We decided to split a Beef’s 1985 Salad (Crisp romaine with ham, Genoa salami, pepperoni, provolone cheese, banana peppers, red onions and tomatoes tossed in Italian dressing) and the Asian Shrimp Rice Bowl (Grilled shrimp with teriyaki sauce, seasoned rice, stir-fried veggies, sweet Thai chili, pickled red onions and sesame seeds). 

It was all quite good and reasonably priced, our total tab coming to $56, including tax and tip.  With its extensive menu, healthy choices and decent drinks, if we lived in the area, we would definitely be regulars here.  Having visited Mobile a number of times in the past, we’d begun to run out of touristy things to do but did manage to find a couple of ways to occupy our time.  Our first stop was to be the Richards-DAR House Museum, built in 1860 for Captain Charles G. Richards and his wife Caroline Elizabeth Steele.  It remained within their family until 1946 when the home was sold to the Ideal Cement Company.  After operating as a business for many years, the company donated it to the City of Mobile. The home was restored and has been lovingly maintained by the local Mobile DAR chapters since 1973.  Unfortunately, without any notice at their website or at the house itself, we found it closed.

We rambled back downtown and a bit peckish, stopped in at Three Georges’ Candy Store for some lunch.  Founded in 1917 by three Greek Mobilians, their original concept was to combine a candy shop with a soda fountain and sandwich shop.  We managed to not succumb to the temptation to just eat sweet stuff and instead ordered a Muffuletta for Joanna and a Chicken Salad Sandwich for me.  It was actually more food than was necessary for us to eat as we would be having dinner later, but we still managed to put most of it away.  Pricing was incredible, large portion sizes and two cups of coffee for a total of $19, a real bargain. 

Continuing to ramble, we next stopped in at the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, the seat of the archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mobile.  Mobile’s Cathedral Parish was established on July 20, 1703, and when the Mobile settlement was relocated to its present site in 1711, a new parish church was built and was known as Notre Dame de la Mobile (Our Lady of Mobile.  In 1833, Claude Beroujon, a former seminarian turned architect was hired to create a Roman basilica design for the new Immaculate Conception Cathedral with the cornerstone of the cathedral laid in 1835.  However, the financial crisis in the United States known as the Panic of 1837 forced a long delay in the cathedral’s construction with consecration finally coming in 1850.  As tourists, it is always refreshing to spend a few moments in these houses of worship, a calm oasis amid the stress of travel, reminding one of how religions seek to influence their followers through the power of great buildings. 

Ever on the move, we next hit the Mobile Carnival Museum which, housed in the historic Bernstein-Bush mansion on Government Street in downtown, chronicles over 300 years of Carnival and Mardi Gras in Mobile.  The museum features displays that tell the story of how the local celebration evolved from its early days to the modern tradition it has become.  The Queen’s Gallery houses gowns, trains, and jewels worn by the queens of Carnival.  Also on display is the attire of a 1920s flapper queen, as well as costumes of several jesters of well-known parading societies.  

The collections also include original Mardi Gras art and posters by various area artists, doubloons, tableau designs, and ball invitations.  The mansion’s former carriage house contains interactive exhibits, including one that allows visitors to “ride” and throw doubloons from a Carnival float.  Honestly, it was interesting but not having a connection to the celebration itself, it was all a little overwhelming.  Needless to say, preparing for each carnival is an integral part of much of the town’s elite each year and those efforts are fully detailed through the many exhibits. 

We had one last stop on the agenda for the day, and that was at the Oakleigh House, the centerpiece of the Oakleigh Historic Complex.  We will cover that and the rest of our stay in the Mobile area in our next post.   

Links

Yohana Maria’s Place: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/52319196?source_impression_id=p3_1740408508_P3j4H2g0fAacnQv6

Beef O’Bradys: https://www.beefobradys.com/

Richards-DAR House: https://richardsdarhouse.com/

Three Georges’: https://3georges.com/

Cathedral Basilica: https://mobilecathedral.org/

Mobile Carnival Museum: https://mobilecarnivalmuseum.com/

Oakleigh House: https://www.historicoakleigh.com/